ABSTRACT
What is the subject of qualitative research; that is, what should qualitative research focus on as a subject of investigation? Many different writers have attempted to provide a definition of the phenomenon of interest in qualitative research. At the most general level, qualitative research focuses on meaning making by humans and this meaning is seen best through examining the symbols and language (J. A. Anderson, 1987; Jankowski & Wester, 1991; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Lindlof, 1991; Lindlof & Meyer, 1987; Pauly, 1991; J. K. Smith, 1983). For example, Jensen (1991a) argued that “language is the primary medium of exchange between humans and reality (in processes of perception, cognition, and action), and that, accordingly, verbal texts may become vehicles of knowledge and truth” (p. 19). He stated, “Through language, reality becomes social. Equally, it is through language that reality becomes intersubjective and accessible for analysis. Hence, for the purpose of qualitative research, language and other semiotic systems represent both an analytical object and a central tool of analysis” (p. 19). According to Lindlof and Meyer (1987), the phenomenon includes a concern about “under what conditions communicative acts occur, how it is that people account for their acts, what versions of the world are proposed and negotiated through communication” (p. 6). Lincoln and Guba (1985) espoused the position that the phenomenon is social reality, and that this is purely mind-dependent, because people (including investigators) construct and shape reality, and this changes over time and is sensitive to situations.
