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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter presents qualitative methods of data collection and analysis adopted in an attempt to meet objectives of this study outlined in the previous chapter. It is the positioning of this research within an epistemological tradition of phenomenological sociology that caused the researcher to adopt qualitative methods of inquiry. Phenomenological sociology influenced the researcher to interrogate and interpret narratives and photographs of children as cultural sources of data. In the chapter, the researcher describes the linkages between the research problem, theoretical assumptions, study objectives and the selected study methodology. It is important to demonstrate such linkage as it seeks to make a case regarding the appropriateness of methods adopted in the study. In addition, the researcher discusses some strengths and limitations that arise from the qualitative sociological approach adopted for this study. Ways of managing limitations that arise from this methodology are also discussed. Ethical issues that arose from the process of carrying out the study are highlighted to show how the researcher managed some limitations of the study methodology. The qualitative methodological framework is discussed below.
Qualitative methodological framework
The methodological framework adopted for this study is a qualitative one. This was mainly shaped by assumptions from the sociological theory on phenomenology discussed in detail in chapter 3 on theory and concepts. Qualitative research methods were applicable to this study which sought to interrogate and interpret the practice of representing children in humanitarian discourse. A qualitative methodological framework was adopted in pursuit of this study’s objectives because of such a methodology’s potential. The potential is that it enabled the researcher to do explorative ethnographic descriptions and interpretations of the subject matter on representation. Therefore a qualitative methodology was adopted as it allowed for discovery, in-depth understanding, detailed ethnographic descriptions, theoretical induction, explorative interpretation and thematic data analysis.
The qualitative methodology was used to; review the theoretical framework of this study, review and evaluate data collected from secondary and primary sources and analyze and interpret results of the study. Qualitative methods applied for this study consists of desk review of secondary sources, content analysis of texts and open ended questionnaires. A systematic qualitative analysis of children’s narratives and photographs was also done through content analysis of various sources. The different tools that were used for data collection appear in the appendix section at the end of this thesis.
Therefore a qualitative methodology of social inquiry was adopted due to the nature of the subject under discussion. Understanding the subject of representation requires use of sociological imagination in the interpretations of language, cultural texts and symbols. Children’s narratives and photographs are ‘artefacts’ of cultural representation that were studied from such an interpretative perspective. Narratives and photographs are not closed ‘objects’ so an open qualitative approach was meant to capture the richness of subjects’ perspectives and interpretations of the different ways of representing children.
This required the researcher to come into face to face encounters with children’s experiences in the form of written texts, spoken words and photographs. For this reason, a qualitative methodological framework was adopted as opposed to a quantitative methodological framework. A quantitative methodology would treat social phenomena as hard facts. As Yates (2003:5) & Smith (2003:6) state, a quantitative methodology further assumes that such facts can be measured using pure statistical methods just as in natural scientific subjects like physics and chemistry. To the contrary, qualitative research questions uses of quantitative methods to study social issues as if they were ‘natural’ ones. Qualitative research acknowledges that society is a complex open system that should not be studied using methods applicable to ‘pure’ or ‘natural’ sciences. Human actions are not entirely predictable while social behaviours are not the same as those of atoms or molecules that can be studied in closed environments such as scientific laboratories. That is why this research which focused on an open social issue of representation was grounded within a qualitative framework. This framework left room for the researcher’s and the readers’ own interpretations of the issues that arose from this sociological investigation. Qualitative research methods that were used in this study are outlined below.
Review of secondary sources and literature
Reviewed sources included; text books, journals, articles, newspaper and magazine articles, stories or narratives of children, written texts, phrases that explained children’s photographs, relevant internet sites, television and radio clips and special reports on children’s programs. This wide range of secondary sources was reviewed to provide the background to the study as well as analyze various literatures on children’s representations in humanitarian discourse. Some of the above sources can be described as ‘popular’ or non-academic although the researcher still reviewed them as he felt that they were important sources of data on the subject of this study.
In addition to the above sources, a review of other secondary academic sources enabled the researcher to situate the research subject within phenomenological theoretical assumptions. A secondary review of other theoretical assumptions and concepts related to phenomenology was also done as a way of giving both theoretical and conceptual depth to the study. These theoretical assumptions and concepts emerge from sociology of knowledge and semiotic approaches. A conceptual review of key terms that shaped this study was also done as part of the theoretical and literature review. The concepts were on representation, reality, identity children and ethics. These are discussed in detail in chapter 3 on theory and concepts. A combined secondary review of theories and key study concepts was thus meant to give the study its theoretical focus and specific conceptual clarity.
In relation to the theoretical and conceptual reviews, analysis of secondary literature and other sources of information like studies on children’s narrative and photographic representations in humanitarian discourse were also carried out. This was done to; locate the study subject within existing literature, dialogue with other researchers in the subject area and identify some unresolved issues in the area of children’s representation. It is some of those unresolved issues that this study attempts to address.
Apart from just situating the study within a broad theoretical, conceptual and literature framework, this review of secondary sources also enabled the researcher to evaluate key approaches that shaped the study. These approaches are on phenomenology, sociology of knowledge and semiotics. The evaluation was meant to establish how certain theoretical assumptions could be used to explicate the nature of relationships between representation, reality and social constructions of children’s identities. The review of secondary sources was done to address study objectives 1, 2 and 3. Objective 1 sought to evaluate the theory on phenomenology and apply it to analyze how identities of children are constructed and represented in narratives and photographs. Objective 2 of the study aimed to discuss humanitarian discourse and various forms of children’s narratives. Objective 3 intended to examine photographic depictions of children’s identities in humanitarian discourse. Information from the theoretical and literature reviews is presented and discussed in detail in chapters 3, 4 and 5. A method of content analysis described below was the one used for reviewing secondary sources or literatures in this study.
1. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
1.2 Study justification
1.3 Study conceptual terms
1.4 Study/research question
1.4 Study assumptions
1.4 Sociological theoretical framework
1.5 Study objectives
1.6 Study methodology
1.7 Conclusion
2. CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Qualitative methodological framework
2.3 Review of secondary sources & literature
2.4 Content analysis of texts & children’s narratives
2.5 Photographic analysis tools
2.6 Open ended questionnaires
2.7 Sampling & research sites
2.8 Data analysis & interpretation
2.9 Strengths of qualitative research methodology
2.10 Limitations of qualitative research methodology
2.11 Managing methods limitations
2.12 Emerging ethical issues
2.13 Conclusion
3. CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND & CONCEPTUAL REVIEW
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Phenomenology
3.3 Sociology of knowledge
3.4 Semiology
3.5 Children
3.6 Representation
3.7 Reality
3.8 Identity
3.9 A definition of ethics
3.10 Conclusion
4. CHAPTER 4: HUMANITARIAN DISCOURSE & FORMS OF CHILDREN’S NARRATIVES
4.1 Introduction
4.2 An understanding of humanitarian discourse
4.3 Brief history of children’s representation in humanitarian discourse
4.4 Understanding children’s representation: a point of departure
4.6 Forms of children’s narrative
4.7 Conclusion
5. CHAPTER 5: PHOTOGRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF CHILDREN IN HUMANITARIAN DISCOURSE
5.1 Introduction
5.2 What is a photograph?
5.3 Children’s photographs in image based research
5.4 Levels of photographic depictions of children
5.5 Method of interrogating an image
5.6 Children’s representations and phenomenological sociology
5.7 Conclusion
6. CHAPTER 6: PERCEPTIONS OF HUMANITARIAN PROFESSIONALS ON CHILDREN’S NARRATIVES AND PHOTOGRAPHS
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Description of process
6.3 Perceptions of humanitarian professionals on narrative terms
6.4 Humanitarian professionals’ interpretations of children’s photographs
6.5.1 How do children in the photographs look?
6.6 Collections and uses of children’s narratives and photographs
6.7 A tension of practical concerns and ethical issues
6.8 Conclusion
7. CHAPTER 7: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
LIST OF SOURCES
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