{"id":527,"date":"2016-02-14T13:39:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-14T18:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portal.clas.ufl.edu\/writing--wdkb-v1\/?p=527"},"modified":"2016-02-24T12:44:31","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T17:44:31","slug":"qual-middles-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portal.clas.ufl.edu\/writing--wdkb-v1\/assignment\/qual-middles-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"(qual) Middles: Outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research prose<\/a>\"335px-Haeckel_Discomedusae_8\"<\/a> has beginnings, middles and ends that\u00a0collectively answer the questions “What happened?” and “Why should I care?” . The “middle” part of an article addresses\u00a0the question, “what happened?” — in qualitative research,\u00a0two types of information are supplied: a methods statement<\/a> (how the data was collected) and the research outcomes\u00a0(how the data can be understood).<\/p>\n

The research outcomes in a qualitative research report\u00a0constitute the “body” of the paper. The reader sees topical headings: words used to represent thematic analysis of the data.\u00a0Even when the functional heading, Results, is used, the text itself is formatted\u00a0according to the\u00a0researcher’s conceptual analysis of the “raw” data communicated\/signaled via topical headings. Within each thematic section, the writer must still craft a results section that includes explicit mention of data, and unique to qualitative research, an interpretative frame within which to understand the data. Thus, the qualitative outcomes section presents both the data itself as well as analysis of the data, analogous to numerical raw data that’s been run through statistical tests and parsed into figures for the reader’s consumption.<\/p>\n

Below, we’ll first explore techniques for creating topical headings. Then, we’ll tackle the rather\u00a0complex writing of the analysis itself.<\/p>\n

Topical Headings: Tantalizing or Traditional?<\/h5>\n

Topical\u00a0headings always represent the theme found in that section. Two major techniques for creating topical headings are using quotes from the data that embody the theme or\u00a0crafting phrases that name the theme. These phrases can be literal conceptualizations or metaphorical in nature. Either technique can pull the reader in through a\u00a0tantalizing hint of content or the reassuring\u00a0cadence of\u00a0plain speech. Whichever technique is chosen, the writer must maintain parallelism throughout the text. If a quote is used in one heading, then a quote must be used in all. If a two-part heading (e.g. heading: subheading format) is used in one, it should be used in all.<\/p>\n

Tantalize<\/h6>\n

Qualitative research revels in meanings, distilling patterns out of an amorphous-seeming soup of information. Because representing humans as they are experienced by the researcher is such a challenge, one\u00a0way to capture a theme is through the words of the humans themselves. Quotes and quoted phrases\u00a0from informants is one strategy to represent outcomes. From a writing standpoint, this technique works only when every theme has a representative quote. If one section doesn’t, then use traditional headings that name the theme.<\/p>\n

Another technique is using figurative language\u00a0to capture\u00a0the over-arching analysis while bridging the individual sections. Again, as with quotes, the figurative understanding must be well-motivated and make sense for each thematic section.<\/p>\n

<\/i> Examples || \u00a0Willing to Work: Agency and Vulnerability in an Undocumented Immigrant Network<\/a><\/small>\u00a0\/\u00a0The Dialectical Gaze:\u00a0Exploring the Subject-Object Tension in the Performances of Women who Strip<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"qual<\/a><\/td>\n\"qual<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/i> Analysis: In the first example, the writer begins each topical heading with a quote from an interview that captures the theme, which is named in the second half of the heading. Note the absolute parallelism of each heading! First is a quote formatted using quotation marks (rather than italics or some other highlighting feature), followed by a colon, then a noun-driven phrase conveying the core meaning of the theme for that section. In the second example, the writer adopts the “stage” as the metaphor guiding the entire analysis. The major heading, which is centered, supplies the idea of a performance stage and each of the subsequent headings employs the\u00a0heading:subheading construction where the second part names the players in the relationships.<\/p>\n

Traditional<\/h6>\n

The vast majority of outcomes are communicated\u00a0using traditional headings that convey the idea using plain speech. These are easiest for the reader to understand, and invite less argument because fewer assertions are being made about how to understand the data. As with all headings, maintain grammatical parallelism throughout: all headings should be constructed using the same syntactic formula.<\/p>\n

<\/i> Examples ||\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cknucklehead\u201d approach and what matters in terms of health for formerly incarcerated Latino men<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0\u2018Waving the banana\u2019\u00a0at capitalism: Political\u00a0theater and social\u00a0movement strategy\u00a0among New York\u2019s \u2018freegan\u2019 dumpster divers<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"qual<\/td>\n\"qual<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/i> Analysis: In the first example, the writer uses the functional subheading, Results, then employs topical headings for the content of each section. These are longer, more complex headings as well, and give the reader a good idea of what the focus of each section will be. In example two, short phrases are used until the final section, where the quote is employed to contrast the more prosaic titles as well as tie into the report’s title.<\/p>\n

Performing Analysis in Text<\/h5>\n