Creswell Chapter 5

One thing I noticed while reading chapter 5 was how “stuck” I was on grounded theory as the only approach I would really consider for qualitative research. Strategic is my top strength so I like to see patterns and processes emerge from my work. Therefore, it was natural for me to want to use my research to construct theories and have some sort of "strategy" in my desired path. However, in reading chapter 5 my interest began to grow in regards to the other approaches. I was particularly glad to discover more about what it means to do narrative and ethnographic research.

Narratives are interesting to me because they give the reader a window’s glimpse into the depth of a human being. People fascinate me, so to have the opportunity to be able to delve deep into a person’s story would be fascinating. For instance, I often find myself wondering about a person I encounter asking myself questions like, “I wonder what it is like to be them?” or “How are they experiencing life differently than others around them?” Narratives help to answer these questions. For example, I work with a student who is Vietnam-born and then French-raised starting in middle school. She is now an undergraduate student at Pepperdine and talks like she was born and raised in L.A. It would be rare for anyone, even friends or professors, to be aware of her foreign dual-citizenship unless she offered up that information. Her background is so unique that I think it would be fascinating to conduct a narrative study on how she experiences life as an international dual-citizened female college student in America

The prospect of conducting an ethnographic study seems pretty cool as well. I have always been interested in exploring alternative and unique cultures. For instance, when I travel I am not much of a fan of doing the tourist thing. I like to get in with "the people" to experience and observe their every-day life. An example of this happened during my last trip to Boston. I was in Boston last year for a conference and I had a ton of school work that I needed to catch up on. My plan was to spend my mornings at the conference and my afternoons studying. I ended up finding this café/pub about a half-mile away from my hotel that was very much off the beaten tourist path. I was fascinated to watch the culture of that neighborhood unfold in front of my eyes as I observed it over a period of four days. After that experience I felt like I had truly “discovered” Boston. Having had a great glimpse into the daily lives of the Bostonians living in that neighborhood was a blessing and a privilege. I would love to have the opportunity to conduct an in depth ethnographic study one day.