Two Imperatives for Qualitative Research

For sound qualitative research, adhering to at least two major imperatives is vital. The first imperative, obtaining the own expression of the people involved and affected to enable working from their frame of reference as well, and not only from the frame of reference of the researcher, corresponds to the objective in qualitative research to explicate the subject's interpretation of social reality. The second imperative, obtaining an holistic as possible expression, which implies working with the rich diversity of the people involved and affected, corresponds to the fact that social reality engages different people and that the researcher has consequently to deal with the ensuing kaleidoscope of knowledge, perceptions and interrelationships. Acknowledging the need for the two imperatives is but a first step, and from their practical work, the authors share some suggestions on how to purposefully progress toward meeting both imperatives in conducting qualitative analysis.