Journal of Counseling Psychology Copyright 2005 by the American Psychological Association

2005, Vol. 52, No. 2, 137–145 0022-0167/05/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.137

Language and Meaning: Data Collection in Qualitative Research

Donald E. Polkinghorne
University of Southern California

Qualitative research is inquiry aimed at describing and clarifying human experience as it appears in
people’s lives. Researchers using qualitative methods gather data that serve as evidence for their distilled
descriptions. Qualitative data are gathered primarily in the form of spoken or written language rather than
in the form of numbers. Possible data sources are interviews with participants, observations, documents,
and artifacts. The data are usually transformed into written text for analytic use. Selection of interview
participants requires purposive and iterative strategies. Production of interview data requires awareness
of the complexity of self-reports and the relation between experience and languaged expression. To
generate interview data of sufficient breadth and depth requires practiced skill and time. Production of
useful data from other sources is addressed.

Qualitative research is an umbrella term under which a variety changes. Denzin and Lincoln (2000) have held that different qual-
of research methods that use languaged data are clustered. Current itative methods reflect the stage of development in the philosophy
textbooks and handbooks (e.g., Denzin & Lincoln, 1998; Merriam, of social science in which the method was developed. They noted
2002; Seale, Gobo, Gubrium, & Silverman, 2004; Smith, 2003; that there were five stages in which methods were developed: the
Weinberg, 2001) typically describe a variety of research methods traditional period (1900s–1940s), the modernist phase (1950s–
that make use of languaged data. Creswell (1998) proposed that the 1970s), the period of blurred genres (1970 –mid-1980s), the time
multiple approaches could be organized under five different tradi- of the crisis of representation (mid-1980s–mid-1990s), and the
tions: biography, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, postmodern and postexperimental stages (mid-1990s–present). As
and case study. The diverse qualitative approaches ask to answer qualitative research moved through each phase, new methods were
different kinds of research questions and make use of different developed; however, methods developed in earlier periods were
analytic tools. The kind of languaged data they collect and the not discarded. Thus, the current repertoire of qualitative methods is
manner in which it is collected varies according to their disciplines a matrix of methods developed in different disciplines, different
and positions regarding the philosophy of science. traditions, and on the basis of different ideas of science. In this
The reemergence of social science research methods based on article, I do not try to accommodate all the diverse and important
qualitative data can be identified with the publication of The differences within the full range of approaches included under the
Discovery of Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Al- umbrella of qualitative methods. I limit myself to a generic dis-
though sociological studies that used the symbolic interaction cussion of the most used approach to qualitative data gathering—
approach (Meltzer, Petras, & Reynolds, 1975) and anthropological participant interviews. The use of other sources of qualitative data
studies based on field studies appeared in the early decades of the (e.g., observational and visual data, documents, and artifacts) is
20th century, by the middle of the century, mainstream social addressed by various other articles in this special issue. However,
sciences reverted to the almost exclusive use of statistically based I do briefly consider observational data and documentary evidence
research. In the 40 years since their reemergence, qualitative as they relate to the production of participant interview data.
methods have had a significant impact in the disciplines of soci- The use of languaged data is not new to psychology. In the early
ology, education, and nursing. This impact is just beginning in decades of psychology, James’s (1902) study of religious experi-
psychology. ence used documents, Brentano’s (1874/1995) studies of con-
During the last 40 years, there has been considerable expansion sciousness were based on languaged reflections of experience, and
in the variety of qualitative methods. The youthfulness of the Wundt’s (1874/1904) experiments on correlations between
resurgence permitted creativity and experimentation by qualitative changes in stimuli and changes in experience relied on languaged
researchers. However, as their use has become more acceptable in reports from participants. Early psychology was focused on the
the social sciences, a consolidation, rule setting, and “the right way study of people’s experiences. With the advent of behaviorism,
to do it” seems to be underway through the process of “textbooki- inquiry shifted to the study of observable behavior. Experience
fication.” Also during these 40 years of expansion, the philosophy was held to be unavailable to public observation, and, thus, it was
of social science has undergone major developments. something that could not be studied by what were then considered
Many qualitative researchers have been influenced by such acceptable methods. According to behaviorism, because experi-
developments and have adopted their methods to reflect these ence occurred within the “black box” of a participant’s awareness,
it could not be subject to investigation.
Beginning in the 1960s, coincident with the reemergence of the
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Donald use of qualitative methods in other social sciences, psychology
E. Polkinghorne, Department of Counseling Psychology, University of moved to reopen investigations of the black box of people’s
Southern California, 2998 South Hoover Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007. awareness (see Gardner, 1985). Under the label of cognitive psy-
E-mail: polkingh@usc.edu chology, the discipline has turned its attention back to the subjec-

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138 POLKINGHORNE

tive dimension of the human being. Much of this attention has been quantitative context, data implies that its information is a direct
focused on the neurological or computer-like substructure of this reflection of the thing it is about and is independent of those who
dimension rather than on its contents. Qualitative methods, with gathered it. However, qualitative data, whether in oral or in written
their use of languaged data, are particularly helpful for counseling discourse, are not identical to the experience they are describing.
psychology research, which inquires about the experiential life of Also, qualitative data in their oral form are a product of the
the people it serves. interaction between participant and researcher. Some qualitative
researchers (e.g., McLeod, 2001; Van Manen, 1990) have sug-
The Study of Experience gested the use of alternative terms such as accounts. Nevertheless,
it has become customary to use the term data to describe the
The area to be studied should determine the inquiry methods. accounts gathered by qualitative researchers. I use the term data in
The experiential life of people is the area qualitative methods are this article, with the understanding that it does not have the same
designed to study. “Qualitative inquiry deals with human lived connotation here as it does in quantitative research.
experience. It is the life-world as it is lived, felt, undergone, made
sense of, and accomplished by human beings that is the object of Data as Evidence
study” (Schwandt, 2001, p. 84). A primary purpose of qualitative
research is to describe and clarify experience as it is lived and The purpose of data gathering in qualitative research is to
constituted in awareness. Human experience is a difficult area to provide evidence for the experience it is investigating. The evi-
study. It is multilayered and complex; it is an ongoing flow (see dence is in the form of accounts people have given of the experi-
James’s, 1890, “stream” of experiences [p. 229]) that cannot be ence. The researcher analyzes the evidence to produce a core
halted for the benefit of researchers. Unlike the objects of nature, description of the experience. The data serve as the ground on
the layers of experience are not rigidly ordered, nor are its moving which the findings are based. In constructing the research report,
contents related according to mathematical patterns. Methods de- the researcher draws excerpts from the data to illustrate the find-
signed to study physical objects are not a good fit for the study of ings and to show the reader how the findings were derived from
experience. Qualitative methods are specifically constructed to the evidential data.
take account of the particular characteristics of human experience Most often the evidence takes the form of written texts. Written
and to facilitate the investigation of experience. evidence is gathered from documents, and data originally gener-
Experience has a vertical depth, and methods of data gathering, ated in oral form (e.g., through interviews) are transformed into
such as short-answer questionnaires with Likert scales that only written texts through transcription. However, the evidence itself is
gather surface information, are inadequate to capture the richness not the marks on the paper but the meanings represented in these
and fullness of an experience. People have access to much of their texts. It is not the printed words themselves that can be analyzed
own experiences, but their experiences are not directly available to by counting how many times a particular word appears in the text.
public view. Thus, the data gathered for study of experience need Rather, the evidence is the ideas and thoughts that have been
to consist of first-person or self-reports of participants’ own expressed by the participants. In this sense, the textual evidence is
experiences. indirect evidence.

Qualitative Data Limitations of Self-Reports as Evidence

The data required to study experience require that they are Evidence about human experience has inherent limitations com-
derived from an intensive exploration with a participant. Such an pared with data about human behavior. Because experience is not
exploration results in languaged data. The languaged data are not directly observable, data about it depend on the participants’
simply single words but interrelated words combined into sen- ability to reflectively discern aspects of their own experience and
tences and sentences combined into discourses. The interconnec- to effectively communicate what they discern through the symbols
tions and complex relations of which discourse data are composed of language. These limitations on evidence of experience hold for
make it difficult to transform them into numbers for analysis. both qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry. Quantitative
Producing findings from these data require analytic tools specifi- data about experience are often produced by self-reports of par-
cally designed to work with languaged data. ticipants to a series of questions that make up a psychological
The form of qualitative data as discourse has significant differ- instrument. In addition to the issues about participants’ partial
ences from the form of quantitative data as numbers. Current access to their own thoughts and the numeric or languaged trans-
qualitative research was developed in a context in which main- lation of these thoughts to an instrument’s questions, there is the
stream social science research valued and used statistical designs. additional concern about the construct validity of a quantitative
Statistical designs have given specific, technical meanings to the instrument. That is, does the instrument’s series of questions
terms it uses to describe its processes (e.g., significance, validity, actually capture the fullness of and variations within the experi-
sampling). Because the use of these terms has connotations drawn ence? Although these limitations also hold for qualitative evidence
from their specialized use, their adoption to describe similar but production, they are recognized, and methods of data collection are
different qualitative processes can lead to misunderstandings. used to lessen their effect.
Data is one of these terms. In the context of quantitative Evidence in the form of reports from participants’ self-reflection
research, the meaning of data is linked to the “sense data” of has a long history in psychology. In the first decades of academic
observations. “In contemporary usage, data has come to mean an psychology (1880 –1890s), terms such as introspection, self-
array of information, as in data set or data bank” (McLeod, 2001, observation, and inner perception were used to denote this type of
p. 137). It connotes “bits” of information. In addition, in the data (Danziger, 1980). The behaviorist revolt rejected any form of
 SPECIAL ISSUE: QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION 139

“introspectionism” as lacking the objectivity of publicly observ- not the experienced content of that activity. However, the produc-
able events. Despite the current use of self-report data in psycho- tion of these data requires an awareness of the issues involved in
logical statistically based studies, there is still antipathy toward languaged expressions of experience. Thus, researchers need to be
these data. In clinical and counseling psychology, client self- sensitive to the significance of participants’ use of metaphors and
reports have been, since Freud, the primary manner for gaining an stories in their expressions. They should be attentive to the possi-
understanding of human experience. Data in the form of client bility that the meaning of expressions given by participants whose
self-reflection reports remain the basic source for diagnostic and first language differs from that of the researchers may need to be
treatment decisions in psychotherapeutic work. clarified. Researchers are required to understand that translations
Although self-report evidence is necessary and valuable for of gathered data from one language to another may distort mean-
inquiry about human experience, it is not to be misconstrued as ing. They are also obliged to be aware that participants vary in
mirrored reflections of experience. People do not have complete their facility to explore experience and to express the exploration
access to their experiences. The capacity to be aware of or to in language. In addition, it is necessary that qualitative data col-
recollect one’s experiences is intrinsically limited. People do not lectors are aware that information and nuance is lost when oral
have a clear window into their inner life. data are transcribed into written text.

Any gaze is always filtered through the lens of language, gender,

social class, race, and ethnicity. . . . Subjects or individuals are seldom Selection of Participants
able to give full explanations of their actions or intentions; all they can Because the focus of qualitative research differs from the focus
offer are accounts, or stories, about what they did and why. (Denzin
of statistical research, it requires a set of principles for the selection
& Lincoln, 1998, p. 12)
of data sources. The focus of statistical research is to make claims
In addition, reflection on an experience serves to change the about a population on the basis of the study of a sample of that
experience. For example, reflection by a person who is in a state of population. Thus, it requires a random or representative selection
anxiety serves somewhat to distance and lessen the anxious of data sources from a population. The focus of qualitative inquir-
feeling. ies is on describing, understanding, and clarifying a human expe-
rience. It requires collecting a series of intense, full, and saturated
descriptions of the experience under investigation.
Self-Report Data and Language Although the term sampling is generally used in qualitative
Although people’s experiences are not perfectly transparent to research to refer to the selection of participants and documents, the
them, they do have at least partial access to them. However, the term must be used with care. It is another term, like data, that has
translation of a reflective awareness of an experience into a lan- been adopted from quantitative practices but whose meaning has
guaged expression might further distance the evidence of an ex- been altered. Sampling carries the connotation that those chosen
perience from the experience itself. The kind of interaction that are a sample of a population and the purpose of their selection is
holds between experience and its description in language remains to enable findings to be applied to a population. Sampling implies
a contested philosophical issue (Devitt & Sterelny, 1987). Posi- that the people selected are representative of a population. I think
tions on this issue lie along a continuum from Husserl’s phenom- that the term selection more closely describes the method for
enological idea that experiences precede language to Derrida’s choosing qualitative data.
postmodern notion that experience itself is a construction of the van Kaam (1969) produced an early qualitative study on a topic
language one speaks. Gendlin (1962) understood that experience is of relevance for counseling psychology, the experience of being
more complex than language and that it informs and corrects the understood. In his write-up, he describes the purpose of qualitative
words people use to express it. He cited as an example a writer’s research:
struggle to find the right word to accurately express a feeling or
To determine what kind of experience is called ‘feeling understood’
thought. Arnheim (1969) recognized that recollections and think-
and how it is experienced is precisely the problem of our research. . . .
ing often occur in visual images and that language is often an Therefore, . . . we must start from the various data of experience in
inadequate presentation of a visual experience. Wierzbicka (1999), order to formulate a valid description. (p. 314)
however, in her cross-cultural study of words used to express
emotional feelings, held that “the way people interpret their own Participants and documents for a qualitative study are not selected
emotions depends, to some extent at least, on the lexical grid because they fulfill the representative requirements of statistical
provided by their native language” (p. 26). Ricoeur (1977, 1984) inference but because they can provide substantial contributions to
presented a middle position in which he holds that experience is filling out the structure and character of the experience under
more complex and nuanced than can be expressed in literal lan- investigation.
guage. To capture the richness of experience in language often The unit of analysis in qualitative research is experience, not
requires the use of figurative expressions such as metaphors and individuals or groups. Qualitative studies vary in the kinds of
narratives. These expressions expand the meanings contained in experience they investigate; yet, their interest is about the experi-
literal language to those that more closely indicate experienced ence itself not about its distribution in a population. Some studies
meanings. Ricoeur maintained that languaged expressions them- focus on displaying the constituent and relational aspects that
selves add to experience and serve to congeal and give differen- make up an experience, and other studies focus on exhibiting an
tiation to experiences. experiential process. An example of a study of an experiential
Despite the problems involved in transforming human life ex- structure is the Giorgi and Giorgi (2003) phenomenological study
periences into language, language is our primary access to people’s of the experience of learning. An example of an inquiry into an
experiences. Brain scans can only indicate neurological activity, experiential process is Brott and Myers’s (1999) grounded theory
140 POLKINGHORNE

study of the experience of the development of counselor identity. sample from which most can be learned. This is called a purposive
Findings from these qualitative studies provide an enriched under- or purposeful sample. (p. 12)
standing of an experience itself rather than how different individ-
uals or groups vary in their learning or how counselors vary in the Individuals who can provide relevant descriptions of an expe-
number of years it takes to experience the achievement of profes- rience are primarily those who have had or are having the expe-
sional identity. In both cases, the selection process involved a rience. For example, a study of the experience of being depressed
purposive selection of participants and documents that could serve would include participants who have been or who are depressed. If
as providers of significant accounts of the experience under the data are to be produced through an interview, then one would
investigation. have to choose people who are willing to describe their experience
Selection of sources of qualitative data is analogous to the to a researcher. In addition, one would choose participants who can
selection of sentences in a study of grammar. If the question is adequately reflect on their experience and verbally describe it.
about the essential aspects or properties of a sentence, then one Qualitative researchers most often use a small number of partici-
initially selects a variety of sentences. The first group of sentences pants in their studies. The reason for the use of multiple partici-
is analyzed and found to consist of two different types— declara- pants is to provide accounts from different perspectives about an
tive and interrogative sentences. The search is continued not to experience. By comparing and contrasting these perspectives, re-
find more of the types one has already gathered but for those that searchers are able to notice the essential aspects that appear across
display other types of organization, such as imperative and ex- the sources and to recognize variations in how the experience
clamatory sentences. From these data examples, further analysis is appears. In this sense, multiple participants serve as a kind of
carried out, leading to a finding that the essential aspect of a triangulation on the experience, locating its core meaning by
sentence is a subject–verb relation. Other aspects, such as phrases approaching it through different accounts. Triangulation does not
and connectives, can be attached to the subject–verb relation. In serve to verify a particular account but to allow the researcher to
addition, the researcher notices that the order in which words are move beyond a single view of the experience. The use of multiple
placed alters the sentence’s meaning—for example, “dog bites participants serves to deepen the understanding of the investigated
man” versus “man bites dog.” experience; it is not for the purpose of making claims about the
Determining the essential aspects of sentences involves the distribution of the experience in a population.
selection of notable exemplars. Selection of exemplars differs
from random selection in that exemplars are chosen for what
they promise to contribute to the clarification of the topic Iteration
being examined. If the question had been what the ratio of
declarative sentences to interrogative sentences is in a particular Selection of sources most often remains open throughout the
book, then a different approach would be necessary. In this research process. After initial accounts are gathered, they are
case, a statistical approach would be used to collect a represen- analyzed to construct a preliminary description or a theory of the
tative sample from the book’s text. Qualitative findings are not experience. On the basis of the preliminary description, additional
directed to determining the most likely or mean experience participants are selected who are thought to be able to fill in,
within a group but to describing the aspects that make up an expand, or challenge the initial description. The research process is
experience. an iterative one, moving from collection of data to analysis and
back until the description is comprehensive. One of the most used
purposive–iterative processes of data collection was proposed by
Purposive Selection Glaser and Strauss (1967). They termed the process theoretical
Because the goal of qualitative research is enriching the under- sampling, and it was later defined in Strauss and Corbin (1990) as
standing of an experience, it needs to select fertile exemplars of the the following:
experience for study. Such selections are purposeful and sought
Sampling on the basis of concepts that have proven theoretical rele-
out; the selection should not be random or left to chance. The
vance to the evolving theory. Relevance means that concepts are
concern is not how much data were gathered or from how many
deemed to be significant because they are repeatedly present or
sources but whether the data that were collected are sufficiently notably absent when comparing incident after incident and are of
rich to bring refinement and clarity to understanding an sufficient importance to be given the status of categories. (p. 176)
experience.
The purposive selection of data sources involves choosing peo-
Glaser and Strauss (1967) suggested that the iteration of data
ple or documents from which the researcher can substantially learn
collection continues until the description of the experience is
about the experience. Patton (1990) has said that it is important to
saturated, that is, until the new sources repeat what has been
select “information-rich cases for study in depth. Information-rich
previously learned and no longer deepen or challenge the finding.
cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues
Many qualitative studies have used static, rather than iterative,
of central importance to the purpose of the research, thus the term
sampling. In static sampling, all the data are gathered prior to
purposive sampling” (p. 169). Merriam (2002) gives the following
analysis. Although static sampling does not provide for choosing
advice to qualitative researchers:
additional participants whose purpose is to challenge and deepen
To begin with, since you are not interested in ‘how much’ or ‘how the initial analysis, it is sometimes a practical approach to data
often,’ random sampling makes little sense. Instead, since quali- gathering. Nevertheless, static sampling eliminates the research-
tative inquiry seeks to understand the meaning of a phenomenon er’s ability to reach out to other participants who might correct or
from the perspectives of the participants, it is important to select a expand aspects of their developing description.
 SPECIAL ISSUE: QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION 141

Selection Strategies psychotherapy might select as participants those whose initial

therapy began after the age of 50.
Qualitative studies have used various strategies for locating and After the research is underway and initial analysis has begun to
recruiting participants who purposively fulfill the data needs of a uncover patterns and characteristics of the experience, another
study, whether these sources are initial or iterative sources. Re- selection strategy is used—the selection of confirmatory and dis-
searchers can first generate an expanded list of possible partici- confirmatory participants. As part of the iterative process of qual-
pants who have had the experience under investigation and might itative research, additional participants are selected. These addi-
be available for interviews. This list, which serves as a participant tions are made within one of the previously mentioned strategies.
pool, can be generated through asking a number of people who The selections are based on the likelihood that they will confirm or
know a lot about the experience. Those mentioned can be added to elaborate on the emerging descriptions or provide opportunities for
the pool, and they can be asked whether they are aware of others disconfirmation of the emerging pattern.
who might be informed participants for the study. This is a In all of these strategies, there is a reason and purpose for
“snowballing strategy,” for it produces a pool of possible partici- selecting participants. The accounts they can give are sought out
pants. As the pool is generated, questionnaires can be used to because they are thought to provide an important perspective that
produce brief descriptions of the people on the list. (Information should elucidate and clarify the experience being investigated.
about the people on the list might be expanded by a brief telephone Participation in a qualitative study requires those selected to give
conversation.) The pool list remains open, and new members can considerable time. It is sometimes difficult for researchers to find
be added even after the research has begun. The point of creating suitable participants. Thus, gathering participants involves not
a list is to create a diverse pool of possible participants from which only choosing those who fit a selection strategy but also finding
those to be interviewed can be purposively selected. people who are willing to be interviewed.
Depending on the aim of the research, different strategies of Because of the considerable effort involved in purposively gath-
selection of participants from the pool can be used. One strategy is ering participants, some researchers fall into the least desirable
maximum variation sampling, in which the researcher selects selection process, convenience sampling. This approach is not so
participants with the most divergent forms of the experience. For much a strategy as it is the use of people who happen to be
example, in a study of the experience of being an undergraduate available to the researcher as participants. Convenience sampling
student, the researcher would select students from various kinds of most often fails to yield perspectives that expand and enhance the
schools— community colleges, both public and private 4-year col- understanding of the breadth and depth of a studied experience.
leges—and students from different undergraduate classes—fresh- The richness and depth of qualitative findings depend on the
man, sophomore, junior, and senior. The intention of this selection quality of the sources from which the analysis is drawn. Sources
process is to explore the variation within students as well as the are chosen not on the basis that they are a randomlike represen-
common core of being a student. In contrast to the maximum tative of a population or because they happen to be available but
variation strategy, the researcher can select participants from a because they can provide clarifying accounts of an experience. The
particular subgroup whose experience is expected to be somewhat focus of selection is not individuals but accounts of an experience.
alike, for example, first-year students at a particular college whose Selection is done with a purpose, and researchers should include in
parents are non-English speaking. This strategy is termed homo- their write-ups a description of how and why they selected these
geneous sampling, and its purpose is to describe the experience of particular sources. The validity and trustworthiness of qualitative
a particular subgroup in depth. research is related to the selection of viable sources that promote
Another selection strategy is the selection of participants whose a deepening of the understanding of the experience inquired about.
experience is typical of the one under study. The determination of
which members of a pool are likely typical can come from infor- Production of Evidence
mants, preliminary phone interviews, or member demographics.
The purpose of selecting participants whose experience was typi- The purpose of qualitative data is to provide evidence (i.e., to
cal is used to produce a description that contains the usual struc- make evident) the characteristics of an experience. The data are in
tural dimensions of the experience—not to produce generalized the form of descriptions or accounts that increase an understanding
descriptions that hold for all who have had the experience. In of human life as lived. There are three major sources of qualitative
contrast to typical sampling is extreme or deviant sampling. For data: interviews, observations, and documents. Interviews produce
example, a study of the experience of a program intervention might first-person accounts of the experience; observations record or
select those participants whose experiences were most positive and memo a researcher’s encounters in the presence of those undergo-
those whose experiences were most negative. This strategy, unlike ing an experience; and documents are written sources (although
the strategy of selecting typical participants, allows for uncovering they can include oral or visual documents) about an experience.
the boundaries of differences within an experience. However, data in these three forms are not simply collected. As
Other strategies include critical case (or participant) sampling McLeod (2001) has noted,
and criterion sampling. In critical case sampling, participants
The influence of psychology on counseling and psychotherapy re-
whose experiences are particularly significant because of their
search has meant that even qualitative researchers can often fall into
intensity or irregularity are selected. For example, in a study of the the trap of regarding their work as data collection (like picking apples
experience of anxiety, the researcher might choose students who from a tree) rather than construction (like writing a story). (p. 138)
are studying for a final examination in a course they are close to
failing and that they need to pass to graduate. In criterion sam- Data used in qualitative research are not simply lying about on the
pling, participants are selected who meet some important prede- surface ready to be gathered up; rather, the researcher is required
termined criterion. For example, a study of the experience of to dig below the surface to bring up experiential accounts. The first
142 POLKINGHORNE

act of production (as described in the previous section) is selecting has used this method to explore aspects of the therapeutic process
from all of the possible sources that are available (interviews, with outstanding success.
observations, documents, and artifacts) the ones that are most The production of participant accounts through interviewing
likely to inform the researcher about the character of the experi- involves the transfer of recalled experiences into languaged dis-
ence being explored. The second act of production occurs in course. These accounts are given in prose form, that is, as ordinary
drawing out from these sources the data that serve to render a spoken language. They are presented as sentences linked together
refined and rich description of the experience under study. into paragraphs and as paragraphs linked together into a text. The
produced account may consist of a loosely linked collection of
descriptions, explanations, and stories. It is common in qualitative
Production of Interview-Based Data research to refer to this interview-produced collection of prose
responses as a narrative account (e.g., Van Manen, 1990). How-
The most widely used approach to the production of qualitative
ever, narrative researchers reserve the term narrative to refer to a
data is interviews with participants. Potter (1996) has defined
particular kind of produced discourse and to distinguish narrative
interviewing as a “technique of gathering data from humans by
responses from other prose responses. Narrative responses have
asking them questions and getting them to react verbally” (p. 96).
the form of a story with the beginning-middle-end structure. The
The purpose of the interview is to gain a full and detailed account
described events and happenings are tied together by a plot,
from an informant of the experience under study. Kvale (1996) has
through which they are attributed meaning in terms of their con-
written that its “purpose is to obtain descriptions of the life-world
tribution to the story’s denouement (Polkinghorne, 1995). Ac-
of the interviewee with respect to interpreting the meaning of the
counts of an experience that are given in narrative form can require
described phenomena” (pp. 5– 6). Assisting the participant to pro-
special analytic procedures (for more detail and elaboration, see
duce such an account is a skilled activity. There is considerable
Hoshmand, 2005).
overlap between the skills involved in research interviewing and
It is the normal practice in qualitative interviewing to audio
those needed by counseling psychologists in their counseling and
record the sessions. The recordings are transcribed, passing from
psychotherapeutic work. Both practices require an ability to form
the original oral form into written form. The purpose of the
an accepting relationship, skill in active listening, and focus on the
conversion into a written account is to allow the detailed and
other’s experiential world. However, the aims of the two practices
to-and-fro reading required in the analysis of the qualitative data.
differ. The aim of the research interview is to accomplish the
However, information present in the oral recording is lost in the
researcher’s goal of gaining information from the participant, and
transformation. Lost is the way in which things were said, the
the aim of the counseling interview is to aid the client in accom-
pacing, the intonation, and the emphasis in the talk. Symbol
plishing his or her goals. It is important for counselors doing a
systems have been devised to capture these elements present in the
research interview to make clear to themselves and to the partic-
oral tapes (e.g., those devised for use in conversational analysis;
ipants the goal that is being pursued.
see ten Have, 1999). However, such systems are not in wide use.

Interviewing Formats The Interview Process

Although research interviews are sometimes conducted with The researcher is interested in gaining a rich and inclusive
groups (e.g., focus groups; Morgan, 1988, 2002), most qualitative account of the participant’s experience. Often, the initial descrip-
interviews are one-to-one or dyadic interviews. Unlike question- tions offered by the participant are restrained. They reflect con-
naires and formal diagnostic interviews, research interviews are cerns of the participant about the acceptableness of the answers, a
most often unstructured. However, the researcher knows in ad- testing of what they want to reveal, or the surface of a remembered
vance the experience he or she wants the participant to describe experience. Too often, interview-produced data contain only initial
and has often written out questions (or protocols) he or she wants reflections of participants without explorations into the depth and
the participant to cover. The interview proceeds as a “professional breadth of the experience. In order to obtain interview data of
conversation” (Kvale, 1996, p. 5). The conversation consists of a sufficient quality to produce worthwhile findings, researchers need
give-and-take dialectic in which the interviewer follows the con- to engage with participants in more than a one-shot, 1-hr session;
versational threads opened up by the interviewee and guides the they need to attend to establishing a trusting, open relationship
conversation toward producing a full account of the experience with the participant and to focus on the meaning of the partici-
under investigation. pant’s life experiences rather than on the accuracy of his or her
A kind of interview process of particular interest for counseling recall.
psychology research is the interpersonal process recall (IPR) The typical qualitative interview has been a one-shot occurrence
method (Elliott, 1986). In the IPR process, a psychotherapy session lasting about 1 hr. However, one-shot interviews are most often
is recorded on video (the process has also been used with audio not sufficient to produce the full and rich descriptions necessary
recordings). After the session, the client or therapist sits with the for worthwhile findings. Seidman (1991) has suggested that a
interviewer and views or listens to the session. The interview takes sequence of three interviews with a participant is more likely to
place while the psychotherapy participant and interviewer are produce accounts of sufficient depth and breadth. He has suggested
watching the tape. When an event appears that the participant that the focus of the first interview be on getting acquainted,
recognizes as significant, the tape is stopped. Then the interviewee developing rapport, laying out the area that the researcher would
is asked to reflect on the event by recalling the experience that like the interviewee to explore, and trying some initial forays into
occurred at that time. The researcher assists the interviewee to the topic. Between the first and second interview, the participant
explore the experience with open-ended questions. Rennie (1992) will have had time to think more deeply about the experience, and,
 SPECIAL ISSUE: QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION 143

thus, the second interview should be more focused and should suggestions, researchers need to take care that their expectations
allow time to explore the experience in depth. Before the third do not infiltrate the account. They need to manage their influence
interview, the researcher reviews the transcript of the first two and bring focus to the participant’s own understandings. An ac-
interviews. In the third interview, the researcher asks follow-up count that is authentically the participant’s description depends on
questions to fill in and to clarify the account, and the participant the integrity of the interviewers and their awareness of their own
can add newly remembered information. Quality interview data propensities to generate accounts that match their own
usually involves multiple sessions with participants, including expectations.
follow-up interviews to clarify and expand participant descriptions The purpose of interviews is to produce alternative perspectives
during the analytic process. on the experience under study. The researcher does not learn more
To move past initial thin, surface responses from participants, about an experience when a participant’s account simply dupli-
researchers need to demonstrate to the participant that it is safe to cates what the researcher already knows. The most useful accounts
be open and revealing of deeply personal feelings and information. describe unexpected and unanticipated aspects of an experience.
As the interview conversation advances, at each additional level of New aspects that appear during a participant’s description enrich
uncovering, concerns of the participant are often revisited. In order the collection of data and call for the researcher to probe and
to assist in helping interviewees to further openness to share details explore those aspects further.
of their experiences, the researcher needs to maintain rapport with The production of quality data through participant interviews
and the confidence of the interviewee (Glaser, 1978). Access to requires skillful exploration with each participant. Although train-
one’s experiences is not straightforward; it often requires assis- ing in counseling interviewing is helpful in qualitative research
tance and probing to discover and explore areas of the experience interviewing, it is not directly transferable. Research interviewing
that did not emerge initially. It is the interviewer’s task to help in has different goals and requires different skills. Attaining sufficient
unpacking an experience and gaining access to deeper levels and skill in research interviewing requires practice and instruction.
more nuanced descriptions of the experience. Because of the Sufficient research interviewing skill needs to be practiced and
individual differences of interviewees and the unpredictable flow mastered before beginning a qualitative study. Also, to achieve full
of a research conversation, qualitative interviewing cannot be scrutiny of their experience by participants, sufficient time with
reduced to a set of techniques or instructions, rather, it relies on the them is required. The singular word interview is used as an
skilled judgment of the interviewer to move the conversation adjective modifying a type of data, that is, interview data. It does
along. not connote that interview data require only a single interview.
As a means for gaining access to the meaning experiences of
participants, researchers often ask participants to explore and give Use of Observational Data
accounts of past experiences, not of those they are presently
having. But the accounts produced through interviewing are not “Observation is the technique of gathering data through direct
mirrored images of the participants’ experience as it actually contact with an object— usually another human being. The re-
occurred in the past. Memories are reconstructions of the past, not searcher watches the behavior and documents the properties of the
simply retrieval. Human memory is not an infallible system object” (Potter, 1996, p. 98). Observations are the primary data
(Schacter, 1999). For example, memories of past experiences may source in sociological community studies and anthropological field
be colored by present mood and emotional state, and they can be studies (Angrosino & Mays de Pérez, 2000). Observations are also
influenced by suggestions (compare the recent debate over re- used to supplement and clarify data derived from participant
pressed memory syndrome). However, memory of past experi- interviews. One source of observational data in connection with
ences is not completely fallible. Recall of an experience’s meaning interviewing is the participants’ behaviors, facial expressions, ges-
can be primed and assisted by interviewers. The purpose of the tures, bodily tone, clothing, and other nonverbal indications. Data
exploration of remembered events is not to produce accurate from these sources can be used to shed light on the meaning of a
recalls but to provide an occasion for reflection on the meaning participant’s oral comments. Another source is the environment in
these events have for the participant. which the interview takes place; for example, if an interview is
Producing interview data is unlike the production of question- conducted in a participant’s home or office, the furniture arrange-
naire data. In questionnaire data, the questions are held to be a ment, displays of photos and pictures, books, magazines, and other
constant stimulus so that the only variation in answers can be reading materials can serve as indicators of a participant’s expe-
assumed to originate from the respondent. In producing interview rience. Observational data take on a larger role in qualitative
data, the questions vary and are adjusted to the individual being inquiries that concern experiences of children or those of other
interviewed. The presence and variety of questions posed by the persons who are only able to express their thoughts with difficulty.
researcher affect a participant’s recall, and, thus, the produced To be incorporated into the collection of textual data used in
account is sometimes referred to as a cocreation. analysis, observations need to be recorded in written form. Obser-
The interviewer’s presence and form of involvement— how she vational notes can be recorded during an interview, but most often,
or he listens, attends, and terminates responses—is integral to a they are made immediately after its conclusion. The immediacy is
respondent’s account. It is in this specific sense that a “story” is a important to allow better recall of the observations and their
joint production (Mishler, 1986, p. 82). Although the produced contribution to an understanding of the experience. Some research-
account is affected by the researcher, it is important that the ers first record their observations with an audio recorder and
participant remain the author of the description. The function of transcribe them later. Others record them directly in written form.
the researcher is more like a supportive editor whose assistance Further contributing observations may be recalled during a review
leads the author to produce a fuller and deeper account. Because of the interview audiotape. The observational notes, often termed
the recall of an experience is elusive and subject to interviewer memos in the qualitative literature, are attached to the interview
144 POLKINGHORNE

transcriptions as part of the text to be analyzed. (Memos are also Conclusion

produced during the analysis of data to capture ideas and thoughts
Although interviews, supplemented by observational and docu-
of researchers as they come to mind.) Memos can serve to adjust
mentary data, have served as the primary source of qualitative
the protocol and remind interviewers of topics they want to explore data, they are not the only method for producing qualitative data.
in follow-up interviews or approaches to use in interviewing new Qualitative researchers have been quite creative in finding other
participants. ways to tap into people’s experiential life. For example, Csikszent-
Patton (1987) has noted that “[t]he quality of observational data mihalyi (1990), in his study on flow, had participants wear beep-
are highly dependent on the skill, training, and competence of the ers. The researcher would place calls to the beepers at different
evaluator” (p. 70). Skilled observation is the result of training and times, and participants were to write down what and how they
focus. The production of useful observational data differs from were experiencing at the time of the call. Aanstoos (1986) studied
ordinary, everyday observation. A skilled observer is able to the psychology of thinking by use of the “think-aloud” technique.
identify and describe observations that will contribute to a clarified In think aloud, participants monitor and describe their own think-
and satiated description. Not everything that is sensed in an inter- ing as it occurs while engaging in an activity such as playing chess.
view situation is significant, and some significant observations are In addition to textual data, qualitative researchers have made use of
not immediately apparent. As is the case in producing worthwhile mute data (photos and artifacts; Harper, 2000).
interview data, producing useful observational data requires train- The data produced from the various sources are assembled into
ing and experience. a single text for the final analytic work. The subunits of the text are
made up of the data that relate to each participant. The final text
produced for a particular qualitative study may be quite massive.
Use of Documentary and Visual Data Kvale (1996) has teased qualitative researchers about being con-
fronted with having to analyze 1,000 pages of interview tran-
Documentary evidence can consist of written, oral, visual (such scripts. He noted that such a large text is probably the result of
as photographs), or cultural artifacts (see Hodder, 1994; Prior, unfocused interviewing aimed at the achievement of quantity
2004). Documents are an underused source of data for counseling rather than “on the content and the qualitative meaning of what
psychology. Over the years, counseling psychology has accumu- was said” (Kvale, 1996, p. 179). Nevertheless, the production of
lated a vast number of recorded psychotherapy and counseling data for a qualitative study typically does result in hundreds of
sessions. The transcripts and videotapes of these sessions contain pages of languaged data. The advent of the computer and word-
a reservoir of data that can serve counseling researchers. For processing have made the management of data more efficient.
example, Zukowski (1997) selected a series of transcripts of Rog- Although designed to assist in the analysis of data, programs such
er’s therapy session as data for her study of the dialogic of rest and as Atlas/ti and Nud-ist (see Barry, 1998) also serve to keep the
movement in psychotherapy. whole data text together in one computer file, allowing the re-
There are several other approaches to the use of documents in searchers easy access to the material.
qualitative counseling psychology research. Stevick (1971) used Although the ethical issues involved in qualitative research are
documents in her study of the experience of anxiety. Instead of the topic of another article in this issue (Haverkamp, 2005), I
wanted to close with a few comments about the ethics of qualita-
interviewing participants, she had them write essays about their
tive data collection. The kind of data required to study experience
experience. Although much less time-consuming than conducting
is from the personal lives of participants. The production of these
interviews with each participant, essays do not provide the kind of
data is not governed by a set of precise rules; the researcher has
data that is possible through the interview exploration through the
considerable leeway in the selection and process of developing
layers of experience. S. E. Otterness (personal communication, these data. Thus, researchers need to be persistent in their judg-
March 12, 2004), in his study of the spiritual dimension of therapy, ments that the data present the perspectives of the participants. The
has collected written descriptions by mystics of their spiritual trustworthiness of the data depends on the integrity and honesty of
experiences. S. R. Ramesh (personal communication, March 12, the research. Their production process needs to be transparent to
2004) has collected self-studies and other documents from a se- the reviewers and to those who would use the findings in their
lection of counseling psychology programs as data for her study practices. Foremost, the welfare of the participants must be the
about the implementation of the scientist–practitioner model of primary concern in the production of qualitative data. In addition
training. McCabe’s (2003) study of the experience of grief used to maintaining the confidentiality of participants, researchers need
personal journals and published descriptions. Her analysis of these to proceed with sensitivity and concern for their needs and desires.
data portrayed grief as a long-term, continuing, and spiraling
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