The purpose of this study is to demonstrate three ways of analyzing qualitative interview data: content, cultural models, and narrative analyses. We draw upon the same set of interview data with 250 Latino parents of young children with mental retardation or developmental delay to illustrate these three types of analyses. Interwoven with the analyses are suggestions for ways in which studies in early intervention could be extended by considering different approaches to examining qualitative data.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arcia, E., Blanes, M., Vázquez-Montilla, E. (in press). Constructions and reconstructions: Latino parents' values for children. Journal of Child and Family Studies.
2.
Bailey, D., Skinner, D., & Correa, V., & Arcia, E., Reyes-Blanes, M., Rodriguez, P., Vázquez-Montilla, E., & Skinner, M. (in press). Needs and supports reported by Latino families of young children with developmental disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation.
3.
Bailey, D., Skinner, D., & Rodriguez, P., & Gut, D., & Correa, V. (1999). Awareness, use, and satisfaction with services for Latino parents of young children with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 65, 367–381.
4.
Bernard, H. R. (1995). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (2nd ed). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
5.
Bernard, H. R., & Ryan, G.W. (1998). Text analysis: Qualitative and quantitative methods. In H. R. Bernard (Ed.), Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology (pp. 595–646). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
6.
Bodgan, R., Brown, M., & Foster, S. (1982). Be honest, but not cruel: Staff/parent communication on a neonatal unit. Human Organization, 41, 6–16.
7.
Borg, W., & Gall, M. (1983). Educational research: An introduction (4th ed.). White Plains: Longman.
8.
Brotherson, M. J., & Goldstein, B.L. (1992). Time as a resource and constraint for parents of young children with disabilities: Implications for early intervention services. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 12, 508–527.
9.
D'Andrade, R., & Strauss, C. (Eds.) (1992). Human motives and cultural models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.
Denzin, N. K. (1989). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods.Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
11.
Donegan, M. M., Ostrosky, M. M., & Fowler, S. A. (1996). Children enrolled in multiple programs: Characteristics, supports, and barriers to teacher communication. Journal of Early Intervention, 20, 95–106.
12.
Fewell, R. R. (1986). Supports from religious organizations and personal beliefs. In R. R. Fewell & P. F. Vadasy (Eds.), Families of handicapped children: Needs and supports across the life span (pp. 297–316). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
13.
Frank, A. W. (1995). The wounded storyteller: Body, illness, and ethics.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
14.
Fulcher, G. (1989). Disabling policies? A comparative approach to education policy and disability.London: The Falmer Press.
15.
Garro, L. (1994). Narrative representations of chronic illness experience: Cultural models of illness, mind, and body in stories concerning the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Social Science and Medicine38, 775–788.
16.
Gonzalez Alvarez, L. I. (1998). A short course in sensitivity training: Working with Hispanic families of children with disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 31, 73–77.
17.
Good, B., & Good, M. (1994). In the subjunctive mode: Epilepsy narratives in Turkey. Social Science and Medicine, 38, 835–842.
18.
Gray, D. E. (1995). Lay conceptions of autism: Parents' explanatory models. Medical Anthropology, 16, 99–118.
19.
Guba, E. G. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries. Educational Communication and Technology, 29, 75–91.
20.
Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., & Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds.Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
21.
Holland, D., & Quinn, N. (Eds.) (1987). Cultural models in language and thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
22.
Hughes, M., & McCollum, J. (1994). Neonatal intensive care: Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of what is stressful. Journal of Early Intervention, 18, 258–268.
23.
Johnson, L. J., & LaMontagne, M.J. (1993). Using content analysis to examine verbal or written communication of stakeholders within early intervention. Journal of Early Intervention, 17, 73–79.
24.
Kazdin, A. E. (1982). Single-case research designs.New York: Oxford University Press.
25.
Krippendorf, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology.Newbury Park: Sage.
26.
Kroesen, K., Chin, D., & Gallimore, R., Ryan. G., Subramanian, S., Takeuchi, D., Tucker, B., & Weisner, T. (1998). Qualitative tools for multi-method research: A guide to the literature.UCLA: Neuropsychiatric Institute.
27.
Lang, G. C. (1989). “Making sense” about diabetes: Dakota narratives of illness. Medical Anthropology, 11, 305–327.
28.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E.G. (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage.
29.
Lutz, C. A., & Abu-Lughod, L. (Eds.) (1990). Language and the politics of emotion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
Manning, P. K., & Cullum-Swan, B. (1994). Narrative, content, and semiotic analysis. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 463–477). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
31.
Mardiros, M. (1989). Conception of childhood disability among Mexican-American parents. Medical Anthropology, 12, 55–68.
32.
Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative researching.London: Sage.
33.
Mathews, H. F., Lannin, D. R., & Mitchell, J. P. (1994). Coming to terms with advanced breast cancer: Black women's narratives from eastern North Carolina. Social Science and Medicine, 38, 789–800.
34.
Mattingly, C., & Garro, L.C. (1994). Introduction. Social Science and Medicine, 18, 771–774.
35.
McBride, S. L., Brotherson, M. J., & Joanning, H., & Whiddon, D., & Demmitt, A. (1993). Implementation of family-centered services: Perceptions of families and professionals. Journal of Early Intervention, 17, 414–430.
36.
McWilliam, R., Tocci, L., & Harbin, G. (1998). Family-centered services: Service providers' discourse and behavior. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18, 206–221.
37.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
38.
Patton, M. Q. (1987). How to use qualitative methods in evaluation.Newbury Park: Sage.
39.
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park: Sage.
40.
Phillips, M. (1990). Damaged goods: Oral narratives of the experience of disability in American culture. Social Science and Medicine, 30, 849–857.
41.
Price, L. (1987). Ecuadorian illness stories: Cultural knowledge in natural discourse. In D. Holland & N. Quinn (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 313–342). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
42.
Quinn, N. (1997). Research on the psychodynamics of shared task solutions. In C. Strauss & N. Quinn (Eds.), A cognitive theory of cultural meaning (pp. 189–209). New York: Cambridge University Press.
43.
Quinn, N., & Holland, D. (1987). Culture and cognition. In D. Holland & N. Quinn, (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 3–40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
44.
Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative analysis.Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
45.
Rogers-Dulan, J. (1998). Religious connectedness among urban African American families who have a child with disabilities. Mental Retardation, 36, 91–103.
46.
Rogers-Dulan, J., & Blacher, J. (1995). African American families, religion, and disability: A conceptual framework. Mental Retardation, 33, 226–238.
47.
Rutledge, C. M., Levin, J. S., Larson, D. B., & Lyons, J. S. (1995). The importance of religion for parents coping with a chronically ill child. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 14, 50–57.
48.
Skinner, D., Bailey, D., & Correa, V., & Rodriguez, P. (1999). Narrating self and disability: Latino mothers' construction of identities vis-à-vis their child with special needs. Exceptional Children., 65, 481–495.
49.
Skinner, D., Correa, V., & Skinner, M., & Bailey, D. (1999). Religion as a support system for Latino families of young children with developmental delays. Manuscript submitted for publication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
50.
Trotter, R. T., & Schensul, J.J. (1998). Methods in applied anthropology. In H. R. Bernard (Ed.), Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology (pp. 691–735). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
51.
Weisner, T. S., Beizer, L., & Stolze, L. (1991). Religion and families of children with developmental delays. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 95, 647–662.
52.
Weisner, T. S., Matheson, C. C., Bernheimer, L.P. (1996). American cultural models of early influence and parent recognition of developmental delays: Is earlier always better than later? In S. Harkness & C. M. Super (Eds.), Parents' cultural belief systems: Their origins, expressions, and consequences (pp. 496–531). New York: The Guilford Press.
53.
Zuniga, M. E. (1992). Families with Latino roots. In E. W. Lynch & M. J. Hanson (Eds.), Developing cross-cultural competence: A guide for working with young children and their families (pp. 151–179). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
