AESTHETIC FORMS OF DATA REPRESENTATION IN QUALITATIVE FAMILY THERAPY RESEARCH

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Jan 2005 by Piercy, Fred P, Benson, Kristen

Capturing and Presenting Qualitative Findings Through Metaphors and Pictures of Metaphors

Arthur, Hale-Life, and Reigle (2002), interviewed 13 graduate students to better understand their experience of power and control in graduate school. They identified categories of control and wrote an article asserting both research and clinical implications of their findings. One of their research questions, however, captured the imaginations of the participants. This question was, "Share with me a metaphor or picture that would describe or illustrate (your) experience." Several of the metaphors included:

An hourglass . . . never having enough time . . . always watching the time and knowing it will run out before I can finish. That is what graduate school has been like for me. (p. 12)

Dogs jumping through hoops, (p. 12)

I feel like one of those cabbage patch kids that's stuck in the garden and they (the professors) get to choose, who does the best here. And so they come through and they just pick them out by their cabbage heads . . . (p. 11)

A miner digging in a dark cave . . . with this dull tool everyday, everyday, digging, digging, digging. You can't really see what you are doing, but you're working very hard . . . (p. 11)

The researchers sought out pictures of each metaphor through Internet photo sites and printed 9" � 12" photos of each (e.g., a dog jumping through a hoop, an hourglass, a miner digging). When they presented their research results they asked their audience to form small groups to discuss which of the pictures "fit" the audiences' experience, and what suggestions the audience might have for these graduate students. The metaphors, and their representation in picture form, served to bring their research to life in a way that a verbal summary of the results could not.

Similarly, in Bischof's (1999) phenomenological study on the experiences of family therapists working in medical settings, he asked participants for a metaphor that represented their work as medical family therapists. The resulting metaphors are what I (FP) remember most about his results. They included trudging through sand, tag team wrestling, whitewater rafting, being the first mate on a ship, cheerleading, and even marriage.

An Autoethnographic Poem

The area of research interest of Love-Norris (2002), a graduate student, is caregivers' experiences working with patients with Alzheimer's disease. Her interest is an outgrowth of caring for her uncle, who has Alzheimer's. Imagine an audience's connection with Love-Norris's research if she firsts shares an autoethnographic poem, such as the one below about her relationship with her uncle.

A Performance Play

Joyce Arditti and her research team (Arditti, Lambert-Shute, Joest, & Walker, 2001) recently presented a performance text of the results of extensive interviews with family members waiting to see their loved ones at a county jail. After presenting the purpose and procedures of their study in a traditional manner, they positioned themselves in different parts of the room. As statistics and themes were projected onto a screen, the researchers read entries from their field notes. Here are illustrative examples from Arditti (2003):