Grounded Theory and Focus Groups: Reconciling Methodologies in Indigenous Australian Education Research

Jan Stewart

doi:10.1017/S1326011100004671

Authors

Jan Stewart University of Queensland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1326011100004671

Abstract

This paper captures an ideological moment in time in which I contemplated the methodological approach I was embarking upon. In my search for a more appropriate approach for conducting research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tertiary students at the University of Queensland, I chose focus groups set within the qualitative process of grounded theory. This paper explores the meaning, usefulness and persistence of grounded theory, how it juxtaposes with focus groups, and the implications for the reciprocal integrity of the research for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and me. Within this context and the tenets of grounded theory I ask questions such as, “For how long in the process can your research texts (linking data and theory) about field texts (participants’ narratives) remain purely inductive?” And, “How does the movement between inductive theory development and deductive assumptions fit widi issues of power and authority in an Australian Indigenous context?”

I see possibility in the complementary use of grounded theory and focus groups that creates dialogic relationships between the students as both narrators and audience. Through the interaction of retelling, reliving and recreating life experiences in conversations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tertiary students conceptualise their individual subjectivities in a process of self-construction. How perceptive I am in “seeing” developing concepts within the students’ testimonies, and how I interpret those concepts in relation to existing theoretical content, may lead to new theory that influences the ongoing deconstruction of grand narratives often assigned to group identities. Co-research among the participants can provide the opportunity for monitoring the generative process.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bakhtin M. ( 1986). The problem of the text in linguistics, philology, and the human sciences (V. Mcgee, Trans.). In Emerson C., & Holquist M. (Eds.), Speech genres and other late essays(pp. 103– 131). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Bower G., & Morrow D. ( 1990). Mental models in narrative comprehension. Science, 247: 44– 48.

Bruner J. ( 1987). Life as narrative. Social Research, 54( 1), Spring, 11– 32.

Charmaz K. ( 2000). Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods. In Denzin N., & Lincoln Y. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research(pp. 509–35). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Foucault M. ( 1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972-1977. London: Harvester Press.

Foucault M. ( 2002). Confronting governments: Human rights. In Faubion J.D. (Ed.), Power: Essential works of Foucault, 1954-1984(Vol. 3). London: Penguin.

Freire P. ( 1985). The politics of education: Culture, power and liberation. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.

Gergen K. ( 1994). Realities and relationships: Soundings in social construction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Gleick J. ( 1987). Chaos: Making a new science. New York, NY: Penguin.

hooks b. ( 1992). Black looks: Race and representation. Boston, MA: : South End Press.

Huggins J. ( 1998). Sister girl: The writings of Aboriginal activist and historian Jackie Huggins. St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press.

Janesick V. ( 1998). The dance of qualitative research design metaphor, methodolatry, and meaning. In Denzin N., & Lincoln Y. (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry(pp. 35– 55). London: Sage.

Lather P. ( 1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern. New York, NY: Routledge.

Mackinlay E. ( 2003). Disturbances and dislocations: Understanding teaching and learning experiences in Indigenous Australian women’s music and dance. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland.

McConaghy C. ( 2000). Rethinking Indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism and the politics of knowing. Flaxton, QLD: Postpressed.

Madriz E. ( 2000). Focus groups in feminist research. In Denzin N., & Lincoln S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research(2nd ed. pp. 835– 850). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Moreton-Robinson A. ( 2000). Talkin’ up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism. St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press.

Nakata M. ( 1995). Culture in education: A political strategy for us or for them. Ngoonjook: A Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 11, 40– 61.

Nakata M. ( 1997). The cultural interface: An exploration of the intersection of Western knowledge systems and Torres Strait Islanders positions and experiences. Unpublished PhD thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland.

Nakata M. ( 2000). Foreword. In McConaghy C. Rethinking Indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism and the politics of knowing(pp. 7– 10). Flaxton, QLD: Postpressed.

Nakata M. ( 2004). Ongoing conversations about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research agendas and directions. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 33, 1– 6.

Patton M. ( 2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Reason P. ( 1998). Three approaches to participative inquiry. In Denzin N., & Lincoln Y. (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry(pp. 261– 289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Sampson E. ( 1993). Celebrating the other a dialogic account of human nature. New York, NY: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

Sheehan N. ( 2004). Indigenous knowledge and higher education: Instigating relational education in a neo-colonial context. Unpublished PhD thesis, JUniversity of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland.

Stewart J., & Mackinlay E. ( 2003). Fostering voice and representation: Exploring the use of focus groups with Indigenous Australian tertiary students(Ngulaig 19). Brisbane, QLD: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland.

Strauss A., & Corbin J. ( 1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Smith L. ( 1999). Decolonising methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. New York: Zed Books.

Wortham S. ( 2001). Narratives in action: A strategy for research and analysis. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.