Handbook of Qualitative Research

I haven't left the house in three days now. On Friday morning, I woke up with the cold to end all colds. Complete with 102.1F fever, sore throat, and clogged nose, I've been completely bed/couch-ridden all weekend. This was quite a disappointment, as I was looking forward to MCGrads on Friday and a concert on Saturday, as well as church and youth band practice today that I had to miss. Oh well, I got to spend some quality time with Miss Kitty (who's contentedly napping in my lap as I write this). I'm feeling much more energetic now, and am hoping to be up to full speed by tomorrow night so that I can go to dinnner and a dance performance with Mandy.

OK, back to reading the Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd Edition) for my class with Jay Lemke. This is actually a very interesting class, discussing the philosphical/historical framework for qualitative research in sociology and anthropology. Basically, a bunch of white, male, Euro-centric, Christian explorers/conquerors/ethnographers wrote a lot about the "savages" they encountered. Analysis of their writings reveals as much about the researchers as it does about their subjects, leading to the truth (lowercase "t") that relationship between subject and object is inextricable, objectivity is impossible, and bias is inherent (and yes, this applies even to so-called quantitative, randomized, controlled, double-blind studies). Thus, contemporary (don't call them "modern") qualitative researchers are very much interested in understanding how ontological and epistemological frameworks affect what is considered to be scientific and good research. Clearly, a post-positivist will generate research that radically differs from the research of a positivist or even a post-modern or post-colonial theorist. I'm finding that I'm embracing some of these newer ideas perhaps a bit too readily, but they seem to make sense. The question is how do I apply them to my dissertation research?