Welcome back to the NOC course title qualitative
research methods my name is Aradhna Malik
and I am helping you with this course and
we have been discussing a whole bunch of things
related to qualitative research Now today
we are going to in this lecture we will discuss
the interpretation of documents and material
culture So this is a way of interpreting the
qualitative data that we get so lets move
on with this
This is a again from the same book handbook
of qualitative research methods edited by
Denzin and Lincoln and theres a paper by Hodder
in this book and that is the paper I am referring
to okay
Now artifacts and its importance for the interpretation
experience when we talk about material culture
we are talking about artifacts what are artifacts
Artifacts are things that we have in our environment
things physical material things that we use
in our environment these pair of glasses these
are artifacts the clothes that I am wearing
these are artifacts the pens that I am using
these are artifacts
What do I use to exhibit or to demonstrate
or to represent the culture I am coming from
so these are artifacts these are the physical
things that we use in a day to day lives are
called artifacts And material culture is the
culture represented through material objects
So for example sitting in India this Dupatta
the scarf that women wear around their necks
is called as a Dupatta or Chunni
Nw something like this this is brightly colored
is called golden specs on it in the Indian
culture in a typical winter on a typical winter
day a brightly colored scarf around womens
necks does not really represents any festivity
or anything out of the ordinary it is something
that we women in India normally do we wear
the scarfs You know when we wear a pants and
suit which is known as Kurta Paijama or Kurta
Salwar then we use this scarf
And in the winters we use we wear bright colors
its not this recording is happening on 8th
January afternoon and so its cold So its not
something out of the ordinary where as in
another culture in other cultural setting
the bright pink color could be representative
of or festivities of happiness of something
that is not so professional or related to
the work environment of a person
So we represent I dont have to tell you that
its normal we all except this is normal when
I look around you know in my physical environment
in IIT Kharagpur everybody is wearing these
colors Its not something totally out of the
ordinary its a normal working day we are all
tired its the end of a working day and we
always bright colors so theres nothing exceptional
about it
So this is the way we represent our culture
through material objects what I use what kind
of physical things I use now talking about
typical professional men who used the brand
and the model of cell phone that they use
is representative of the status they think
they have or the status they want to portray
to their colleagues These are material objects
that represent the cultural that we are coming
from and they represent what we are thinking
about ourselves
And how we want to perceived in the community
so I am giving you this different examples
Again you know this is how culture is expressed
by people through the objects that we use
in our day to day lives Artifacts represent
the environment under study We pick specific
physical objects tangible things that we can
touch and feel and measure and see and hear
and we take these as representatives of the
environment that we are studying
The environment being studied directs the
interpretation of the artifacts associated
with it in and through contextual references
Now the artifacts represent the environment
and the any study of the environment revolves
around it is the artifacts direct the study
and the artifacts are interpreted within the
context that they are found in For example
this is a scarf we call it chunni it serves
shows multiple purposes one it is a part of
our dress winter summer we women wear it
In Winter it doubles up as a regular scarf
that prevents you know that protects our necks
from cold so I mean it is not only a protection
for our necks it is also a part of the normal
clothing that we wear so looking at it contextually
the bright color does nothing to how we use
this scarf but the bright color is representative
of the culture that we are in and you could
you could interpret in both ways is part of
the dress
And its also a covering for the neck the way
I have draped it around today shows that its
winter and I may be trying to protect my neck
in order to in addition to at least trying
to look professional So we interpret these
material object within a context they also
represent the context that is be interpreted
For example the placement of reading material
or altars in our homes in India
Theres an another example in India we are
taught that books are taught are books represent
knowledge and knowledge is sacred any reading
material that we have is preferably not placed
at the foot of the bed we keep books in our
bedrooms but we try to not keep these books
at the foot of the bed
We dont have book racks where the soles are
or facing the soles of our feet We have book
racks either next our heads or on the sidewall
Similarly with altars prayer areas that we
have on which we can you put a prayer material
it is typically kept at level that is above
the persons head and on the head of at least
one of the people because it has to be reachable
and it is never placed at the foot of the
bed so that is one thing that is I mean it
shows how we treat this is material objects
especially with books
I remember having discussion with some American
friends when I was studying in the US about
not being able to jump over books or you know
not putting my books and shoes in the same
compartment of a bag I would feel very uncomfortable
if books and shoes were in the same bag one
and I could never I still cannot put books
and shoes in the same compartment of the bag
you know if I am forced to do it then there
will be wraps will be other things between
the two this is the way we are trained
I am not saying the people who do it are being
disrespectful maybe they are much more respect
for knowledge then I have but this is representative
of the way we of the way the treatment of
material objects in our culture informs observers
about our culture so this is the analysis
of artifacts and the way this artifacts are
treated and artifacts physical positions that
we have okay
Toward a theory of material culture the theory
of material culture refers to the use of symbols
or artifacts along with documents in particular
areas of reference So how the symbols or artifacts
I used along with the documents within the
particular areas of references is the theory
of material culture
How is material culture expressed Some material
culture is designed specifically to be communicative
and representational for example in the case
of written texts or overtly explicit symbols
like uniforms badges emblems and the like
So material culture things that we use are
very expressive they speak for themselves
they dont need very much interpretation
They are they communicate the message they
are supposed to communicate they are representative
of the behavior they need to represent For
example uniforms in school we have badges
we have emblems we have insignia and we have
crests etcetera These are communicative and
representational elements of material culture
And the author in this paper fees that the
development of complex symboling systems allows
more information to be processed more efficiently
The more complex the symboling systems are
the more the information there is in these
systems The complexity adds to the richness
of the information that is present in these
symbols that are complex okay
The other significance here is the ideological
component of symbols is identified within
relations of power and domination and increasingly
power and systems of value and prestige are
seen as multiple and dialectical So this means
that the relations of power and dominance
are also represented by the way these material
objects are treated
A significant implication of this is the inability
to produce dictionaries of material culture
as different people interpret different things
differently in time and space Something that
may be representative of a power and authority
today may not be representative of power and
authority tomorrow Something that represents
a hierarchy in the system of things today
and it is seen as a system of as a something
that is representative of hierarchy today
may not be representative of the same hierarchy
tomorrow
For example and again this is an example that
you know I take I draw upon from personal
experience when we were growing up single
color clothing plain color clothing in the
context that we were it was representative
of a superior position pastel shades single
colored sweaters single colored pants were
representative of class and authority black
especially black black is a universal color
everybody likes to use it
But anyone wearing black was perceived to
be more authoritative or in a position of
power over those not wearing black Grey and
brown and blue came next but black was supposed
to be the most superior most authoritative
color Now a days that is not the case the
context is changed the times have changed
even in the same setting everybody is wearing
black people are wearing black jacket black
shoes were representative of formality that
is no longer the case
So you know we are becoming more culturally
expressive my guess is that that was a fall
out of the British influence that was there
on India So you know we grew up in that kind
of setting that this is very very formal now
the definitions of formality have changed
so colors the way we use our kind of clothing
we wear the way we talk English for example
English speaking was considered to be more
professional
Anybody who spoke English was in India was
at one point of time considered to be in a
position of higher authority than or in the
professional circles that an again and classifying
this information English was supposed to be
or treated as the more professional way of
communication that is no longer the case its
more about utility English yes it is a medium
of international communication
However people who use the local language
are not treated very much differently than
people who speak English in a certain way
so you know those things are changing The
way culture express themselves and that is
again indicative of how material culture what
we say how we do things what we do what we
do not do is indicative of our culture and
how culture is integrated
And these things interpretations changed dramatically
over space and time and by you know in an
through context so I am referring to specific
context at that point also maybe these things
were not so common in another context but
these definitions have changed even within
the context that I am referring to
You must have seen overtime anybody who is
above thirty years of age will have experienced
this you know the way things have changed
in the past 202530 years is tremendous okay
Material meanings in time different symbols
assume different meanings at different points
in time and the context vary with time Representatives
of material culture mean different things
at different points in time what we think
used to be important what we thought was important
a long time ago is no longer so important
when I was growing up when I was in college
laptops with not so common I mean they just
started coming to India
And you know it was it was considered a matter
of prestige to even own a laptop and it was
considered a matter of prestige even to own
a desktop in your house so at that time you
know it was so uncommon cell phones we have
big huge cellular phones something brand new
and that happened with any new technology
These days its so commonly its freely available
everybody seen carrying a laptop similarly
travelling abroad was not so common these
were all expressions of our ability to do
things that we wanted to do
And this traveling abroad is no longer considered
to be a very prestigious event in India most
people in middle class families have passports
that they have used so you know these things
because of the ease of international communication
again its not only an expression a change
in the expression material culture its also
the ability to do certain things that were
not really so common for various reasons
People have people can afford it they have
more opportunities so its a complex phenomenon
however these expressions have cultural implications
also okay Contexts vary with time okay
The method for of interpreting material culture
three areas which can be used to evaluate
the quality of interpretation of material
artifacts are one: the researcher should identify
the context within which the things had a
similar meaning The boundaries of the contacts
that are never given they have to be interpreted
So things with similar meanings have to be
interpreted and with the similarity of meanings
have to be interpreted
These boundaries are a not defined these boundaries
emerge as a result of expression of interpretation
of different material objects within the same
culture and we say okay these interpretations
looks similar so they must be within the same
boundary they must be connected to each purpose
The second area of evaluation deals with the
recognition of similarities and differences
In a context people respond to similar situations
within specific boundaries but it is very
very difficult to define boundaries thats
exactly what I am saying Boundaries emerge
similarities and differences emerge the researcher
must be equipped to identify theses similarities
and differences okay
The researcher must be vigilant must be perceptive
must be alert to the environment that the
researcher is trying to interpret or observing
to see what can be classified as a similarity
and what is a difference where can these material
objects be clubbed and where they need to
be put into different categories because the
similarities and differences emerge from the
way material culture is interpreted
The third criterion deals with the relevance
of general and specific historical theories
to the data in hand Now the data that is collected
for any type of qualitative research is collected
over a period of time and this is very very
important The context in which the data was
collected changes and with the change in context
the relevance of the data so collected may
also come into question
So the historical background and the relevance
of specific historical theories becomes very
important one must be aware of the historical
context in which the data was collected related
to which the data is going to be interpreted
and its relevance with the current state of
the same historical context and that is very
very important How has the context evolved
to its present state and how will this material
this interpretation that held or the way material
culture was interpreted in the context from
which it was collected will fair today
In todays historical todays stage of the same
historical context and that is extremely important
here the researcher has to be aware of the
shift in the context as well as the interpretation
okay
Confirmation confirmation is the interpretation
of documents and material culture which may
be carried out through coherence and correspondence
So there are two ways in which the researcher
can confirm whether the interpretations hold
good or not These two ways of doing that are
one is coherence: Coherence is seen if the
parts of the argument do not contradict each
other and the conclusions follow from the
premises
So the argument that is drawn to interpret
culture the be specific material culture needs
to be sound the parts of the argument needs
to be connected with each other and the premises
on which the argument is being drawn must
lead to the conclusions and coherence maybe
both internal and external
Correspondence embeds the fit of data and
theory with coherence so data are made to
cohere by being linked with theoretical arguments
Correspondence means that the data and theory
fit together within coherently with each other
so this is what I have found out and this
is what theory says about it and this is how
these two are connected this is how I found
out and this is how it fits into or extends
the theory and that is called correspondence
The data correspondence to the theory it either
fits into the existing theory or it exists
sorry extends the theory in such a way that
it logically extends the theory that it is
connected to or coming out or earth links
to etc this is called correspondence
Now elements pointing towards the success
of the interpretation of data Some elements
that tell us that the data that the way the
data has been interpreted is successful first
element is fruitfulness: fruitfulness refers
to the benefits produced by interpreting the
data what are we got out of it we are working
so hard we are collecting all this information
we are interpreting it what is the ultimate
result So you know what is the benefit what
am I gaining out of it
The second is number and kinds of new directions
and new perspectives opened up at the end
of the study what I have gained in the current
context and how will it lead to further understanding
further addition of knowledge so that is fruitfulness
Why should I spend time why have I spend time
and interpreting something why have I spend
so much of time an effort and possibly money
and other resources also what is the ultimate
benefit what is the fruitfulness
The second is peer review publications at
the end of the day that is really the the
acid test of what we have found Whether of
the or whether whatever we have done is relevant
and useful or not so peer review formally
and informally in journals and on the number
of people who believe cite and build on our
work You can do a piece of research you dont
send it for publication its not going to work
okay
We do a piece of research and we send it for
publication but nobody reads it we send it
for publication in a I wouldnt say obscure
journal in a lesser known journal no use We
need to send it for publication in a journal
that is reputed or we need to send it for
publication and then share the publication
with others who are going to use it so that
the journal that is not known well earlier
become is well known because our publication
is so useful that is another way of doing
it
So if it gets published in a lesser known
but very good quality journal then the responsibility
is shared by the author also for making that
information known to others who can use it
and if through our efforts people start citing
it they start using it and the journal gains
out it winwin situation for both Trustworthiness
so people need to believe when we talk about
peer review people need to believe they need
to be able to cite what we are saying and
they need to be able to build on whatever
we are saying they believe they cite and they
build on
They extent whatever knowledge we have created
and use that to do something different based
on what we have done not only on that but
on several similar studies so this is the
acid test Trustworthiness professional credentials
and status of the author and supporters of
an interpretation
How many people believe it how many people
supported how many people believe the author
these elements point towards the success of
the interpretation of data and that is all
we have time for in this lecture we will continue
with some more inputs on qualitative research
methods in the next lecture thank you very
much for listening
