a journal about journal writin asa qualitaitve research technique

8/3/2019 A Journal About Journal Writin Asa Qualitaitve Research Technique

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Qualitative Inquiry

1999; 5; 505Qualitative InquiryValerie J. Janesick

Journal About Journal Writing as a Qualitative Research Technique: History, Issues, and Reflect

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QUALITATIVEINQUIRY/ December 1999

Janesick / A JOURNALABOUT JOURNALWRITING

A Journal About Journal Writing as

a Qualitative Research Technique:

History, Issues, and Reflections

Valerie J. Janesick

Roosevelt University

The author is writin g this article as a journal to show how a journal may be used as a

qualitative research technique in long-term qualitative studies. The history of journal

writing within the context of the arts and humanities is described to illuminate ourunderstanding oft het radition oft his type ofw riting. For qualitative researchers, the act

of journal writing may be incorporated into the research process to provide a data set of

the researchers reflections on the research act. Participants in qualitativ e studies may

alsou se journals to refine ideas, beliefs, and their own responses to the research in prog-

ress. Finally, journal writing between participants and researchermay offert hequalita-

tive researcher yet another opportu nity for triangulation of data sets at multiple levels:

first, the interdisciplinary triangulation of journal w riting as a tropeof lit erature, and

second, data triangulation in terms of journal writing of the researcher, participants,

and int eraction between both.

MONDAY

I am exhausted after the American Educational Research Association

(AERA), annua l meeting in San Diego, Apr il 1998.A fter comp leting a 4-hourmini-course on journal w riting as well as a paper on the topic that w eek, I

decided to take up an idea from the chair of my paper session who asked me a

simple question. He asked me if I had thought about writing my paper

entirely as a journal.Of course, I had and, in fact, the second half of my paper

was written as a journal though it did not seem as organic as writing this

paper entirely as a journal. Now with the annual meeting completed, I

decided to rewrite what I had p resented in San Diego,in the format of a jour-

nal for a nu mber of reasons. First, it makes understand able one style of jour -

nal wr iting. Next, it reminds one of bell hooks adm onition, that w hatever

cannot be written clearly cannot be used to educate. Third, it personalizes the

research p rocess in terms of jour nal wr iting as a way to refine ones thoughts

abou t qualitative research techniques. Finally, it forces me to revisit the mate-

rialI wrote on thisbeloved topic. Today, AERA isa memory asI sitat my com-

pu ter with a view of the sweltering sky of Ft. Lauderdale. I am glad to be

505

Qua litative Inquiry, Volume 5 Nu mber 4, 1999 505-524

1999 Sage Publications, Inc.

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avoiding the hot sun on this a 90-degree day in Ap ril. I want to r eshape m y

ideas to teach about journal writing as a viable technique for qualitative

researchers. I have been read ing about journal wr iting, conducting training

sessions on such, and read ing samples of journals written throughou t history

for the past 10 years or so and it is a delight to recall some of the quota tions on

journal writing in my file. I especially enjoy this one of Wildes, from his 1895

play, The Importance of Being Earnest:

I never travel without my diary. One should

always have som ething sensational to read

in the train.

Now the difficult par t for me begins. How can I keep wr iting this as a jour-

nal and not lose the imp act of my original pap er? Also,h ow can I incorporate

a paper from a professional meeting into the deeply personal format of a jour-nal? I wrote the p aper to d escribe and explain how journal writing may be

used as a qualitative research technique, in long-term qualitative studies.

After all, journal w riting has a long and reliable history in the arts and

humanities, and qualitative researchers m ay learn a great deal from this

activity. It is not by accident that artists, writers, musicians, dancers, thera-

pists, physicians, poets, architects, saints, chefs, scientists, and educators use

journal wr iting in their lives. Virtually in every field, one can find exemplars

who h ave kept detailed and lengthy journals regarding their everyday lives

and th eir beliefs, hop es, and d ream s. I see journal writing as a powerfu l heu-

ristic tool and research technique and w ill discuss reasons for using a jour nal

within qu alitative research p rojects in ord er to d o the following:

1. refine the un derstanding of the role of the researcher through reflection and

writing, much like an artist might do;

2. refine the und erstanding ofthe responses of participants in the stud y, mu ch like

a physician or health care worker might do;

3. use a journal as an interactive tool of comm unication between the researcher

and p articipants in the study, as a type ofinterdisciplinary triangulation ofd ata;

an d

4. view journal writing as a type ofconnoisseurship by which individuals become

connoisseurs of their own thinking and reflection patterns, and indeed their

own u nderstand ing of their work as qu alitative researchers.

The notion of a comprehensive reflective journal to address the research-

ers Self is critical in qualitative w ork d ue to the fact that the researcher is the

research instrument. In reviewing the literature in this area, journal writing,

although an ancient technique, is only now being used and talked about as a

serious component in qualitative research projects. I have always seen

506 QUALITATIVE INQUIRY / Decem ber 1999



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journal writing as a major source of data. It is a data set that contains the

researcher s reflection on the role of the researcher , for example. It is a great

vehicle for coming to term s with exactly what one is doing as the qualitative

researcher. Often, qualitative researchers are criticized for not being precise

about what they do. I offer journal writing as one technique to accomplish the

descrip tion and explanation of the researchers role in the project. Within the

context of this p iece, I w ill follow the tr adition of Richardson (1995) who

wr ites abou t narrat ive techn iques and suggests a selected bibliography at the

end of the p iece. This was in ord er to prevent distractions wh ile reading the

existing narrat ive. Consequ ently, I will use direct references in this narrative

only wh en absolutely requ ired for clarity. All other references will be found

at the end of this text.

TUESDAY

There are other areas that may be stu died thr ough this literary technique

of journal wr iting. Odd ly enough , I am just now thinking about all this even

though I began keeping a journal in my high school years. Off and on

through out m y life, I have revisited m y journals and learned from them . All

the issues that popp ed up in the 70s, 80s and p resently in my life and w ork,

make me more aware of that part of my life that is research centered. Exam-

ples of problems include representation of interviews and field notes, co-

constru ction ofm eaning with pa rticipants in the project who also keep a jour -

nal, and issues related to the interpretation of each others data. Often, we

qualitative researchers are positioned outside the very people and situations

we write about. Journal writing personalizes representation in a way that

forces the researcher to confront issues of how a story from a p ersons lifebecomes a public text, wh ich in turn tells a story. In other word s, how do the

researcher and the participant or participants in the project move from a

blank page to sentence after sentence ofd escription of a given experience, the

basis of qualitative work? Furthermore, how are we to make sense of this

writ ing and understand how lived experience is represented by the

writer/ researcher and th e participants?

Journal Writing as an Art

Basically , the art ofjournalwr iting and subsequent interpretations ofjour-

nal writing produce meaning and understanding that are shaped by genre,

the narrative form used, and personalculturaland parad igmatic conventions

of the writer w ho is either the researcher, participant, and / or coresearcher.As Progoff (1992), my favorite teacher about journal writing, notes, journal

writing is ultimately a way of getting feedback from ourselves, and in so

Janesick / A JOURNAL ABOUT JOURNAL WRITING 507



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doing, it enables us to experien ce in a full and op en-end ed w ay, the move-

ment of our lives as a whole and the meaning that follows from reflecting

on that m ovement.

Issues to be considered by the qualitative researcher includ e moving from

the field to the text to the final public research report and problems of inter-

pretation, meaning, and representation. Interactive journal w riting between

researcher and participants is another way of und erstanding a given study,

and I will refer to examples from some of my current p rojects to illustrate this

very p oint. In one project, participants and researcher are keeping journals

abou t everyth ing that takes place in interview and observation sessions. This

type of example may help to foreground the problems, possibilities, and

app lications of journal writing as a qu alitative research technique.

WEDNESD AY: A BRIEF HISTORICAL

OVERVIEW OF JOURNAL WRITING

As I begin this journey of describing and explaining journal writing, it is

imp ortan t to realize the length y and significant tradition and h istory of jour -

nal writing. Although individuals have probably kept journals throughout

recorded history for various reasons, some of the first known journals w ere

written in Greek and Roman times. Later,St. Augustine and Pascal kept jour-

nals to chronicle moments in their ow n lives as they tried to find out m ore

about how the mind works. In the 10th century, ladies of the Japanese court

wrote pr ecise and candid descriptions of everyday life and the inner w ork-

ings ofon es beliefs and feelings. Often, these writers hid their journals und er

their pillows, and so th e journ als became kn own as pillow d iaries. These

documents went beyond the daily record of life. They were texts thatrecorded dream s, hopes, visions, fantasies, feelings, and innermost thoughts.

Next, the rebirth and aw akening of the Renaissance brou ght with it an era of

almost required journal and d iary writing. There was an almost un derstood

agreem ent that one must chron icle the spirit of rebirth and living in personal

terms case by case.

The 1660s brou ght us Samuel Pepys (1970), wh o for 9 years d escribed

exactly and in astounding detail, the people, politics,sorrow s, and joys of life

in London , my favorite city on Earth. His thick description ofthe p roblems of

the Church of England, the monarchy, the Navy in w hich he served, various

wars of the d ay, the great fire, and the p lague are brilliant and illuminative

records of literature an d h istory. As luck wou ld have it, the first published

versions of his diary did not appear until 1825, followed by reissues and new

editions w ell into the late 1890s. It was at this time that the Victorians focused

on both letter writing and journals.Likewise and prior to the Victorian era, a number of spiritual groups and

even some organized religious groups kept journals. The Quakers, for




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example, beginning in the 17th century, often and regularly described their

spiritual journeys, doubts, qu estions, and beliefs. John Wesley, founder of

Methodism, kept volum es recording his symbolic relationship w ith his ver-

sion of his God. Indeed, man y Puritans recorded their trust in their version of

their God, which included passages about doubt, uncertainty, miseries in

their lives, sins, omissions of goodn ess, and so on. The voyage of the May-

flower is eloquently and curiously described in journ al form. For people who

were embar king on new ad ventures, the journal became an outlet for fears

and moments ofd eep despair on the voyage. Theu se ofthe journal from spiri-

tual record to politicalr ecord flourished as well.Remember, at these points in

time, writing was a key and imp ortant means ofcomm unication. There were

no telephones, pagers, computers, televisions, or news media as we know

them. For example, during th e French Revolution, many writers pr oduced

journals intime. These were personal accounts of argu ments regard ing therevolution, which revealed deep and passionate feelings of patriotism,

nationalism, and d isgust for the corrupt m onarchy.

Similarly, in this country, during the westward expansion movement,

explorers such as Lewis and Clark chronicled their movement west describ-

ing relationships w ith the mem bers of the First Nations they m et, as well as

encounters w ith other existing comm unities. Likewise, pioneer wom en not

only cooked arou nd the campfires but also took the time to record p ersonal

imp ressions of the westw ard m ovement. Later, these would be chronicled in

the play, Quilters (Newman & Damashek, 1986). This play powerfully

documented a history of depression, sorrow, joy, misunderstanding, and

treachery. There would be no sugar coating of injustice and bigotry in these

diaries. In ad dition, an eloquent account of the bru tality of slavery in this

countr y is chron icled in The ClassicSlave Narratives (Gates, 1987). One cannot

turn away from the writings of Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, FrederickDouglass, or the Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harr iet Jacobs, by now all

classics of this genre. The clarity, suffering, and d egrad ation described in th e

slave narratives inform our u nderstand ing of a history ofth e Black Diaspora.

Were it not for these detailed accounts, a critical piece of American history

wou ld certainly have been forgotten.

Yet, literary an d historical figures are not the only journ al wr iters. The

field of psychology has long made use of journal writing as a therapeutic aid.

The cathartic function of journa l writing has been w idely recomm ended by

many schools of therapy. Therapists view th e journal as an attempt to br ing

ord er to ones experience and a sense of coherence to ones life. Behavior ists,

cognitivists and Jungian analysts have used journals in th e process of ther-

apy. The journ al is seen as a n atural ou tgrowth of the clinical situation in

which the client speaks to the Self. Most recently, Progoff (1975, 1992) has

written of an intensive journal. Progoff developed a set of techniques th atprovide a structure for keeping a journa l and a springboard for developm ent.

As a therapist himself,he has conducted w orkshops and trained a netw ork of




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individuals to do w orkshops on keeping an intensive journal for un locking

ones creativity and coming to terms with ones Self. The intensive journal

meth od is a reflective, in-dep th process of wr iting, speaking what is wr itten,

and in som e cases sharing w hat is written with other s. Feedback is an opera-

tive principle for the Progoff method. The individual needs to draw upon

inner resources to arrive at the und erstanding of the wh ole person, The jour-

nal is a tool to reopen the possibilities of learning and living. Progoff advo-

cates the following:

1. make regu lar entries in the journal in the forms of dialogue with ones Self;

2. ma intain the journ al as an intensive psychological wor kbook in orde r to record

all encounte rs of ones existence; and

3. attempt some type ofsharing ofthis growth through journal writing with others.

The method makes use of a special bound notebook, or computer file,

divided into definite categories that includ e the following: dream s, stepp ing

stones, dialogues with persons, events, work, and the body. The writer is

asked to reflect,free associate,m editate,a nd im agine what relates to imm edi-

ate exper ience. The latest version of his text (Progoff, 1992) is a d efinite testi-

monial to a solid example of techniques for keeping a journal.

Beyond the psychologists, perhaps the tw o most id entifiable writers of

journals in our mem ory are Anne Frank and Anais Nin. In fact, The Diary of

AnneFrank(Goodrich, Hackettt, & Frank, 1998) and the many volum es ofThe

Diary ofA nais Nin (Nin, 1976) are pu blished in more than 20langu ages. Anne

Franks lived experience hiding from the N azis not only d etails her feelings

of growing up und er these conditions but also offers a political and moral

interpretation of hum anitys failures. On the other side of the coin, Anais Nindescribes and explains her journey to understand her self, her body, and her

mind. Interestingly enough, she also studied Progoffs journal writing meth-

od before she died.Although she rejected its structure, she commented on the

imp ortan ce of its pur pose and u ltimate goal of self-actua lization. Even mor e

current, one only has to w alk through the display aisles of the major book-

stores such as Borders or Barnes and Noble and see the m any examples of

recently published journals. Recently, I found the following:

1. Keith Haring Journals,

2. TheA ndy Warhol Journals (this one complete with photos,draw ings,and artwork),

3. The Journal of a V ietNam Veteran, and

4. The Journal of Someone Dying of AIDS .




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The point is that this genre is alive and well, and qualitative researchers

should n ot be afraid of trying to keep a journal.

In fact, journal w riting is so prevalent now that one only has to sur f the

Internet and see thousand s of journal resour ces, examp les, and personal his-

tories on-line. For example, there is an on-line course on journal writing

offered by Via Creativa, a Web site entirely devoted to Progoffs Intensive

Journal Workshop ; chat room s on journal w riting; exemplars of diaries and

journal writing; and literally thousand s ofresou rces.In general, the comm on

thread that unites all these resources on the Internet is the agreement that

journal writing is a way of getting in touch with yourself in terms of reflec-

tion, catharsis, remembrance, creation, exploration, p roblem solving, pr ob-

lem posing, and personal growth. I see all of these as part of the research

process.For qualitative researchers,journal writing offers a way to docum ent

the researchers role, triangulate data by the journal itself entered as a dataset, and a w ay to use the journal with participants in the study as a comm uni-

cative act.

THURSDAY

Journal w riting has its seeds and tr adition in the arts and h um anities. As

someone edu cated as an artist in dan ce and choreography, I am constantly

making connections between the work of the artist and the w ork of the quali-

tative researcher. As I think about all the great dancers and choreographers

through out dan ce history, it is difficult to think ofsom eone who has not kept

a journal about their work in creating dances.Pr esently,for myself as a quali-

tative researcher, the options are wide and varied. I keep track of my

thou ghts, beliefs, behaviors, and interp retations of my role as a researcher indialogu e form or other form ats. Often, I choose to write in letter forma t with

members in a given study. Sometimes I keep interactive journals on-line

through e-mail correspond ence.For example, I am currently keeping on-line

journal correspondence with three of my former stud ents who are now assis-

tant professors themselves in Illinois, Kansas, and Michigan. The substance

of our w riting is about the d ifficulty of the transition from doctoral student

and fairly well-paid professional to und erpaid, overworked assistant profes-

sor.Allthreeoftheseformer studentswereat thesametimefull-timeworkers

in the field of education with years of experience in their respective fields.

They were esteemed and r eward ed with a d ecent paycheck as well. Now, as

they become assistant professors, they have a hu ge drop in pay and know at

every single minute of the day that they are at the bottom ofth e pecking order

in the bureaucracy of the university. The abrupt and brutal realization of

being at the lowest end of the food chain prom pts all sorts of soul searching.As a mentor to these my d ear friends, I encourage w riting to each other on-




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line so that we reflect on this together. Here are some examples from our cor-

respond ence to illustrate th e validity and usefulness of journal writing. In

fact, we have d ecided to do a book on this topic eventually.

J: I am teaching 21 hou rs since I need the overload m oney and I am basically frantic

with lack of time for m yself.

V:Wh en will you have time to wr ite your article from your dissertation? You know

the best predictor of success in the hoops of academe begins with publications

from the dissertation.

J: Yes Ikn ow thatyou have told me this so many times. But I am swa mp ed with all

the wo rk and my office is shared . . . and tiny so I dont have all my books with

me,and halfthetimeI havestuffat home,then hereat the office. . . plusI have12

student teachers to observe and meet with. Allare w ithin a 50 mile radius but on

heavy traffic times, it is exhau sting just sitting in traffic. I visit them 4 or 5 tim es

each . .. because I really need to give them feedback and this ism y work after all.V:Have you ever thoughtabout slowing down? When do you have time to write?

J:I know, I am worried about that,but it (the dissertation) seems so far away, so long

ago. Im into new things now.

V:Yes of course,bu t why not use the dissertation interviews in a new way? Why not

go back to the those two principals and re-interview the m today , two years after

the study and see what they have to say and w rite about that?

This example offers both of us as writers a chance to reflect on our practice

and beliefs.In fact, it prom pted m e to look up an entry ofm ine in my on-going

journal I keep about my life as an academic. This was wr itten in Janu ary 1981,

wh ile I was an assistant professor and feeling some of the same idiosyn cratic

unease that comes with that unhapp y role.

I am trying to fillin the blanks on my ann ual report which is all bureaucracy and

num ber counting.I find it odd that the State requires only num bers and symbolsremoved from the experience of working as a professor. I was really naive inaccepting the w orkload I have. I thought everyone ha d this w orkload. I teachtwo gradu ate courses, two und ergradu ate courses, and su pervise 12 doctoralinterns.The interns are placed as far away as 89miles.It was only when I discov-ered that a colleague who is a full tenured professor teaches only one class perterm, that Iasked the departmen t chair about this.H e saidwellw e dont wanthim arou nd h ere, hes such a bad teacher . Fine, why do I have to teach so man ymore classes? Is it so bad to have equitable workloads?

To his credit, the chair did say that he would look into this but of course Iwon der if anyth ing will come of this. Sometimes I feel as thou gh I am invisible.Coming from the high powered cont ext of Michigan State and wor king with thetop researche rs in the coun try, it is very alienating to find no one to talk to abou tideas or issues. As I write my bu reaucratic number counting report, devoid ofany texture,nuance,narrative reporting,the lonelinessand emptiness ofbeing aprofessor makesm e wonder what Ihave gotten myselfinto here.There isno oneto talk to about my work, or any curr ent research in our field. On the other hand ,

I am delighted that my p aper w as accepted in m y favorite journal, CurriculumInquiry . Its about my dissertation study and so I hope someone reads it and doesnot fall asleep as they do so. I recall my marvelous dance teacher, MargitHeskett, who told me to do something creative when I ever felt alienated and




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separ ated from m y work. So I have decided th at I will ask my studen ts, as extrawork, to provide me with a thick written narrative about my teaching, so that Ihave some feedback besides the numbers. I am always touched by the standingovations and written thank you notes for my teaching, but after seeing the waymy teaching is reported in the annu al report so many dots and in bur eaucracyspeak, I must get some real, textured, narrative. So my idea is to do somethinglike Margit had us do at the end of da nce classes. She mad e us write to her aboutevery thing we learned. I will ask my students to respon d to these four qu es-tions;

a) What is the most significant idea you h ave come across in this class and

how has it changed you?

b) List three adjectives wh ich captu re and describe what you learned in this

course.

c) Would you recommend this course to other students? To whom and

why? Explain.

d) Describe and rate the qualities of the instructor which enabled you tolearn what you did in this course.

This way, I will have some narra tive feedba ck from m y stud ents and I wan tto start a por tfolio just abou t my teaching since m y life work seem s to be writingaboutthe importance and impactofteaching nom atter what the subject matter.

I continue to keep a r ecord of my teaching to this day, in addition to the

dots-and-numbers business. I always have hop e that teaching counts for

someth ing in academ ia though I have very little eviden ce for this after having

now achieved num erous teaching awards and holding the rank of Full Pro-

fessor. It is one of the great contradictions of academia, which will be the sub-

stance of a future article.

To return to the topicat hand, I exchangejournals and I writein my journal

and also write in participants journals as a type of continuing conversation

and commu nication between individu als. As I become a connoisseur of jour-

nal writing, I inevitably create a m odel that w orks for me in the p articular

study in progress. I can easily look to the many writers referred to earlier in

this journal and other w ell-know n diar ists, such as Virginia Woolf, for solid,

well-written mod els of journal w riting, but in the end what I end up with is

my own m odel.

Why Journal Writing?

Stud ents and colleagues have often asked me wh y should one invest the

time in journal writing. To this I can only reply that journal writing allows one

to reflect, to dig deeper if you will, into the heart of the words, beliefs, and

behav iors we describe in our jour nals. It allows one to reflect on the tapes and

interview transcripts from our research endeavors. If participants also keep a

journal, it offers a way to triangulate data and pu rsue interp retations in a dia-

logical manner. It is a type of member check of ones own thinking done on

paper.




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The clarity of writing dow n ones thoughts w ill allow for stepping into

ones inner mind and reaching further into interpretations of the behaviors,

beliefs, and word s we w rite. For examp le, a stud ent conducting a ministud y

in a qua litative meth ods class wrote in her jour nal and described som e ofher

inner thoughts.

I am a bit wary ofthis research. . . . Am I really a researcher because I am taking aclass? Can I ever hope to portray wh at someone else believes or at least says shebelieves? How w ill I know if I am being fair? Will I be able to trust this per son?Will she tru st me? Why sh ould sh e trust m e? Am I being too critical of myself? Iam waiting here and she is already 20 minutes late. I hope she gets heresoon. .. . Here she comes.N ow Itry to capturethis persons thoughtson why sheis an ad ministra tor. . . . (K. S., October, 1997)

As I look at this journal entry, I see the learner/ researcher in tr aining asking

questions that cause reflection on various issues about the research process.She is beginning to know more about herself and her strengths and weak-

nesses. She is on the road to defining her role as the research instrum ent.

FRIDAY

I am trying to decide if I should write a section on describing the various

uses of journal writing like keeping a journal of ones dream s, for example, or

a journal in the form of a d ialogue like Progoff suggests. Or should I w rite

only about keeping a journal as a qualitative research technique because the

audience will basically be researchers? I definitely have to find some exam-

ples ofth e work of my stud ents, who w rote detailed and r eflective journals in

my qualitative research methods class.In add ition, I need to find more of my

own examp les as the outside reviewers of this piece have ur ged m e to do, togive a fuller picture of the pow er of journ al writing.

SATURDAY

In my quest to find examp les I was m ost fortunate. Following is an exam-

ple from J. D., an experienced teacher of some 15 years who teaches middle

school in a metropolitan area. She writes her thoughts on the classroom,

which was p art of her stud y of students from single-family homes.

I love these kids . . . most from broken h omes, most thin king I am their par ent,advisor, guard ian, good cop, teacher,an alyst,and coach.I am trying to get themto read more . . . comicbooks, novels,go to the library, and then get them to writeabout th is. I think I will go for the two p age rep ort idea again . It gives me some-thing to reinforce their und erstand ing of wh at they read and to give them somefeedback. I am w orried about P. H e is always skipping class these days and




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although I know his brother is home from prison,I wish he would come back toschool. I will talk to the principal about this today if I dont forget. I also want todesign a new w ay of evalua ting my class withou t the letter grad es we are stuckwith. I am read ing about the u se of portfolios in classroom assessment and Ithink Iw illtry it thismonth and get the kidsto plan it with me.. .. Ihope Ican usethe students comments on their home situations in my (research) project. (J. D.,April 1996)

SUNDAY

Should I mention that not everyone finds it easy to keep u p with the

dem ands of journal w riting? The discipline and desire involved nearly out-

weigh some individuals ability and or time. On the other hand , can this not

be an option for allw ho are interested in becoming better researchers,w riters,

thinkers, and scholars? How does one set time ap art for journal w riting? Irecall the teacher who said she only had 20m inutes after schoolto write in her

journal and that was that. Then she ultimately decided she needed to keep a

journal at home as well because once she started to w rite, she found she was

staying at school and w riting for at least an hour each day. She got up an hour

earlier than anyone in her house and started writing in the early morning

hours, a technique advocated by many writers. It seems she had to write

abou t her problem s in the class from day to day, in order to pr oceed with her

qualitative research project, a study of her first year as a middle school area

director.

ANOTHER MOND AY

Now , as I look throu gh my files, I see I have qu ite a few good examp les toshare with you, the reader. Look at this one from a teacher,for a class on quali-

tative methods, regarding a p roblem in her classroom.

Once again Ih ave to dea l with M. Why is he refusing to write in class and why ishe afraid to tell me w hat is bothering him? He has d one this before but we couldalway s talk this out before. . . . I am taking a class right now that relates to thisdirectly . . . None of the books or pap ers is helping me so I am just going ahea dand going to try a home visit to talk to his Mom and se e if she can help. . . . Since Istarted visiting p arents wh o were unable to come to teacher conferences, I amhum bled by what I am learning .. . Ms mother is working three jobs to keep thefamily of three children an d h erself together . . . I wonder if I would hav e hercourage at this point? She has told me that M. is getting in with the w rongcrowd and has been involved in questionableactivities which is why he is skip-ping school so often. Even sending someon e to check on this has not yielded anypositive results. She said she thou ght this was d ue to m ore than being a teen-

ager but felt that there were no strong rolem odels for him at home.N o relativeslive nearb y. I broug ht some of Ms work to show her and sh e felt a bit reassu red




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that at least he was d oing something, though she add ed that he could do bet-ter. I decided I would talk to him tomorrow and a sk him to help me organizethe class project on voting in the Novem ber elections. I felt conflicted up on leav-ing the house, for I feared tha t Ms Mom n eeded to talk to someone about h erkids and that I wasn t very m uch of a help at all. . . . Is this part of my role as aresearcher?Should I write about this?Am I too much the social worker from myprevious life? I do feel more inspired to be better at letting the kids take overmore of the resp onsibility for class projects. Actually it was M. who ta ugh t methis month when he volunteered to lead the book circle discussion. (H. H.,March, 1996)

Many w riters of journals hav e directly or indirectly stated h ow journal

writing can assist one in developing creativity. The focus and energy

demanded of one w ho writes a journal can be instructive for qualitative

researchers.

AN OTHER TUESD AY

When did I first hear about Ira Progoff? It was 1980 something and he wa s

giving a talk at the University of Alberta in Edm onton on qua litative research

method s. In the aud ience was a former high school teacher of mine who hap -

pened to be working on her doctorate there and she m entioned it to me in

passing. Since that day I have tried to pu t into practice mu ch of wh at Progoff

describes. His intensive journal workshop teaches us to be reflective and

aware of our unconscious self. He ad vocates writing a journal as a dialogue

with oneself. He began his journal workshops in 1966 and has been refining

them ever since. He talks about keeping a daily log. Yes, there is no getting

around ityou need to write in this journ al every day. No r esting. There is

only movement forward . He suggests keeping dialogues with key persons inour lives, with our body, with our w orks, with our roads not taken, with

events that w ere critical in our lives with society, and w ith our d reams. In

other word s, we write our journ als in dialogue form, which promp ts us to

think in new ways. For qualitative researchers, a dialogue with the Self may

assist in refining the description of the researchers role. Even if dialogu es are

not the preferred method of writing, a reflective personal narrative form can

be helpful as in th is example:

As I interview th e people in my stud y, I am constan tly unner ved by the issue ofmy race. As an African American wom an, willth is influence the responses frommy participants? Most of them are either African American or recent immi-grants from Caribbean nations. I am not sure it will help me and in fact Iw onderwh at they w ill think of me a s a research er. (R. H., Febru ary 1997)

Another example from a person grappling with emotions in fieldwork isinstructive:




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AN OTHER THURSDAY

Last night I couldnt sleep as I thought about all the examples of journal

writing in popular culture. First I recalled Doogie Howser. The television

show of a few years ago chronicled a youthful doctor who was a sort ofLeon-

ardo DiCaprio type. Younger than his peers in the medical profession,

Doogie opened and closed each show wr iting in his journal, wh ich he kept on

his laptop computer. H is struggles as a gifted teenager am ong cynical col-

leagues and hisstruggle to know himself were the focus ofthe journal writing

moments in theshow. Then I remembered Bob Packwoods diaries.The sena-

tor actually wrote about his extra-curricular activities away from hom e and

family, which ultima tely was used to force his resignation from the U.S. Sen-

ate du e to his sexual hara ssmen t of youn g office workers. Then, who can for-

get the O. J. Simpson trial? The m ass media circus that surrounded thisbizarre case was highlighted for me by the fact that the murd ered w omans

diary was not allowed as evidence even though it described in great detail cir-

cumstances directly related to the case. All this makes me wonder what

wou ld be most helpful to the reader of this journa l.Because the aud ience is an

audience of educational researchers or researchers in training, I think I need

to mention one more resour ce abou t jour nal wr iting. It is Rainers (1978) text ,

The New Diary. Rainer cotaught with Nin a course on journal writing to stu-

dents at a Los Angeles college. She wrote this book, which contains superb

examples of journal writing. I agree with her use of the terms journal and diary

interchangeably. She describes seven techniques for journal w riting, some

very similar to Progoffs technique. Her list is one that qualitative researchers

may recognize as those regularly used in the arts and h um anities.

Rainers Seven Techniques

Lists. This technique allows for a person to wr ite lists of activities such as

things to do, things that up set a person, things that are pr oblematic, and so

forth. It allows a writer to capture the pace of ones activities, and can be a

good beginning for a journal writer who may go back and fill in the story in

narrative form r egarding all the entries on the list.

Portraits. This allows the writer to describe a person or any num ber of per-

sons. The portrait is never really finished for the qu alitative researcher. It

evolves and takes on a life of its own throughout the project, and the writer

may ad d to and subtract from it as the work takes shape.

Maps of consciousness. This technique is borrowed from the arts, and it

involves actually drawing a map of what one isthinking.Shead vocatesu sing




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AN OTHER FRIDAY

I am trying to think abou t the best way to su mm arize all the ideas of this

paper so far. The reader who is a qualitative researcher may be interested in

an examp le from a researcher who kep t a journal to reflect on her research

practice while she was stud ying an athletic depar tment:

wh ile I wa s in the office, staff member s came in and wer e talking about . . . thedra wing the staff had th e previous da y. It was a lottery for a trip to a post seasontournam ent. One ofthe w inners came in and talked about this. I was able to hearhis perspective. The most interesting thing to me was that I saw this as a ritual inthe department .. .yet, in our interview, this was never mentioned even though Iasked the question to u ncover this. This teaches me the limitations of a stru c-tured interview format, when trying to uncover a construct like organizationalculture.

If questions about th e symbols of culture can cause responden ts to frametheir answers in terms of what they think the interviewer wants to know , howmuch m ore would th is be true, when trying to uncover the basic values of theculture (und er stu dy). (B. E., March 1996)

This entry offers an example of a person trying to come to term s with a tech-

nique in the study and its value, as well as the role of the researcher as it

changes and evolves throughou t the study . Following is an examp le of a dif-

ferent sort, from a participant in a stud y and her thoughts on her classroom:

I looked over my journal from this year an d I see a pattern in it. All my com-plaints and big headaches seem to come from situations where I have no pow er.Usually, nomake th at, ALL the critical incidents I describe in my journ al areabout the principal, the state regulations, the characters who have some power.But then I see I am playing th eir game tooI am avoid ing confrontations, I amrunning away from letting myselftake controland be Empowered . I have been a

wimp. And somehow,I have to deal with my principal. I usually go around himaltogether. I also feel like I may need to find a better place to work at this mybeloved music. (K.L.L., May 1996)

The example goes on at length with this soul-searching and although at this

point it is not resolved, the writer certainly is thinking through major issues

abou t teaching and learning, her own position at the school, and this later led

to her connecting this to the study at large.

I keep going back to showing examp les, and so I mu st includ e an interac-

tive example. I began interviewing teachers who were th inking of leaving

teaching 4 years ago and have kept contact with a num ber of the participants

in the study. Since I have relocated to Florida, w e have been u sing e-mail in

our journal writing. This excerpt may be illustrativeof how we writeback and

forth.

Natasha: I just looked over the interview transcript you sent and I wanted to ad d

emph asis to one of the comm ents I made about feeling useless and chewed up

wh en ever I entered t he classroom. I think I outgr ew teaching . . . . Dont get me




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wrong .. . I love the kids Iteach, I feellike they are my kids . . . but Ifelt Iw as get-

ting invisible.

Me:Yes, I found that theme later in the second interview we did .. . anyway, can you

help me out here and clarify wh at you mean by Outg rowin g teaching in your

case? Also, I am rea lly interested in you r idea a bout feeling invisible. . . .

There are many of these e-mail-type conversations and I will eventually use

them as part of the data set to triangu late types of data collected.

AN OTHER SATURDAY

As I try to conclude this piece on journal w riting, the major ideas I want to

pu nctuate have to do with journal writing, as a technique used in the arts and

hum anities, resonating with the qua litative researcher. Writing d own w hatwe think and feel helps in the journey to imp rove our research practice, for

example. Some of the p ersonal examples used in the body of this text may

serve to illustrate the individual writers thinking processes and the willing-

ness to analyze, rethink, and go deeper into a critical stance about ones life

and work. Progoff calls this the scope of personal renewal. Others call it

reflection. Still others see journa l writing, myself includ ed, as a tangible way

to evaluate ou r experience, imp rove and clarify ones thinking, and finally

become a better writer and scholar, if you will.In my own experience of jour-

nal writing, and as I see what m y students w rite, I find th at we are wr iting to

chronicle our research practice as educators.

We are talking about examining our own th oughts, beliefs,and behaviors.

Many w ill say that th at helps on ly the wr iter. Still, if that w ere the only ou t-

come of writing a journal, I would say that in itselfm ay help to ensure the con-

tinu ing self-reflection each of us claims as a first step to modeling th is for ourstudents. Journal writing is a powerful research technique for the researcher

and the participants in a given study. The definitions of the roles of the

researcher and par ticipan ts in a study are clarified throu gh the reflection and

the wr iting process involved in journal writing . Because the researcher is the

research instrument, keeping a journal is a check and balance in the entire

course of a qualitative research project. Likewise, keeping a journal during

the course of a research project is a way to pr actice interd isciplinar y triangu -

lation. Because journal writing is part of the history of the arts and humani-

ties, and p art of various psychological studies, hum an services researchers

benefit from th is type of triangulation. I often use th e metap hor of journal

writing as sculpting. Ages ago, when I took a sculpting class working with

clay, one of the techniques sculptor s use is whittling away at portions of this

part ofthe piece or that part and every day asyou sculpt, the piece takesa new

form. In a very like manner, the journal wr iter is also doing th is. The writtentext ofthe journal evolves,is reshaped,and for the purp oses ofthe researcher,

becomes a w ay to clarify, reinterpret, and d efine m uch of our w ork. Given




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that read ers of this journal are interested in qualitative research techniques to

some extent, this technique, journal writing, may offer a way to illum inate

what th e researcher is studying in a highly disciplined and d eeply personal

way.

Following is an example, to illustrate this point, from my own journal

abou t what it means to be a teacher and a writer . It is difficult for me to sepa -

rate the tw o roles for no ma tter wh at the subject matter I am teaching, I teach

about w riting and r eflection to d eepen know ledge of the subject matter at

hand. This entry is par t of an on-line response interacting w ith a former d oc-

toral stud ent who is now trying to decide whether to leave teaching and start

a new career as a freelance writer. She sent me a message with the question,

What s the point of teaching if no one cares abou t all the time and effort you

pu t into teaching?

I think ones students m ost often care about teaching, you care about teaching.Isurely care about teaching. I want to give you an example of just how pow erful ateacher really is .. . in terms ofa ffecting ones outlook on life.As you know Iha vebeen taking French cooking classes from an outsta nd ing chef and teacher here inFt.Lauderdale.When Ithink about allIh ave learned sinceAugust,I am amazed,humbled, grateful, and astounded. These cooking classes are like a very brightlight at the end of a dark tun nel. I am revitalized and inspired by the passion,dedication,h umor, and commitment of a superb teacher and unbelievable chef.Any teacher has lasting effects on stud ents. Jean-Pierre (Brehier) teaches thesubject matter of French/ Floribean cooking, but also teaches by his example:dedication, persistence, aspiring to excellence, and patience, all qualities of agreat teacher. As a result of taking these classes,I have become a better cook,butmore imp ortantly a better teacher, a better writer, and a better person. So thereality seems transformative to me. As Henry Ad ams said long ago, a teacheraffects eternity. You can n ever tell wh ere the influen ce stops. (December 1998)

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

In speculating on the futu re of this useful technique of journal w riting, I

think that researchers in training may benefit from the practice of journal

writing as a qualitative research technique for the following r easons:

1. Journal writing allows the w riter to be more reflective.

2. Journal writing offers the writer an opportun ity to write uninterrupted , and

totally focused on the p oint at hand .

3. Journal writing is a technique well used in the arts and hum anities, and may

offer social science researchers an opportunity to cross borders so to speak.

4. Journal writing allows for deepening knowledge ofw hatever subject matter theresearcher takes part in.

5. Journal wr iting allows participants in a research project an active voice.




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6. Journal writing may allow researchersan d participants the opportu nity to write

cooperatively, and interactively as needed.

7. Journal writing provides an additional data set to outline,d escribe, and explain

the exact role of the researcher in any given project.

APPENDIX

Selected Bibliography

Albert, S. W. (1996). Writing from life: Telling your souls story. New York: Jeremy P.

Tarcher/ Putnam.

Baldwin,C.(1991).Lifes companion:Journalwriting asa spiritualquest.New York:Bantam.

Denzin, N. K. (1989). Interpretiv e biography. Newbu ry Park, CA: Sage.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to t ransgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York:Routledge.

Wesley , J. (1938). Journal of the Reverend John Wesley (N. Curnock, ed.). London: The

Epworth Press.

REFERENCES

Gates, H. L., Jr. (Ed.). (1987). The classic slave narratives. New York: Mentor/ Penguin

Books.

Goodrich, F., Hackett, A., & Frank, O. (1998). The diary of Anne Frank. Dramatists Play

Service.

Mallon , T. (1995). A book of ones own: People and their diaries. Saint Pau l, MN: Hungry

Mind Press.Newman, M., & Damashek, B. (1986). Quilters. Dramatists Play Service.

Nin, A. (1976). The diary of An ais Nin , 1955-1966(G. Stuhlman, ed.). New York: Har-

court, Brace.

Pep ys, S. (1970). The diary of Samuel Pepys (R. Latham & W. Mathew s, Eds.). Berkeley:

University of California Press.

Prog off, I. (1975). At a journal workshop. New York: Dialogue House.

Prog off, I. (1992). At a journal workshop:W riting to access the power of the unconscious and

evoke creative ability. Los Ange les: J. P. Tarcher.

Rainer , T. (1978). The new diary. New York: G. P. Putnam.

Richardson, L. (1995). Writingstories: Coauthoring The Sea Monster A writing

story. Qualitative Inquiry, 1(2), 189-203.

Valerie J. Janesick is aprofessor of educational leadership and organizational

change and the director of doctoral programs at Roosevelt University in Chi-

cago, Illinois. She teaches classes in qualitative research methods, curriculumtheory, curriculum planning and evaluation, and action researchand develop-




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ment. Her research in terests include qualitative research methods, ethics in

research, and comparative curriculum issues. A s a former choreographer,

dancer, arts educator, and researcher on teaching, she has tried to incorporate

thearts and humanities into how weview research. Hertext, Stretching Exer-

cises for Qu alitative Researchers (Sage, 1998), and her chapter in Strate-

gies of Qualitative Inquiry (Sage, 1998), both use dance as a metaphor for

clarifying and expanding our notions of qualitative inquiry . Her next project

is a text on ethics and the qualitative researcher, and she looks forward to her

French cooking classes in her spare time.


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