Intercoder reliability is a measure of agreement among multiple coders for how they apply codes to text data. Intercoder reliability can be used as a proxy for the validity of constructs that emerge from the data. Popular methods for establishing intercoder reliability involve presenting predetermined text segments to coders. Using this approach, researchers run the risk of altering meanings by lifting text from its original context, or making interpretations about the length of codable text. This article describes a set of procedures that was used to develop and assess intercoder reliability with free-flowing text data, in which the coders themselves determined the length of codable text segments. Discusses procedures for developing and assessing intercoder reliability with free-flowing text.

Examines the definition of the emerging mixed methods research field. Surveyed major authors in the mixed method literature with regard to definition for the field and key issues that need to be addressed as the field advances. Results show a consensus of mixed methods as an emerging ‘research paradigm’ and a breadth of opinion around definition for the field.

How the salience of research findings can be enhanced by combining survey and ethnographic methods to draw insight from anomalous cases. Using examples from a research project examining the influence of religion on childbearing preferences in Nepal, the author illustrates how survey data can facilitate the selection of ethnographic informants and how semistructured interviews with these deviant cases leads to improved theory, measures, and methods.

This article is concerned with the possibility that the development of mixed methods research is being hindered by the tendency that has been observed by some researchers for quantitative and qualitative findings either not to be integrated or to be integrated to only a limited extent. It examines findings from 20 interviews with U.K. social researchers, all of whom are practitioners of mixed methods research. From these interviews, a wide variety of possible barriers to integrating mixed methods findings are presented. Challenges to integrating mixed methods data and strategy for writing mixed methods research articles.

The recognition of the cultural place as a powerfully important influence in development immediately suggests that there is no "one" important thing, and that development is multiply determined in cultural context. All of the influences which usually come to mind are important in every cultural place. DeVelopmentally sensitive and appropriate interac¬tions are indeed crucial, ,for example, but the existence of those dyadic interactions is due to 'the 'everyday cultural routine of life and to shared understandings which surround and scaffold them. Self-understanding and esteem are important as well, but culturally provided settings and their meanings make these possible. Attachment and trust are important, but how do infants and Children experience strangers and learn whom to trust? Ethnography brings the importance of the cultural place to the center of attention, transforming it from ground to figure. An important goal of ethnographic research is to describe and understand the cultural place and its influence on the everyday lives of its members. Whatever one's opinions are about epistemological and methodological concerns regarding ethnographically derived knowledge (and there surely are such concerns, as for all methods), the remarkable findings from ethnographic work re¬garding the varying cultural tools children use to develop in cultural places throughout the world alone provide sufficient reason for ethnography's deep incorporation into developmental work. The chapters in this section offer interesting findings and their own models for how to integrate ethnography into developmental research. My comments on the chapters take advantage of their work to develop some general points about fieldwork and ethnography. First and foremost, eth¬nography and fieldwork get the researcher out into the cultural place of children and families. Once there, many ways of doing ethnography are possible and are illustrated in these chapters. Second, "methodocentrism,” the exclusive use of one method and fear of others, should be resisted as illustrated by these chapters. It is not plausible that any important question in developmental studies can be answered with a single method. Ethnography can and should be complementary with other methods. I suggest a way to talk about research methods different than the iconic qualitative/quantitative contrast, which seems to encourage polarizing discourse and is in any case not very useful or accurate. Third, ethnography is not limited only to early exploratory stages of research and to description of local meanings. It can and should be question driven; it provides valid evidence to test against our models of the world; and it produces findings, as these chapters demonstrate. Next, I suggest that ethnography is to the developmental sciences as siblings or cousins are to one another—a part of the same broad lineage in the naturalistic traditions of the social sciences. John Modell imagines ethnography and development as two fascinated and mutually dangerous lovers. Both metaphors are probably appropriate at times. Finally, I suggest that a number of salutary things would happier if fieldwork in another cultural place, like learning statistics, was a normal, expected part of every developmentalist's qualitative and mixed methods research training.

This report describes a field notes database management tool, EthnoNotes. EthnoNotes makes the process of writing, sharing, and analyzing field notes easier and more systematic. Text can be indexed, coded, and integrated with quantitative data or images, all accessed from the same database system. EthnoNotes can be used by individual researchers or be fully Internet-based, accessible online by teams collaborating in empirical studies. Field notes are easily entered on the Web, then are immediately accessible to other researchers for interpretation and analyses.

Describes a case study methodology that combines real-time longitudinal with nine retrospective case studies on same phenomenon. Discusses complementary and synergistic nature of data and analysis strategy. Argues that the combination of these types enhances construct, internal and external validity and discusses appropriate application of the approach.

Use of consensus theory to estimate culturally appropriate or "correct" answers to questions and assess individual differences in cultural knowledge. Describes the assumptions, appropriate interview materials, and analytic procedures fro carrying out a consensus analysis.

We interview people to find out from them those things we cannot directly observe. This issue is not whether observational data are more desireable, valid, or meaningful than self-report data. The fact is tahtw e cannot observe everything. We cannot observe felings, thoughts, intentions, behaviors that took place at some previous point in time, situations that preclude the presence of an observer, or how people have organized the world and the meanings they attach to what goes on in the world. We have to ask people questions about those things. Thus, the purpose of interviewing is to allow us to enter into the other person's perspective. Qualitative interviewing begins with the assumption that the perspective of others is meaningful, knowable, and able to be made explicit. We interview to find out what is in and on someone else's mind, to gather their stories. Program evaluation interviews, for example, aim to capture the perspectives of program participants, staff, and others associated with the program. What does the program look and feel like to the people involved? What are their experiences? What thoughts do people knowledgeable about the program have concerning the program? What are their expectations? What changes do participants perceive in themselves as a result of their involvement in the program? It is the responsibility of the evaluator to provide a framework within which people can respond comfortably, accurately, and honestly to these kinds of questions. Evaluations can enhance the use of qualitative data by generating relevant and high quality findings. As Hermann Sudermann said in Es Lebe das Leben I, ‘I know how to listen when clever men are talking. That is the secret of what you8 call my influence.’ Evaluators must learn how to listen when knowledgeable people are talking. That may be the secret of their influence. An evaluator or qualitative or mixed method research interviewer faces the challenge of making it possible for the person being interviewed to bring the interviewer into his or her world. The quality of the information obtained during an interview is largely dependent on the interviewer. This chapter discusses ways of obtaining high-quality information by talking with people who have that information. We’ll be delving into the ‘art of hearing’ (Rubin and Rubin 1995). This chapter presents three different types of interviews. Later sections consider the content of interviews: what questions to ask and how to phrase questions. The chapter ends with a discussion of how to record the responses obtained during interviews. This chapter emphasizes skill and technique as ways of enhancing the quality of interview data, but no less important is a genuine interest in and caring about the perspectives of other people. If what people have to say about the world is generally boring to you, then you will never be a great interviewer. On the other hand, a deep and genuine interest in learning about people is insufficient without disciplined and rigorous inquiry based on skill and technique.

Organized activities have been found to provide positive experiences for Latino adolescents to develop confidence and learn critical life skills; however, these programs are sometimes a context where youth encounter negative experiences related to ethnic/racial microaggressions (ERMs). This qualitative study explores the types of ERMs that Mexican-origin parents and adolescents encountered in their organized activities experience. Parents were mainly concerned about SB-1070 and the associated law enforcement practices that posed a threat to transporting their children to and from the organized activity site. Adolescents reported that they encountered overt(e.g., ethnic teasing) as well as covert forms of discriminatory behavior (e.g., implicit ethnic stereotypes) from peers and adult leaders. Attention to the processes of ERM is critical to helping practitioners promote positive intergroup relations so that more Latinos will participate and stay active in organized activities.