CRITICAL BOOK REVIEW

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

LECTURER: NENI AFRIDA SARI, S.Pd, M.Hum

COMPOSED BY GROUP 6:
MAYA ANGGRIANI 2161121024
ERVINA BR PURBA 2161121012
FARADINA DEA TASHA ARDHA 2161121014
ERMIDA
ONDION ARIANTO ARITONANG

CLASS DIK REG A ‘16

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULTY
MEDAN STATE UNIVERSITY
2019
A. IDENTITY OF THE BOOK

Title : Qualitative for Education

Author (s) : Robert C. Bogdan and Sari Knopp Biklen
Publisher : Allyn and Bacon
Year : 1992
Pages : 234 pages
Edition : 2nd edition
Place of Publishing : United State of America
ISBN : 0-205-13266
B. INTRODUCTION
People who write qualitative manuscript are seldom concious of the fact that what
they say and how they say it are influenced by factors other than the data they collect.
Writing qualitative data is rather easier than writing conceptual work. What you plan to
produce with your data will affect what you write and how you manage your writing. If you
do a dissertation, you must attend certain conventions. Research reports and articles usually
offer more style freedom. You always have to have a beginning, a middle and an end. As we
know, the beginning tells what you will do in the paper. The middle section develops, argues,
and presents points. And the conclusion might summarize what you say.
So, in writing qualitative research, the author must present the analysis, explanation,
and rendering of the data disclosed. A good qualitative paper is well documented with
description taken from the data to illustrate an substantiate the assertions made. Another way
to present data is to make a statement and illustrate the statement with several examples. Data
is found inductively, but is presented deductively, which is why real efforts must be made by
the author to show that they do not collect data to prove the point of view that they already
have. The findings of the views are usually presented in a didactic form in the form of
traditional presentations. If we understand that writing up qualitative findings is an
interpretive craft and that the text can take a variety of forms, researchers can be liberated
from some of the conventions that inhibited their creative expressions.

C. SUMMARY OF THE BOOK

CHAPTER 6: WRITING UP

In field of writing, particularly in some cases, author perhaps find difficulties to find
word to express what in their mind. Those are the problems probably they find are choosing
the vocabulary, constructing the structure of sentence, and preparing a presentation that
reflect what they were paid attention. To create a qualitative research, observer should go to
fieldwork to get the data that will be analysis of product. There are three things that can be
used as rough draft on paper such as the descriptive data, observer’s comments, and analytic
memos. These are the important part in writing namely beginning, middle, and end. The parts
of beginning contain of things will do in the paper. The middle section, author need s to write
argues and presents in author point. Here, writers discuss the insights, marshaling the data to
convince the reader with evidence for what the claim are.
When starting to write, someone must make an awareness decision to do and
discipline her/himself to follow through. Some advice to get started in writing, narrowed the
focus, looked for the themes, make decision about what type of study going to do, wrote
memo' s and observer’s comments, have mechanically sorted the data read in the literature.
But the actual writing is the style, the form, and the content.
Three manuscript that known, first is thesis, namely a proposition put forth and then
argue. Thesis can product a comparison of what the research has revealed and what the
professional literature says about the subject. In developing a provocative thesis, the case is
often overstated, attack the position that no one would actually take. Second is a theme, is
some concept or theory that emerges from the data:” some signal trend, some master
conception, or key distinction” (Mills, 1959, p.216). Third is a topic, pervasive in notes, it’s
more a unit of a particular aspect of what you were studying than an idea about it.
If there is an author who is working in area where there is already good description in
the literature. A theme or thesis for a focus would make the writing more valuable. Data have
collected, analyzed, and coded are the most crucial in deciding on what specific thesis, theme,
and topic will be. The simple way to finding focus is to look over the coding categories and
see which have yielded the greatest amount of data. The title of author writing should reveal
what is his /her focus. Although titles are decided after writer had finished the writing, the
attempt to come up with them before start can facilitate the search for a focus. The good
manuscript has a coherent structure and a design to carry out the purpose embodied in the
focus.
The important part in writing qualitative research are the introduction, the core, and
the conclusion. Generally, introduction contains with concluding a description of the design
of the most content of the paper. Here author also include the techniques used, time and
length of the study, the number of settings and subjects, the nature of the data, researcher-
subject relations, checks on data, and other information that probably help them to evaluate
the soundness of the procedures and the nature of subject in the paper.
Thing that needed to include in the core is argue the thesis, present the theme, and
illuminate the topic. Difficulties to hold on the focus when writing qualitative research
particularly in core part is able to compose word and the structure in the middle of research
and paper. Writer also include hoe the section which is related to the focus, grows out of next
analysis of coded data, embodied the focus by working with the data, reading the data again
and again, and looking for formulas of parts, or it can be the elements are. Author should
look for further division, author must look through the data in a particular coding category.
Each section that content of the middle or called by core should be structured to the whole of
manuscript. Qualitative paper is good if it well documented with the description taken from
the data to illustrate the assertions made. Author must be able to convince the reader of the
plausibility of the presentation.
Getting things in mind about subjects and presenting short sections from the
fieldnotes and other data help convince the reader and help him or her get closer to the people
that have studied (do the research). Quotations and author’s comprehending gathered to form
a flowing paragraph that the particular with the general. To present the data, researchers
must make statement and illustrate the statement with the some example by chosen in more
formalized research as in a dissertation. After present the example, writer rounds it out with a
concluding interpretation. There is another way to present the data is incorporating word
directly into the text, so that the realpolitik almost become part of story you are telling. Writer
incorporates dialogue and description directly into the narrative. It can be telling story to the
reader.
In writing up qualitative research, writer should present his/her point of view, analysis
and explanation. If an author can affect to appear some question the readers have and write
down it in the paper it is so important probably that is why Visualization of presentation can
be on a continuum. Here, author finds the more formal or traditional ways of organizing a
presentation. The findings or point of view of author are usually presented didactically in
traditional forms of presentations. Data are discovered inductively, but presented deductively,
that’s why real struggle must made by author to show that he/she did not collect data to prove
point of view already held.
The illustration of some existing theory is example of a style that depends on
deductive method. To attempt storytelling for a formal paper at university, probably be well
advised to check ahead of time with instructor to see if it is acceptable.
The focus conclusion is incisively restated and your argument reviewed. Implication
what author have presented can be elaborated. Making good qualitative paper need to pay
attention to some steps. First, try to come up with a focus, then begin an outline of the core.
Try writing the introduction or a section. Tell to own self that writing is not for final product,
but just working on a draft. Force yourself to start, putting your thoughts down on paper.
Rewrite and change it later. Drafts are easily converted into final products by some editing
and erasing of words. Start a file for sentences, paragraphs, and sections that you have written
in the process of producing a paper. Read through the manuscript ruthlessly looking for
material to put in the file. Make the paper short. Decide roughly how long the paper is going
to be and then make decision about focus and the core.
Write the words in the active voice, write the things you want to write once clearly. If
feel that there is still not write, look up the words to see if they can be replaced by something
more precise. Then, read well-written qualitative research articles and book to gain the sense
of the variety modes of presentation, as well as provide models of good writing. After that,
read widely to see how author present the data, how they construct the arguments, how they
arrange the sentence, and how they organize the format. That is all the steps to write up the
qualitative research. Actually, it is not about the difficulties but the interests to write and the
focus to create new word particularly in research.

D. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

1. STRENGTHS

After read a few times to investigate the content of the topic in the book, this
introductory level text provides a background for understanding the uses of qualitative
research in education, its theoretical and historical underpinnings, and specific methods of
educational research. This edition places qualitative research into the context of current
discussions of research methods and alternative ways of knowing. The edition also contains a
rewritten chapter on applied and action research, as well as revised or expanded chapters on
qualitative methods, photography, and techniques of data collection and analysis. the essay
organization means by this book is the organization within an essay.

The advantages which the reviewer can take from this book, especially from the
chapter 6 ‘Writing Up’, is that the book provides such a good, clear and simple explanation,
but it doesn’t omit the important thing that should be explained about the topic. Along with
many theories from experts as the basic knowledge, this chapter refers to how the reader can
act immediately after reading the book by doing the methods in the field immediately
because they also provide the probably situation that might face by the researcher during
their study, and also provide some of solutions that the research might found in conducting
the research. The both author describing the content of the chapter in detail explanation and
using high frequency words, so that the reader even if they from the beginner, they do not
feel confuse at all, because the content of the book also put the role of novice researcher. It
means the book is readable for every level of learners or researchers.

2. WEAKNESSES

Discussing about the weaknesses of the book, especially that existed in chapter 6
‘Writing up’, actually as the reviewer, we wouldn’t say too much about the lacks that exist in
the books. For instance, the lacks located in the organization of the chapter, in the section of
discussing about ‘A Good Manuscript’ the reviewer think that it has a long description, and it
looks a bit disturb, because all you can see is paragraph form, we mean that for the sub-topic
of choosing a ‘theme’ the authors should put it in special section, but still inside the title of ‘A
Good Manuscript’, so that for some readers it can help them to distinguish another important
topic. Second, the reviewer found it a bit eye-sore-ing if we look at how the topics are form in
terms of font formatting. The author didn’t give number each topic, for example, in the
section of ‘Getting Start’ it much better to put a letter of ‘A’ in front of the topic title, and
then following with letter of ‘B’ in the topic of ‘A Good Manuscript’.

E. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

1. CONCLUSION
Based on the findings of analysis the content of the book, the reviewer comes into a
conclusion. In fact, this book is a good reference and a good work from the author, as one of
series of Qualitative for Education by Bogdan and Biklen. Still, there are some lacks in some
points within the books, especially in the chapter we’ve reviewed, chapter 6 ‘Writing Up’.
According to the reviewer, we consider that the chapter has been deliver the material in a
good and neat form, although there still some lacks. The reviewer felt during reading the
book, the reviewer can get the point that the author would like to convey, because they
explain it in detail by using example. This chapter especially talk about how a researcher
write their study in the field by using qualitative research into paper. The author realized that
writing is an activity that can’t be consider ‘easy’, so they come up with their solution by
describing the probable situation that might face by the researcher during their research and
the solution when they found some trouble. In conclude it, the reviewer would like to
recommended this book as the reference to conduct qualitative research, for all level of
learners and researcher, even if you are an expert or a novice researcher.

2. SUGGESTION
After reading and writing the review of chapter 6 ‘Writing Up’ in this book, entitled
“Qualitative Research for Education” by Bogdan and Biklen, and found the analysis of
strengths and weaknesses existed in the chapter, we would like to deliver some suggestion
and the result of reviewing the book, in order to make it better. Based on the weaknesses that
the reviewer has been stated before, we would like to suggest that, first it could be much
better if the author make the description in ‘A Good Manuscript’ to be simpler and narrow it
into categorization, such as for the topic of ‘theme’. Second, it is also greater to put capital
letter of ‘A’ or ‘B’ and so on in front of the title of the topic and the sub-topic.