Since instructors, as part of their jobs, spend time and energy trying to make their practice effective, we believed that they would be articulate and critical in their comments on effective practice. Thus, their perspective would yield more useful and varied data for our research than what we might receive from students. Because we were pushed to decide which data source would yield the most valuable data for us, we chose to hear from instructors. (Twiss, 2004, p. 30)
You could do your research with as few as one person, or many more, depending on your question and resources. If you decide to work with one person or a small group of people, consider whether you will be able to collect enough information to answer your question.
In planning a trip or visit, we might consult more than one source of information. A tourist guide will give one sort of information, and someone who's traveled in the area may confirm some information or provide a different perspective. It's generally a good idea to have more than one source of data in research.Footnote 9
Using more than one source can provide a range of perspectives. Sometimes the perspectives will be similar, which helps to support your conclusions. On the other hand, different perspectives can prompt you to question your assumptions and look further (Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003).
Following are some ways you might include two or more sources of data in your research.
Use different methods. In researching the use of movement and arts- based approaches with a group of women, Judy Murphy and I (Norton & Murphy, 2001) met after each session to write in our journals and share and extend our reflections. We also interviewed the women who participated. In some cases, the art they had created provided prompts for conversations. Our reflections, the women's art, and what they said provided different sources of data.
Return to note 9 As you read others' research, you may come across the idea of "triangulation." Developed for surveying and navigation, triangulation is a process of using two points to ind a third one. The idea was irst applied to research in the late 1950s. In the 1970s and '80s, triangulation was described as "the combination of methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon" (Denzin, cited in Jick, 1979). It was believed that using a combination of methods could provide a check on the accuracy of data and "improve the probability that indings and interpretations will be credible" (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 305). Early applications of triangulation relected perspectives that there is a single, objective truth. This notion of a singular truth is being challenged in some arenas with the idea that there are multiple truths. In this context, and as the ield of qualitative research has developed, ideas about triangulation have also developed and shifted (Olson, 2002). Some researchers now prefer the notion of "crystallization" (Richardson, 1944, cited in Janesick, 2000), based on the idea of a crystal and its many facets: "What we see when we view a crystal, for example, depends on how we view it, how we hold it up to the light or not" (Janesick, 2000, p. 392).