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Qualitative research
in communication
disorders
 © 2019 J&R Press Ltd
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Cover design: Jim Wilkie Cover image by ‘clivewa’
(used under license from Shutterstock.com)
Project management, typesetting and design: J&R Publishing Services Ltd, Guildford,
Surrey, UK; www.jr-publishingservices.co.uk
Indexed by Terry Halliday (HallidayTerence@aol.com)
 Qualitative research
in communication
disorders
An introduction for students
and clinicians
Rena Lyons and Lindy McAllister (Eds)

J&R Press Ltd

Contents
Foreword by Professor James Law vii
Prefacexi
About the authors xv
Section I Introduction
1 Introduction and overview of qualitative research1
Lindy McAllister and Rena Lyons
Section II Qualitative research methodologies
2 Conversation Analysis and its use in communication disorders research35
Sarah Griffiths, Hilary Gardner and Rachel Bear
3 Critical discourse analysis and its use in communication disorders research59
Mary Pat O’Malley-Keighran
4 Discourse analysis and its use in communication disorders research75
Elizabeth Spencer and Lucy Bryant
5 Ethnography and its use in communication disorders research91
Tami Howe, Sarah Verdon, Catherine Easton and Martha Geiger
6 Grounded theory and its use in communication disorders research119
Clare Carroll and Deborah Harding
7 Narrative inquiry and its use in communication disorders research141
Rena Lyons, Chalotte Glintborg and Lindy McAllister
8 Participatory approaches in communication disorders research167
Ruth McMenamin and Carole Pound
9 Phenomenology and its use in communication disorders research193
Sophie MacKenzie, Lindy McAllister, Kyla Hudson, Linda Worrall,
Bronwyn Davidson and Tami Howe
10 Q ualitative case study and it use in communication disorders research213
Samantha Siyambalapitiya, Tami Howe and Helen Hambly
Section III Methods in qualitative research in communication disorders
11 Methods in qualitative research in communication disorders239
Rena Lyons and Lindy McAllister
vi Qualitative research in communication disorders

Section IV Ensuring rigour in qualitative research

12 Ensuring rigour in qualitative research267
Lindy McAllister and Rena Lyons
Section V Illustrating methods in qualitative research
13 Using in-depth, semi-structured interviewing285
Lucette Lanyon, Deborah Hersh, Jane Bickford, Janet Baker, Charn Nang,
Miranda Rose and Linda Worrall
14 Observational techniques313
Robyn o’Halloran, Abby Foster, Linda Worrall and Miranda Rose
15 Ethnographic techniques335
Carol Westby
16 The Voice Centred Relational Approach in communication disorders research351
Felicity Bright and Maxine Bevin
Section VI Particular considerations
17 Ethics in qualitative research with people with communication disorders369
Nicole Müller, Rena Lyons and Julie Marshall
18 Innovative methods387
Rosalind Merrick, Sharynne McLeod and Clare Carroll
19 M
 aintaining cultural integrity in Australian Aboriginal
and Māori qualitative research in communication disorders407
Karen Brewer, Tara Lewis, Chelsea Bond, Elizabeth Armstrong, Anne Hill,
Alison Nelson and Juli Coffin
20 Using qualitative research to explore professional practice435
Sue Roulstone, Marie Atherton, Bronwyn Davidson, Deborah Harding, Maja Kelić
and Lindy McAllister
21 Qualitative evidence synthesis461
Robyn O’Halloran and Catherine Houghton
Section VII Conclusions
22 Conclusions and future directions485
Rena Lyons and Lindy McAllister
Index493
Foreword
Historically quantitative, positivistic approaches to research have predominated
in the speech and language sciences. There are a variety of reasons for this,
such as the way that research training is constructed in preliminary courses
training people to become speech and language therapists, the editorial
position of journals which have supported the academic development of the
profession, and the historical proximity to medicine and, latterly, psychology.
This is rather different from the research of other professional groups
such as nurses, occupational therapists and teachers. These groups have often
prioritized the experience of the individual, something which has become
especially important in a world where patient satisfaction is at a premium
and personalized care a priority. Quantitative methods are exceptionally
good for asking certain sorts of questions about whether an intervention
works, whether a diagnosis is accurate. But it has become increasingly clear
that, while it can be seen as a necessary condition for testing the outcomes of
an intervention, it is not a sufficient condition when it comes to evaluating
the feasibility, acceptability or transferability of an intervention. It is not just
about whether an intervention works but about how it works and for whom
does it work and why, a fact captured in the UK Medical Research Council’s
Guidance on complex interventions which underpins the development of most
interventions1. We need properly conducted and well-structured interviews
but also respondents who are well able to understand what they being asked
and who can respond in a manner that is readily recognized by the reader.
Inevitably, people with communication disabilities become a test both for
how a consumer model of health and social care can work and for how best
to get people to reflect on their needs. How do you gain the views of people
who do not speak? In work we carried out in Primary Care in London, we
asked people with a range of different disabilities about their experience of
the transition from secondary to primary care (a key economic issue for any
healthcare provider with a concern for the costs of a poorly-managed primary/
secondary interface). We heard, often shocking, stories about the way that

1 Craig, P., Dieppe, P., Macintyre, S., Michie, S., Nazareth, I., & Petticrew, M. (2013) Developing and
evaluating complex interventions: The new Medical Research Council guidance. International Journal of
Nursing Studies, 50(5), 587‒592. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.09.010.
viii Qualitative research in communication disorders

many practitioners engaged with those with communication disabilities2.

We heard stories of misdiagnosis and misunderstanding of needs, about
practitioners too busy to listen carefully. In another study in Scotland, two
general practitioners said that working with people with communication
disabilities was like practising “vet medicine” because they could not tell you
what was being said and had to rely exclusively on physical examination3. This
type of information, so critical to informing service provision, is only really
available from qualitative research.
Historically speech and language therapists have often delivered services
from their clinics separate from other services, but now it is much more
common for them to be part of teams whether that be in hospices, hospitals,
day care, or schools. The members of these teams have very different roles but
all need to understand the individual and their communicative capacity. It is
very difficult to ask of this sort of provision “does it work?” because it is, by
its nature, so inherently complex. A more appropriate question is, what makes
a team work effectively? And this leads us to notoriously slippery concepts
such as collaboration and trust. At its root is the concept of social capital – the
relationships between the different individuals and the only way to get at social
capital is to adopt qualitative methods4. This type of research puts members
of the team on the same page and makes them feel that it is something that
they are collaborating in, or in modern parlance, ‘co-constructing’, rather than
having it done to them.
Of course, this interest in the qualitative paradigm is not new in
communication disabilities research as witnessed by early papers in the UK5 and

2 Law, J., Bunning, K., Byng, S., Farrelly, S., & Heyman, B. (2005). Making sense in primary care: levelling
the playing field for people with communication disabilities. Disability and Society, 20, 169‒185.
3 Law, J., Van der Gaag, A., & Symon, S. (2005). Improving communication in primary care: An
examination of the feasibility of introducing Health Talk: Count me in in two primary care practices.
Report to Forth Valley and Ayrshire and Arran Primary Care Trusts. Available from the first author c/o
School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne NE1 7RU, e: James.Law@ncl.ac.uk
4 McKean, C., Law, J., Laing, K., McCartney, E., Cockerill, M., Allon Smith, J., & Forbes, J.C. (2017).
A qualitative case study in the social capital of co-professional collaborative co-practice for children
with speech language and communication needs. International Journal of Language and Communication
Disorders. DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12296
5 Eastwood, J. (1988). Qualitative research: An additional research methodology for speech
pathology? International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 23, 171‒184.
DOI:10.3109/13682828809019885
 Foreword ix

the US6,7 but, despite its obvious value, it remains relatively underdeveloped.
It needs advocates, and advocates who are at the top of their game. So I am
delighted to be able to introduce Lyons and McAllister’s new book Qualitative
Research in Communication Disorders: An Introductory Guide for Students
and Clinicians. In the end, as the authors indicate, the distinction between
qualitative and quantitative research is invidious because there is really just
good quality and less good quality research, irrespective of the paradigm. In
the end, it always boils down to how well theories are constructed, methods
outlined, results reported, and conclusions drawn. There have been a panoply
of texts outlining qualitative methods going back thirty or more years, but while
they have reported on the methods they rarely engage with the complexity
of eliciting the views of people whose primary difficulty is communication
itself. This book addresses this issue directly, providing detail on how different
qualitative approaches have been applied in the field of communication disorders.
It will be an invaluable resource for students, practitioners, and researchers
within the communication sciences but also for social and health scientists
who have an interest in accessing the views of those who, by definition, find
communication a challenge.

James Law PhD

Professor of Speech and Language Sciences
Newcastle University, UK
October 2018

6 Simmons-Mackie, N., Damico, J.S., & Damico, H.L. (1999) A qualitative study of feedback in aphasia
treatment tags: Aphasia, feedback, therapeutics, qualitative research, clinicians. American Journal of
Speech-Language Pathology, 8, 218‒230. DOI:10.1044/1058-0360.0803.218
7 Damico, J.S. & Simmons-Mackie, N. (2003). Qualitative research and speech-language pathology:
A tutorial for the clinical realm. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12, 131‒143.
DOI:10.1044/1058-0360(2003/060)
Preface
Rena
The original idea for this book came about from conversations between Rena
Lyons and Sharynne McLeod in August 2016. The Discipline of Speech and
Language Therapy, NUI Galway, Ireland, was honoured to host Sharynne on
a visit before the 30th IALP World Congress, which was held in Dublin for the
first time that year. While Sharynne was in Galway, I took her on a sight-seeing
tour of beautiful Connemara and we stopped for a coffee in Ballynahinch
Castle. Over our drinks, we discussed qualitative research and the somewhat
unique situation in our Discipline where almost everyone was a qualitative
researcher, with experience in a range of approaches. We wanted to build
on this experience and Sharynne suggested the possibility of an edited book
on qualitative research in communication disorders. I was both excited and
daunted by the idea but did not know where to start. I didn’t have a notebook
so we improvised and jotted down ideas and possible chapter titles on a
paper napkin! Sharynne suggested that Lindy McAllister would be the perfect
match as a co-editor because of both her experience in editing books and as
a qualitative researcher. I was aware of Lindy’s work but had never met her.
Of course, Sharynne knew that Lindy would be attending the IALP Congress
and she introduced us a few days later and the rest is history! Sharynne also
introduced me to Rachael Wilkie at J&R Press. I am indebted to Sharynne for
her encouragement, generosity, and support.

Lindy
I was delighted when Sharynne introduced me to Rena with the suggestion
we could write together. It’s not the first time I’ve co-authored a book with
someone I had not previously worked with and knew that, with good planning,
regular communication and a commitment to meeting deadlines, such an
international collaboration could work well. As a late-stage career academic
I was keen to foster the career development of those who would come after
me, so supporting early career researchers and students to understand and
use qualitative research was appealing. With two face-to-face sessions working
xii Qualitative research in communication disorders

together in Galway (one to plan, one to ‘wrap up’), hundreds of emails, and
numerous skypes (where Rena would sometimes ask me to stop talking so
she could hear the Australian birds in their early morning chorus outside my
window!) we completed this book ahead of schedule.

As co-editors, we are both passionate about qualitative research and its use in
research of practice and communication disorders and have thoroughly enjoyed
working together on this book. The field of communication disorders has its
origins in the disciplines of medicine, linguistics, education, and psychology
where the predominant research paradigm has been quantitative. Qualitative
research has not traditionally been included in curricula educating speech
and language therapists, so they may not feel that they have the knowledge
or skills to use this methodology. In recent years there has been an increase
in the number of qualitative studies published in communication disorders
research. We know that many phenomena in the field of speech and language
therapy practice and communication disorders are complex and that qualitative
research provides an excellent paradigm for exploring these phenomena. There
is increasing recognition that knowledge generated using qualitative research
can complement that generated using quantitative methods.
As qualitative researchers, we know that embarking on the use of this
methodology can be daunting. As in many fields, people beginning to use
qualitative research methods may be confused about the different approaches,
different terms for what seem like similar concepts, and are often unclear in
relation to how to actually ‘do’ the methods. What they read in published
journal papers by necessity of word length glosses over the fine-grained detail
of what was done, and why, in planning, data collection and data analysis.
Our vision was that this book would be an introductory guide, which would
be read in conjunction with other generic qualitative research textbooks, to
support those beginning to use qualitative research specifically in the field of
communication disorders.
When we started planning the book, we brainstormed ideas and sent out
‘expression of interest’ emails to researchers who had published qualitative
research in the field of speech and language therapy practice and/or
communication disorders, inviting them to contribute and to suggest topics in
qualitative research that they could write about. We were overwhelmed by the
positive response from researchers in Ireland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand,
Denmark, Croatia, South Africa, US and Canada! We used the data from the
 Preface xiii

expressions of interest to develop a book proposal which we submitted to J&R

Press. To our delight the book proposal was accepted.
Given that this book is an introductory text, our goal was that it would be
written in an accessible style with a practical focus. To achieve this accessible
style and coherence, we provided chapter templates and chapter samples to
authors. We invited authors who had experience using specific qualitative
approaches to write chapters collaboratively. In this way, researchers from
different parts of the world, who may not have already known each other,
worked together on chapter drafts. We believe that this collaborative writing
approach has enhanced the richness of the content and hopefully has fostered
some new collaborations!
One of the decisions we had to make as co-editors was in relation to
terminology. For example, the term ‘speech and language therapist’ is used
in Ireland and the UK, ‘speech-language therapist’ is used in New Zealand,
‘speech pathologist’ is used in Australia, and ‘speech-language pathologist’ is
used in the US and Canada. Given that the book is published by J&R Press, a
UK-based publisher, we made the decision to use the term speech and language
therapist throughout the book to ensure consistency.
We have structured this book into seven sections. The first section, entitled
‘Introduction’, as the name suggests provides an introduction to qualitative
research and its use in the fields of speech and language therapy practice and
communication disorders. The second section, entitled ‘Qualitative Research
Methodologies’, has nine chapters, each of which covers one of the major
qualitative research methodologies and which are presented alphabetically.
Authors provide an overview of each qualitative approach, its use and application
in both research in practice and communication disorders research, as well as
top tips. Each chapter has case studies which clearly illustrate ways in which
the authors applied and used the particular qualitative methodology. The
third section, entitled ‘Methods in Qualitative Research in Communication
Disorders’, provides an overview of aspects of the methods that are common
across all of the qualitative methodologies. Section IV, entitled ‘Ensuring
Rigour in Qualitative Research’, addresses ways in which researchers can
apply strategies to strengthen rigour in qualitative studies. Section V, entitled
‘Illustrating Methods in Qualitative Research’, contains four chapters, each of
which focuses on ways in which researchers have used specific methods in
communication disorders research. Section VI is made up of five chapters
which address ‘Particular Considerations’ when using qualitative research,
such as dealing with ethical issues, innovative approaches, maintaining
xiv Qualitative research in communication disorders

cultural integrity in Australian Aboriginal and Māori qualitative research in

communication disorders, using qualitative research to explore practice, and
qualitative synthesis. The final section focuses on a review of the content and
reflection on future directions for qualitative research in communication
disorders research.
We have come a long way since that chat over coffee in Ballynahinch Castle!
We have really enjoyed working on this book and we have learned so much
along the journey. We have been humbled and inspired by the diversity and
excellent quality of the chapter contributions. As co-editors, we are also very
grateful to the chapter authors for writing so well collaboratively, sometimes
with co-authors that they did not know, and for meeting our deadlines. This
ensured that the process ran smoothly. It has also been a pleasure to work
with Rachael and Jim at J&R Press. They have been so helpful and supportive
along the way. We’d also like to acknowledge NUI Galway who awarded Rena
a grant in aid of publication to support the detailed work of creating an index
for the book.
We are very impressed of the way in which speech and language therapy
researchers are using qualitative methodologies in communication disorders
research. We hope that this book will inspire speech and language therapy
students and clinicians to engage in qualitative research.
About the authors
Professor Elizabeth Armstrong, PhD, is Foundation Chair in Speech Pathology
at Edith Cowan University in Perth. She has published widely in the area of
aphasia and presents regularly at national and international speech pathology,
linguistics, allied health and medical conferences. Aphasic discourse analysis,
aphasia treatment studies, and cross-cultural practice constitute her areas of
focus. Since 2010, Professor Armstrong has led a strong multidisciplinary team
of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers exploring the experiences of
Aboriginal brain injury survivors and their families using both qualitative and
quantitative methodologies. This research aims to promote culturally secure
rehabilitation services for Aboriginal people post brain injury, and to improve
health outcomes of Aboriginal brain injury survivors.

Marie Atherton, PhD candidate, is a lecturer in Speech Pathology at the

Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Australia. She has had a diverse
career path, practising as a clinical speech and language therapist for many years
before working as an advisor to Speech Pathology Australia, the professional
body representing speech pathologists in Australia, and then moving into
academia. In 2010, Marie accepted a position in Vietnam to coordinate a
2-year speech and language therapy training programme for Vietnamese health
professionals. Marie’s PhD was a longitudinal study employing qualitative and
participatory research methods to explore the experiences of a group of these
Vietnam graduates. She is due to complete her PhD in 2019. She continues
to actively support the development of the speech and language therapy
profession in Vietnam.

Janet Baker, PhD, is Adjunct Associate Professor in Speech Pathology and

Audiology, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University,
Australia. She is a speech pathologist and family therapist with post-graduate
qualifications in psychotherapy. Jan’s teaching, clinical work and research
interests have been focused upon the aetiology and management of functional
and psychogenic disorders, the professional voice, counselling for speech
pathologists, and the processes involved in the therapeutic relationship. In her
private practice, now newly based in Sydney, Jan offers services as Consultant
in Voice and Supervision of Professional Practice for Speech Pathologists.
xvi Qualitative research in communication disorders

Rachel Bear is a speech and language therapist who has worked for over
30 years in paediatrics in a primary care centre and mainstream school
settings. Rachel works with children with a range of speech, language and
communication needs, but her primary interest is in working with children
with speech difficulties. Rachel is currently studying for a PhD at the University
of Sheffield. Her research uses thematic analysis and conversation analysis
to look at the ways we support parents of children with speech difficulties to
carry out their homework tasks.

Maxine Bevin, PhD, is a speech-language therapist working in private practice

with adults with communication disability in New Zealand. Her interest
is in qualitative research methodologies. Her doctoral research was in self
and identity in people living with aphasia. She has also completed research
exploring self and identity in community-based rehabilitation services for
people with acquired brain injury. She is currently part of an evaluation team
researching the outcomes of training programmes for the workforce working
with vulnerable children.

Jane Bickford, PhD, is a lecturer in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences
at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. She has worked extensively as a
speech pathologist in a range of clinical and community settings, with diverse
populations in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Inspired by her
previous work in the area of head and neck cancer, Jane recently completed
her PhD examining the psychosocial experiences of people who have a total
laryngectomy. Through this research she developed expertise using grounded
theory methodology. In 2017, she was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Prize
for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. She is currently using qualitative methods
to research patient experiences of head and neck lymphoedema treatments,
communicative participation outcomes after laryngectomy and user experiences
of a co-designed programme to prevent occupational voice problems.

Chelsea Bond, PhD, is a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander Australian and
a Senior Research Fellow with the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at
The University of Queensland. Dr Bond has worked as an Aboriginal Health
Worker and researcher in communities across south-east Queensland for the
past 20 years and has a strong interest in urban Indigenous health promotion,
culture, identity, and community development. Dr Bond’s career has focused
on interpreting and privileging Indigenous experiences of the health system
including critically examining the role of Aboriginal health workers, the
 About the authors xvii

narratives of Indigeneity produced within public health, and advocating

for strength-based community development approaches to Indigenous
health promotion practice. Dr Bond has a number of publications related to
strength-based health promotion practice, Indigenous social capital, and the
conceptualization of Aboriginality within public health. Dr Bond is a board
member of Inala Wangarra and Screen Queensland, and a regular guest host
of 98.9FM’s ‘Let’s Talk’ programme and co-host of popular weekly radio show
and podcast ‘Wild Black Women’.

Karen Brewer (Whakatōhea, Ngaiterangi), PhD, is a postdoctoral research

fellow in Te Kupenga Hauora Māori (Department of Māori Health) at The
University of Auckland. She completed a PhD in Speech Science in 2014, with
a thesis titled ‘The experiences of Māori with aphasia, their whānau (family)
members and speech-language therapists’. As a kaupapa Māori researcher Karen
explores ways to improve cultural safety in the speech and language therapy
profession and ensure equity of service delivery and outcomes for Māori.

Felicity Bright, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Rehabilitation in the School

of Clinical Sciences at Auckland University of Technology. She is a speech
and language therapist with a particular interest in how clinicians work to
enhance the patient’s experience in rehabilitation. She uses qualitative research
methodologies to explore areas related to patient experience including patient-
provider communication, hope, engagement, and therapeutic relationships.
She teaches in the physiotherapy and postgraduate rehabilitation programmes,
and supervises postgraduate students from a range of disciplines.

Lucy Bryant, PhD, is a postdoctoral research associate at the Graduate

School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia and a Certified
Practicing Speech Pathologist. She completed her PhD in Speech Pathology
at the University of Newcastle Australia, investigating the implementation
of discourse analysis in the clinical assessment of adults with aphasia. Lucy’s
research focus on discourse analysis stems from an interest in assessment and
intervention for people with aphasia, and in particular how people use language
for functional communication. She also has an interest in how technology may
be used to assist clinicians to perform analysis.

Clare Carroll, PhD, is a registered speech and language therapist and a lecturer
at National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Clare has a wealth of clinical
experience from working in the Irish Health Service and in private practice.
xviii Qualitative research in communication disorders

She uses a range of qualitative methodologies to study interdisciplinary team

working practices and to support the participation of children, young people
with disabilities and their families in research and practice. Clare is passionate
about services being informed by the people who use them, in particular
understanding what is important to people with communication disabilities.

Professor Julianne (Juli) Coffin, PhD, is an Aboriginal Western Australian

who has traditional ties to her grandparent’s country in the Pilbara region
(Nyangumarta). Juli was born in Ngala, Western Australia and has lived the
majority of her life in the Pilbara. She is the proud mother of three children. Juli
was educated in Australia through Edith Cowan University (Western Australia)
and James Cook University (Queensland). Professor Coffin is a prominent
Aboriginal researcher with research expertise in cultural security, education
and research across diverse range chronic diseases, nutrition, contextualizing
bullying, and health promotion. Professor Coffin has completed a degree in
education, Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine (with distinction)
and a PhD with an award in excellence. With a keen interest in Aboriginal
languages and ways of learning Dr Coffin combines her education and cultural
learnings to deliver the outstanding translation of research into practice that
is always of an impeccable standard. She is highly regarded by her peers as
being creative and innovative around some of the particularly controversial
and complex areas in Aboriginal health and education.

Bronwyn Davidson, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of

Melbourne, Australia and a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia. She completed
her Bachelors Degree in Speech Pathology and her PhD at the University of
Queensland. Bronwyn has extensive experience as a clinician, academic and
researcher, especially in the fields of aphasiology and practice education. She
holds a keen interest in participatory research and education that address
services for people with communication disability in majority world countries.

Catherine Easton, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at Charles Sturt University,

Australia and Certified Practicing Speech Pathology. She completed her
Master of Speech Pathology at LaTrobe University after completing a PhD in
linguistics, also at LaTrobe University. Catherine has an interest in research
focusing on social justice in speech pathology, including regional, rural and
remote practice, Australian Indigenous cultural competence development
in higher education, and linguistic prejudice towards non-standard dialects.
Catherine’s interest in ethnography has grown from exploring methodologies
that facilitate multiple perspectives to be heard.
 About the authors xix

Abby Foster, PhD, is a speech pathologist who has spent her career working
with stroke survivors. She completed her doctoral studies in 2016 through The
University of Queensland. After initially needing convincing to use qualitative
research methods, she is now a self-proclaimed qualitative methods nerd.
Her research and clinical interests lie in the acute management of post-stroke
aphasia, the lived experience of acquired communication disability, and the
intersection between speech pathology and social justice. Abby currently works
as the manager and research/clinical lead for speech pathology at Victoria’s
largest health network, Monash Health. She is also an adjunct lecturer in the
School of Allied Health at La Trobe University.

Hilary Gardner, DPhil, is a speech and language therapist with over 35 years
in practice. She has combined a clinical career with research and lecturing
posts at UK universities, most recently the University of Sheffield. Her own
research utilizes predominantly qualitative methodology such as Conversation
Analysis to consider adult‒child interactions, especially those involving speech
and language therapy tasks. Hilary continues to support the development of
collaborative approaches for those working with communication difficulties,
especially within educational settings, through workshops and lectures at
home and abroad.

Martha Geiger, PhD, is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Rehabilitation

Studies in the Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University, South
Africa. A speech and language therapist by profession, she has specialized in
interdisciplinary work to increase communicative participation of persons
with severe to profound disabilities – usually with no speech at all. Her work
includes teaching (e.g., applied research methods and ethics) and supervising
postgraduate student studies. Past experience includes 12 years of community-
based rehabilitation and development work in neighbouring Botswana.

Chalotte Glintborg, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Psychology

in the Faculty of Humanities at Aalborg University, Denmark. Her research has
centred on exploring first person perspectives on the emotional consequences
of living with disabilities, e.g., identity problems, distress, shame and depression,
etc. She is involved in the development of Rehabilitation Psychology as a field in
Denmark. She has used a variety of both qualitative and quantitative methods
and the combination of the two in mixed methods studies.

Sarah Griffiths, PhD, is a senior lecturer at Plymouth Marjon University and

has over 28 years of experience as a speech and language therapist. She began
xx Qualitative research in communication disorders

her career working with adult clients in acute and outpatient settings before
moving into higher education. Sarah teaches in the fields of adult acquired
communication disorders and evidence-based practice and runs on-site
clinics for people with Parkinson’s and support groups for their relatives. Sarah
completed a PhD in Medical Studies in 2013 which focused on a conversation
analytic study of everyday conversation management in Parkinson’s. She
continues to research this area and has published several papers in this field.

Helen Hambly, PhD, works as an analyst for ‘Children, Schools and Families’
at Cornwall Council, UK. She has a background in health psychology and
health services research and has utilized a variety of qualitative and quantitative
research methods in her work. She has a particular interest in methods for
eliciting and understanding the perspectives of children with speech, language
and communication needs, and their families, in the context of health and
education support. She completed her PhD with the Bristol Speech and
Language Therapy Research Unit and the University of the West of England,
UK, using qualitative methods to explore everyday experiences of children
with language impairment.

Deborah Harding is Associate Professor and Director of Workforce Development

for the School of Allied Health, Midwifery and Social Care in the Faculty of
Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston and St George’s University of
London. She is a UK-registered speech and language therapist and continues
to work with speech and language therapists in a professional leadership role
for St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Deborah delivers
post-registration education for health and social care professionals with a focus
on policy, quality improvement and service transformation. Deborah expects to
have completed her PhD studies at the University of London in 2019. Her PhD
studies are focused on supervision practices for Allied Health Professionals.

Deborah Hersh, PhD, is Associate Professor in Speech Pathology at Edith

Cowan University in Western Australia. She is a certified practising speech
pathologist, and a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia. Deborah has worked
in the United Kingdom and Australia in a range of clinical, research and
teaching contexts, publishing and presenting her research extensively. She uses
a variety of qualitative approaches including grounded theory, interpretative
phenomenological analysis, narrative inquiry and discourse analysis. Deborah’s
research includes exploring the experiences of people with aphasia and their
families in relation to assessment, goal setting, therapy, discharge, community
aphasia groups and therapeutic relationships.
 About the authors xxi

Anne Hill, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in speech pathology in the Faculty of

Health and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland, Australia.
She is a speech and language therapist with extensive clinical experience and
experience facilitating learning for students in practice placements. Anne’s
research employs quantitative and qualitative methodologies and has a
particular focus on models of clinical education which provide authentic and
powerful learning experiences for students, such as simulation and placements
in interprofessional and culturally and linguistically diverse environments.

Catherine Houghton, PhD, is a lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery

in National University of Ireland Galway and co-chair of QUESTS (Qualitative
Research in Trials Centre). Catherine is a registered general and children’s nurse
and her research interests lie primarily in qualitative research methodologies
including case study research and qualitative evidence synthesis (QES). Catherine
has published on qualitative methods, analysis, rigour and ethics and QES studies
on dementia, infant feeding and a Cochrane review on recruitment to trials.
As co-chair of QUESTS, Catherine endeavours to promote and maximize the
use of qualitative research in trials and primary trial methodological research.
Catherine was recently awarded funding from the Irish Research Council for
the purpose of developing a clearly articulated pathway between QES and trial
methodology and further developing QES expertise in Ireland.

Tami Howe, PhD, is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Audiology

and Speech Sciences at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver,
Canada and was previously a faculty member at the University of Canterbury
in Christchurch, New Zealand. She completed her doctoral and postdoctoral
studies at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Dr Howe
has used a range of qualitative research methods to explore the insiders’
perspective on how adults with aphasia and their family members live with
their communication disorder. She has also supervised numerous postgraduate
students using both qualitative and mixed methods research approaches.

Kyla Hudson is a member of the Centre for Clinical Research Excellence

in Aphasia and the Communication Disability Centre at The University of
Queensland, Australia. She has over 10 years’ experience as a speech language
pathologist and her main research interests centre around quality of life for
individuals with aphasia and their families. In her doctoral studies she used
qualitative research methods to explore the meaning of successfully living with
aphasia from the perspectives of people with aphasia, family members and
xxii Qualitative research in communication disorders

speech language pathologists. She has supervised a number of PhD students

using quantitative and qualitative research methods and has a keen interest in
developing research methods that are inclusive and accessible for individuals
with communication disorders.

Maja Kelić, PhD, is a speech and language pathologist clinically working with
school-age children with reading and language impairment at the SUVAG
Polyclinic for the Rehabilitation of Listening and Speech, Zagreb, Croatia. She
is involved in the ‘COST ACTION IS1406: Enhancing children’s oral language
skills across Europe and beyond’ where she used qualitative research methods
and knowledge elicitation to explore therapists’ decision-making process. She
is actively participating in promoting the importance of speech and language
therapy in the Croatian Association of Speech and Language Therapists and
Croatian Dyslexia Association.

Lucette Lanyon, PhD, is a lecturer and researcher in the School of Allied Health
at La Trobe University, Australia. She is a speech pathologist with specialties
in rehabilitation and long-term management for people with acquired brain
injuries and progressive neurological diseases. Lucette has used qualitative
research methods to explore a range of areas of speech-pathology practice
including factors involved in research participant decision making, barriers and
facilitators to community aphasia group engagement, and utilization of allied
health assistants within speech pathology service provision. She has worked
as a research mentor to numerous clinicians seeking to step into research.
Lucette is co-founder of the online resource Aphasia Community which
supports clinicians, people with aphasia, and their significant others to access
up-to-date and relevant information regarding community aphasia groups.

Tara Lewis is an Iman woman with connections to central Queensland. She

is the Clinical Lead in Speech Pathology at the Institute for Urban Indigenous
Health in Brisbane as well as a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland.
She works alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communicates to
support culturally safe speech pathologist services in development paediatrics.
Tara utilizes Indigenous research methodologies alongside western qualitative
research methods in order to place Indigenous voices and aspirations at the
centre of qualitative research. She is also the co-chair of the Speech Pathology
Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory committee where she is
helping to implement Indigenous research methodologies across the profession.

Rena Lyons, PhD, is a certified speech and language therapist and Senior Lecturer
 About the authors xxiii

in the Discipline of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Science,

College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, NUI Galway, Ireland. She
has over 30 years of clinical, teaching, and research experience in speech and
language therapy in Ireland. She has used qualitative methodologies to explore
a range of research interests such as the lived experience of communication
disability, parental perspectives, identity construction, the voice of children
with developmental speech and language disorders, and the social model of
disability. She is involved in the ‘COST ACTION IS1406: Enhancing children’s
oral language skills across Europe and beyond’.

Sophie MacKenzie, PhD, is Programme Director for the PGDip Speech

and Language Therapy and the BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy
programmes at the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church
University. She was a practising speech and language therapist for 20 years,
working predominantly with clients with aphasia, dysphagia and cognitive
communication disorders. She supervises both masters and PhD students,
and has a particular interest in qualitative research methodologies.

Julie Marshall, PhD, is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Communication

Disability and Development at Manchester Metropolitan University in the
UK. She is a speech and language therapist and has worked for over 30 years
in the UK and in sub-Saharan Africa, helping to educate speech and language
therapists and other professionals, carrying out research and clinical work,
building research capacity and preparing allied health professionals to work
in the Global South. Her research interests have been focused particularly on
the development of services for people with communication disabilities in
Majority World countries; attitudes towards, understanding of and responses
to communication disability; evidence-based intervention and, more recently,
supporting people with communication disabilities in humanitarian situations.

Lindy McAllister, PhD, is Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Health Sciences at

The University of Sydney, Australia. She is a speech and language therapist who
has specialized in practice-based education across the allied health professions.
In that capacity she has used a range of qualitative research methods to explore
aspects of professional practice, supervision of students, students’ and clients’
experiences of practice-education placements. She has supervised numerous
PhD students using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. She
is involved in the development of the speech and language therapy profession
in Majority World countries, especially in Vietnam.
xxiv Qualitative research in communication disorders

Sharynne McLeod, PhD, is Professor of Speech and Language Acquisition at

Charles Sturt University, Australia. She is an elected Life Member of Speech
Pathology Australia, Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association, Vice President of the International Clinical Linguistics and
Phonetics Association, founding chair of the International Expert Panel on
Multilingual Children’s Speech, and past editor of the International Journal of
Speech-Language Pathology. She has published 10 books and more than 150
book chapters and journal articles. Professor McLeod’s research focuses on
multilingual children’s speech acquisition and children with speech sound
disorders, particularly to ensure that children can participate fully in society.

Ruth Mc Menamin, PhD, is a lecturer in Speech and Language Therapy and

co-director of the MSc Advanced Healthcare Research and Practice at the
National University of Ireland, Galway. Ruth has particular experience and
expertise in involvement research with people with aphasia and community
partners using qualitative participatory health research approaches. Ruth is a
member of the International Collaboration of Participatory Health researchers,
the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists and the Public and Patient Involvement
(PPI) Ignite team at NUI, Galway. In that capacity she uses participatory
learning and action (PLA) research to involve people with aphasia (PWA),
healthcare professionals and students as co-researchers in PPI activities, with
publications in peer-reviewed journals and numerous international conference
presentations. Ruth is responsible for supervising postgraduate MSc and
PhD students and is committed to integrating civic values at the centre of her
research and teaching.

Rosalind Merrick, PhD, is a speech and language therapist in Sussex, UK. She
specializes in work with children with speech, language and communication
needs in mainstream schools. She has a background in primary education and
is a chartered psychologist. She provides teacher education for the University
College London Institute of Education. She has used qualitative methods to
explore children’s perceptions of communication difficulty, clinical decision
making and teachers’ views of children’s participation.

Nicole Müller, DPhil, is Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at University

College Cork, Ireland. She was born and grew up in Germany, and was
educated in Germany, Ireland, and England. Before coming back to Ireland
in 2017, she held academic positions in the UK, the USA, and Sweden. As
a Fulbright scholar, she spent six months at NUI Galway, conducting a field
 About the authors xxv

study with bilingual nursing home residents. She has wide-ranging research
and teaching interests, which include the effects of neurodegeneration and
brain damage on communication and cognition, multilingualism, and clinical
linguistics and phonetics.

Charn Nang, PhD, is a lecturer and researcher in The School of Medical and
Health Sciences at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia. She is a qualified
speech language therapist who works clinically in the area of stuttering. Her
research interests include stuttering, speech motor control development,
evidence-based treatments for stuttering and cultural and linguistically diverse
topics in speech pathology. Charn has used qualitative research methods to
explore the experiences of people living with stuttering including women who
stutter and migrants to Australia who stutter as well as to explore people who
stutters’ experiences with treatment.

Alison Nelson, PhD, is the Director of Workforce Development at The Institute

for Urban Indigenous Health in Brisbane. She holds an adjunct position as
Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Science at The
University of Queensland. Alison has a background as an occupational therapist
and has extensive research, teaching and practice experience working alongside
urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Alison has completed
both a research Master’s degree and PhD in the areas of service delivery and
perceptions of health for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
and young people, and she has published widely in these fields.

Robyn O’Halloran, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Human Communication

Sciences, La Trobe University and Research Lead in Speech Pathology at St
Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. She is a speech and language therapist
who has worked with adults with acquired neurogenic communication disorders
in hospital and community health settings. She has supervised research by higher
degree students using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Her
research interests include supporting healthcare providers to communicate
effectively with patients who have communication disability in hospital.

Mary-Pat O Malley-Keighran, PhD, is a lecturer in speech and language

therapy at NUI Galway. She is a speech and language therapist with a special
interest in working with multilingual families and in supporting speech and
language therapists working with multilingual families. She is also interested
xxvi Qualitative research in communication disorders

in disseminating research in an accessible way to families and speech and

language therapists through her award-winning website ‘Talk Nua’ (www.talknua.
com). In her capacity as lecturer and speech and language therapist, she has
used a range of quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate narrative
as an ecologically valid language assessment approach for monolingual and
multilingual children, children’s drawings as a way to understand children’s
perspectives on their speech, and critical discourse analysis as a way of
exploring representations of clients in range of contexts from report writing
to Irish newspapers and radio.

Carole Pound, PhD, is a speech and language therapist who has worked
extensively with people with acquired neurodisability and their families and
friends. She co-founded the charity Connect to develop innovative therapy
and support services with and for people living with aphasia and her doctoral
studies used participatory action research to explore the friendship experiences
of adults with aphasia. As a researcher in the Centre for Qualitative Research
at Bournemouth University, her current interests focus on working with
service users, providers and organizations in health and social care contexts
to understand and translate humanization theory to practice.

Miranda Rose, PhD, is Professor of Speech Pathology in the School of Allied

Health, La Trobe University, Australia. After a 20-year academic career in
speech pathology education, Miranda moved into research-only positions
focused on the development of effective interventions and management
strategies for post-stoke aphasia. Miranda currently leads a nationally funded
research centre in Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation at La Trobe University,
including qualitative investigations and large randomized controlled trials of
treatment efficacy and effectiveness.

Sue Roulstone, PhD, is Emeritus Professor at the University of the West of

England, Bristol and a member of the Bristol Speech & Language Therapy
Research Unit. Sue has worked as a speech and language therapist, a manager,
a researcher and an educator and was Chair of the UK Royal College of Speech
& Language Therapists from 2004‒2006. Her research interests include child
and family perspectives, professional judgement and evaluation of speech and
language therapy. She has carried out a number of consultations with parents,
children and young people using qualitative methods.
 About the authors xxvii

Samantha Siyambalapitiya, PhD, is a speech pathologist and Senior Lecturer

in the School of Allied Health Sciences at Griffith University, Australia and
a member of the Menzies Health Institute Queensland. Samantha leads a
programme of research investigating communication disability in individuals
from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including bilingual
speakers. She has employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods
to explore this area.

Elizabeth Spencer, PhD, is a qualified speech pathologist and lecturer in Speech

Pathology at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She has a background in
linguistics and specialist expertise in the areas of clinical discourse analysis. She
currently teaches primarily in the area of child language. Her current research
focuses on the application of linguistic analyses to explore the effects of ageing
on language in the general population and also of adults with communication
disorders and has supervised research at undergraduate and postgraduate
levels in these areas.

Sarah Verdon, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at Charles Sturt
University, Australia. Her research focuses on the development of a culturally
competent workforce and supporting the communication of children from
diverse backgrounds. She is co-chair of The International Expert Panel on
Multilingual Children’s Speech and oversaw the development the Speech
Pathology Australia national position paper and clinical guidelines for ‘working
in a culturally and linguistically diverse society’.

Carol Westby, PhD, is a consultant for Bilingual Multicultural Services, Inc.

in Albuquerque, NM. She is an ASHA Board Certified SLP Specialist in Child
Language. She has employed qualitative methodologies in the development and
evaluation of early intervention programmes and language/literacy programmes
for school-age students from culturally/linguistically diverse populations and
support systems for first generation university students. She has published
and presented nationally and internationally on narrative and expository
language development and facilitation, theory of mind, metacognition/
executive function, language-literacy relationships, and issues in assessment
and intervention with culturally/ linguistically diverse populations. She has
directed masters’ theses and doctoral dissertations that have used qualitative
methodologies, particularly ethnography.
xxviii Qualitative research in communication disorders

Linda Worrall, PhD, is a Professor of Speech Pathology, Co-Director of

the Communication Disability Centre and Postgraduate Coordinator at
The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. She completed her
undergraduate degree in speech pathology at The University of Queensland
but then completed her PhD in the Stroke Research Unit in Nottingham, UK.
She has practised as a speech pathologist both in Australia and the UK and
founded the Australian Aphasia Association, the consumer-led organization,
in 2000. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, 26 book
chapters, and six books; graduated 24 PhD candidates and has had continuous
nationally competitive research funding during her academic career. From
2009‒2014, she led the NHMRC-funded Australia-wide Centre for Clinical
Research Excellence in Aphasia Rehabilitation.
Section I Introduction
1 I ntroduction and overview of
qualitative research
Lindy McAllister and Rena Lyons

Goals and layout of the book

Most speech and language therapists (SLTs) undertake research subjects as
part of their degrees, and some will complete research projects as students.
Clinicians increasingly have a research role built into their job descriptions.
Until recently, SLTs were educated primarily (or only) in quantitative (statistical)
approaches to research and the majority of our research literature presented
quantitative studies. Qualitative research is being used more frequently by
SLTs and research funding bodies are increasingly seeking research proposals
using mixed methods, that is, designs that combine quantitative and qualitative
approaches, to better answer research questions. The body of literature in the
field of communication disorders where researchers have used qualitative
research has grown considerably in the last decade, and there are new books
on the topic of qualitative research in communication disorders (e.g., Ball,
Müller, & Nelson, 2014). Qualitative research is now more frequently covered
in pre-registration degree curricula for speech and language therapy students.
However, students and clinicians remain under-confident in their use of
qualitative research. There are many reasons for this; depth of education in
qualitative research is one reason. There may not be sufficient time devoted to
explicating qualitative research methods and giving students time to practise
and develop skills in qualitative data collection and analysis. Developing an
understanding of qualitative research is also confused by the plethora of terms
used in qualitative research, often without clear explanation and illustrations
of use. Some students do not feel confident in their knowledge of statistics
and may see qualitative research as a way of avoiding statistical analysis.
However, Creswell (2007) reminds us that qualitative research involves in-
depth exploration of a problem and this type of research requires time and
resources and should not be seen as an easier option than a quantitative study.
2 Qualitative research in communication disorders

We are SLTs who are passionate about qualitative research and have
experience both using and teaching qualitative research in the field of
communication disorders and speech and language therapy practice. We use
the term ‘communication disorders’ in this book as a broad term that includes
both the communication impairment and barriers to participation. We
deliberately focus on the use of qualitative research in the field of communication
disorders rather than dysphagia because very few qualitative studies have
been published in dysphagia to date. This book aims to demystify qualitative
research and reduce confusion about terms used in discussing and writing
about qualitative research methodologies and methods. We aim to provide
speech and language therapy students and clinicians with an overview of
qualitative research, the different methodologies and methods within it, and
how it can be used to answer important questions in clinical and professional
practice in speech and language therapy. There are particular issues which
researchers need to consider when carrying out qualitative research with
people with communication disorders given that many data collection and
analysis methods are based on generating and analyzing talk. Our goal is to
provide rich examples of how qualitative research has been used in the field
of communication disorders so that readers develop understanding of the
methods used and gain confidence in how to go about designing qualitative
research studies, selecting methodologies, collecting and analyzing data, and
writing up findings from qualitative research. But Braun and Clarke (2013)
remind us that while it is important to learn about qualitative research, the
actual doing of qualitative research is an essential part of the learning process.
We start by explaining what qualitative research is, locating qualitative
research within the array of research paradigms, highlighting the similarities
and differences between qualitative research and quantitative research, and
providing an overview of the major methodologies (also referred to as approaches
or traditions) within the qualitative research paradigm. Later chapters (Chapters
2‒10), written by experienced and internationally published SLTs, provide
more detailed discussions and examples of the different qualitative research
approaches or methodologies, with examples of use in their research. Chapter
11 provides an overview of common methods used to collect and analyze data
in qualitative research. Chapter 12 discusses the various techniques used to
ensure scientific rigour in qualitative research. In subsequent chapters (13‒16),
SLTs illustrate methods they have used to recruit participants, collect data,
analyze and write up their data. These chapters contain worked examples of
data, analysis and writing to reveal the detail too often excluded from qualitative
 Introduction and overview of qualitative research 3

research journal publications due to word length. We include chapters (17‒21)

on ethical and cultural considerations in engaging with research participants1
in qualitative research as well as innovative approaches in qualitative research.
In Chapter 21 there is a discussion on the emerging area of synthesizing data
from qualitative research studies. Finally, in Chapter 22 we make concluding
remarks and discuss future directions for qualitative research in the field of
communication disorders.

What is qualitative research?

The starting point for any research project is the research question or what
it is that you want to find out. This will guide you to the most appropriate
methodology and methods to answer your question. For example, if a researcher
wanted to explore parental experiences of ‘what’ it is like to live with a child
with a developmental language disorder and ‘how’ parents sought help for
their child, one of the options available to answer these questions is qualitative
research. According to Braun and Clarke (2013) the most basic definition of
qualitative research is that “it uses words as data, collected and analysed in
different ways. Quantitative research, in contrast, uses numbers [their emphasis]
as data and analyses them using statistical techniques” (p.3). There is debate
about whether qualitative researchers should provide quantitative data (e.g.,
the number of times that a theme appeared across participants). Qualitative
researchers may decide to provide a frequency count but this may be used
to complement a deep analysis and is not the primary goal of a qualitative
research design (Lewis, 2016). Qualitative research is particularly useful for
answering ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions and can be viewed as an umbrella term
for a range of methodologies such as conversation analysis, critical discourse
analysis, discourse analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, narrative inquiry,
participatory research, phenomenology, and qualitative case study. All of these
methodologies have been used in communication disorders research and are
discussed in this book.
In this section we provide an overview of research paradigms and then
of the methodologies and methods available within the qualitative research
paradigm. It is in the discussion of research paradigms and qualitative research
methodologies where much of the confusion and uncertainty experienced by
students and SLTs about qualitative research arises. There can be confusion

1 We use this term but are aware of other terms used in the literature such as patients, clients, and
consumers.
4 Qualitative research in communication disorders

about the overlapping nature of the concepts and ways in which terms are used
to describe research. For example, the term ‘paradigm’ may be used by one
author to represent the ontological and epistemological aspects of research
design and by another writer as a method of data collection. Our goal is to
overview this as clearly and succinctly as possible but some understanding of
the terminology of research is required – so bear with us.
A paradigm provides an overarching framework for the research and
different research paradigms carry with them certain assumptions about the
nature of reality (ontology) and the nature of knowledge (epistemology),
which in turn suggest appropriate methodologies for generating knowledge.
Creswell (2007) reminds us that philosophical assumptions may come from
the researchers’ worldviews, a set of beliefs, and theoretical positions. It is
important that researchers make these philosophical assumptions explicit
when writing up the study. Over time there have been changes in how people
view paradigms. For example, in the past some argued that there were three
paradigms (quantitative, qualitative and critical theory paradigms) which
“stem from the philosophical stances of positivism, idealism and realism,
respectively” (Higgs & Titchen, 1995, p.132). Critical theory is an overarching
term that covers a number of qualitative research traditions such as participatory,
feminist or emancipatory research (see, for example, Kincheloe & McLaren,
2005). Researchers working in a critical theory paradigm assume that reality is
shaped by the surrounding social, political, cultural, and economic values that
people operate in. Critical qualitative researchers “question the conceptual and
theoretical bases of knowledge and method, to ask questions that go beyond
prevailing assumptions and understandings, and to acknowledge the role of
power and social position in health-related phenomena. The notion includes
self-critique, a critical posture vis-à-vis qualitative inquiry itself ” (University of
Toronto: http://www.ccqhr.utoronto.ca/what-is-critical-qualitative-research).
In the current literature, critical theory is not generally viewed as a distinct
paradigm but a critical lens can be brought to any methodology. In the past,
some scholars saw action research as distinct from other research paradigms (for
example, Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) in that it “combines inquiry with action
as a means of stimulating and supporting change and as a way of assessing the
impact of that change” (Burns, 2007, p.11); that is, the purpose of the inquiry
is to bring about change and learning through systematic reflection on the
topic that is the focus of the study. However, Kagan, Burton and Siddiquee
(2017) view action research as an approach to inquiry whereby researchers
attempt to “combine understanding, or development of a theory, with action
 Introduction and overview of qualitative research 5

and change through a participatory process, whilst remaining grounded in

experience” (p.55) and is part of the qualitative research paradigm. Kemmis
and McTaggart themselves now accept the view that action research fits under
the participatory research umbrella (Kemmis, McTaggart, & Nixon, 2014). We
have included a chapter on participatory research (Chapter 8) which covers
a range of methodologies such as participatory learning and action research
in which stakeholders are collaborators with researchers.
In the interest of clarity we will focus our discussion here on the two main
paradigms discussed in the current literature: quantitative and qualitative
research. SLTs have long used the quantitative research paradigm (also known
as the positivist, empirico-analytic paradigm, and often referred to using
the term ‘statistical research’), but are now increasingly using the qualitative
paradigm (also known as the interpretive paradigm or as interpretive research
or interpretive inquiry), which includes some linguistic research such as
discourse analysis and conversational analysis.
It is important to understand that a researcher’s views on ontology and
epistemology should lead to the selection of particular methodologies and
methods so that there is coherence within the research design (Braun &
Clarke, 2013). Confusingly, in your readings you will come across the term

Box 1.1 Definitions of terms paradigm, methodology and methods.

• Paradigm: A paradigm represents “the entire constellation of beliefs,

values, techniques, and so on shared by the members of a given
(scientific) community” (Kuhn, 1970, p.175). Guba (1990, p.17)
described a paradigm as a “basic set of beliefs that guides action”. For
example, qualitative research is a distinct paradigm.
• Methodology: Methodology refers to the choices we make in
relation to ontology and epistemology and how we will explore the
phenomenon of interest (Silverman, 2013). For example, we refer
to grounded theory and narrative inquiry as methodologies. In this
book we use the terms ‘approach’ and ‘methodology’ synonymously.
• Methods: Methods refer to the specific research techniques
(Silverman, 2013). For example, interviews are a method for data
collection and thematic analysis is a method for data analysis.
6 Qualitative research in communication disorders

methodology used in different ways by different authors. For example, the term
methodology may be used for broad definitions (e.g., qualitative research) or
narrow definitions (e.g., discourse analysis) (Silverman, 2013). Furthermore,
O’Brien, Harris, Beckman, Reed and Cook (2014) used the term ‘approaches’
to refer the names of methodologies (e.g., ethnography) and ‘methodologies’
to refer to data collection methods (e.g., interviews or focus groups).
With a view to providing clarity we are using the terms paradigm,
methodology, and methods as illustrated in Figure 1.1.

Similarities and differences between qualitative and

quantitative research paradigms
It is important to understand the similarities and differences between the
two major research paradigms of quantitative and qualitative research. This
is important because qualitative research has been criticized and researchers
have been referred to as “journalists or soft scientists. The work of qualitative
researchers is termed unscientific, or only exploratory or subjective” (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2005, p.8). Lewis (2016, p.8) argues that these criticisms “demonstrate
a lack of understanding about both the nature of qualitative research and the
differences between subjectivity and objectivity”. Both qualitative and quantitative
research paradigms share similarities. For example, both paradigms are
‘scientific’ and produce empirical evidence. However, there are some significant
ontological and epistemological differences between the paradigms which need
to be understood, as they influence the sorts of questions that can be asked
and answered, methodologies and methods chosen, and interpretation and
presentation of data and findings. Figure 1.1 summarizes the major ontological
and epistemological distinctions between qualitative and quantitative research
as we discuss them here.
Guba and Lincoln (1994) described the ontological assumptions (about
the nature of reality) of the qualitative paradigm as relativist in nature, meaning
that multiple realities exist, with individuals constructing their own meanings
and interpretations of their experiences. Qualitative approaches acknowledge
that meaning is relative to individuals (not assumed as absolute and measurable
as in the quantitative paradigm), and that multiple realities mean there are
multiple ways of looking at and experiencing the world. Qualitative research
assumes “a relativist ontology (there are multiple realities), a subjectivist
epistemology (knower and respondent cocreate understandings) and a
 Theory

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH PARADIGM RESEARCH

Single, objective reality PHILOSOPHICAL Multiple realities

PERSPECTIVE

Test, verify, describe Research purpose Explain, interpret, describe

(discrete variables) (phenomena)

Descriptive Methodology Phenomenology

Relational Ethnography
Comparative Grounded theory
Qualitative case study
Participatory research
Narrative inquiry
Discourse analysis
Conversation analysis
Critical discourse analysis

Randomized controls Methods Observation

Clinical trials Interviews
Single case designs Focus groups
Surveys Review of artefacts
Review of documents

Numerical, descriptive Research data Words, images

Visual display Data analysis Constant comparative

Statistical analysis analysis
Thematic analysis
Discourse analysis
Framework analysis

Confirmed, revised,
emergent or grounded
theory

Figure 1.1 A model of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research (after Higgs,
1998). (Used with relevant permissions.)
Table 1.1 Philosophical underpinnings of qualitative research and seminal scholars.

Philosophical Definition Seminal scholars

traditions and
theoretical
constructs

Symbolic The study of structure, functions and meanings of symbol systems (such as language) which was developed by the Blumer (1969), George
interactionism Chicago school (Oxford University Press, 2009). Herbert Mead (1925)
The process of interaction to understand meaning in people’s lives (Minichiello & Kottler, 2010).
According to Blumer (1969) there are three core principles in this theory: the meaning people assign to their interactions
with others; the language we use to negotiate meaning through symbols; and the thinking processes that negotiate the
interpretation of symbols (as described by (Minichiello & Kottler, 2010).

Social The processes through which social realities are constructed and sustained (Holstein & Gubrium, 2008b in Silverman, Husserl (1973), Schutz
constructionism 2013, p.107). The multiple and varied subjective meanings of experiences which are negotiated socially and historically (1967) Ricoeur
and formed through interactions with others (Creswell, 2007). (1980), Vygotsky
In social constructionism there is an emphasis on the constructivist aspects of knowledge such as a focus on ‘what’ and (1987), Searle (1995),
‘how’ questions (Silverman, 2013). Social constructionism is rooted in symbolic interactionism and phenomenology. Berger and Luckman
(1971)

Social A theory about how people learn – where they ask questions and find answers via exploration and assessment of what
constructivism they already know (Oxford University Press, 2009).

Hermeneutics The research processes in qualitative research are often described as hermeneutical and dialectical (Guba & Lincoln, Ricoeur (1980),
1994). Hermeneutics refers to the activity of interpretation (Schwandt, 1994). Participants’ understandings of their lived Derrida (1993),
experiences or their social constructions are interpreted by researchers using hermeneutic techniques and are “compared Schwandt (1990,1994),
and contrasted through a dialectal interchange” (Guba & Lincoln, 1994, p.111) between participant and researcher. Heidegger (1962,
1982), Gadamer
(1976)
Systemic Systemic functional linguistics is theory of language use (Müller, Mok, & Keegan, 2014). Language has two functions, Halliday & Hasan
functional i.e., constructing experience and enacting social processes (Halliday & Matthiessen, 1999). Provides a framework for the (1980), Eggins (2004)
linguistics “detailed analysis of the linguistic resources involved in the creation of meaning” (Müller, Mok, & Keegan, 2014, p.168).

Critical theory Critical theory is a school of thought that stresses the reflective assessment and critique of society and culture by
applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities. (Wikipedia accessed 27 July 2018). Many disciplines
have a critical strand (e.g., critical disability studies, critical education). Readers should also be aware of the distinct
tradition of Critical Theory, which arose in the 1930s in the Frankfurt School.
10 Qualitative research in communication disorders

naturalistic (in the natural world) set of methodological procedures” (Denzin

& Lincoln, 2005, p.24).
In your reading about qualitative research you will come across a number of
philosophical traditions and theoretical constructs which underpin qualitative
research. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss these in depth but
it is important that you position your research within the context of these
philosophical and theoretical underpinnings. We provide a brief overview of
the key philosophical constructs and seminal scholars in Table 1.1.
The ontologies and epistemologies underpinning qualitative research
are in stark contrast to those of research in the quantitative paradigm,
which assumes that researchers are capable of controlling and measuring a
phenomenon (called in that paradigm a ‘variable’) “without influencing it or
being influenced by it” (Guba & Lincoln, 1994, p.110). Quantitative researchers
assume that measurement is undertaken by a value-free, detached researcher,
rigorously following prescribed procedures that eliminate contamination of
data, and that this allows replicability of results. In contrast, in the qualitative
paradigm, knowledge is not seen as ‘fixed’ or ‘true’, unchangeably determined
through experiments, but rather as created in interactions among people
(socially constructed); in the case of research, between researcher and research
participants. Qualitative researchers seek to describe, explain, interpret, and
understand the meaning of social phenomena as experienced by individuals
in their context. “Research with people, rather than on people” is the goal of
qualitative research (Dickson, 1995, p.415). Hence, the people who participate
in qualitative research are known as informants, participants, or research
collaborators, not ‘subjects’ as in some quantitative research. Indeed, Graue
and Walsh (1998) argue that the term data generation is preferable to data
collection because data collection suggests that the data is out there to be
collected whereas data are generated in and through interactions between
researchers and participants.
The ontological and epistemological assumptions upon which qualitative
research is based lead to considerations about methods quite distinct from
those of the quantitative paradigm. In relation to sampling strategies, qualitative
researchers do not seek large samples from which generalizations can be drawn;
rather they seek detailed knowledge and understanding of the lived experience
of a typically small number of participants. The data in qualitative research
consist of texts, newspapers, documents, interviews, naturally occurring talk
(without the intervention of the researcher), life stories, observational data,
visual data (see Silverman, 2013 for an overview). These data contrast with
 Introduction and overview of qualitative research 11

the data collected in quantitative studies which are typically numbers-based.

The place of theory also differs in the two paradigms. In quantitative research,
a priori theory is tested, often in the form of hypothesis testing. In contrast,
qualitative research seeks to discover and describe theories that emerge from
the data; theory is derived by inductive analysis and is grounded in the data.
All theory emerging from qualitative research can be said to be ‘grounded’.
The term ‘grounded theory’ applies to a particular methodology and approach
to data analysis and theory generation described by Glaser and Strauss (1967)
and Strauss and Corbin (1990) (see Chapter 6). Deductive approaches to data
analysis can also be used where researchers may draw on concepts from the
literature when conducting data analysis while also remaining open to new
themes (Minichiello, Aroni, & Hays, 2008).
To better understand the differences between these two research approaches
it may be helpful to consider two papers in the speech and language therapy
research literature, both apparently about the same topic ‒ the perceptions of
parents about their experiences of speech and language therapy programmes,
but using different research paradigms which reflect different views about
the kinds of data that best address their questions. Crais, Poston and Free
(2006), working within the quantitative paradigm, used an established rating
instrument to examine agreement between parents and professionals on
whether family-centered practices were implemented during assessments and
which practices were viewed as important to include in future assessments.
The features of interest were established a priori within the rating tool, and

Box 1.2 Characteristics of qualitative research (Creswell, 2007).

• It is conducted in natural settings

• Researchers are viewed as key instruments
• Multiple sources of data may be used
• Inductive data analysis is used
• There is a focus on participants’ meanings
• The design is viewed as emergent
• Interpretive inquiry is used
12 Qualitative research in communication disorders

the analysis compared parents’ and professionals’ ratings using numerical

data and statistical analyses. Kummerer, Lopez-Reyna and Hughes (2007)
positioned their study within the qualitative paradigm and their aim was to
explore the perceptions of immigrant Mexican mothers with regard to their
children’s communication disability and their experiences of speech and
language therapy services. They used semi-structured interviews and field
notes of informal conversations with parents; the data were therefore verbal.
The researchers adopted a grounded theory methodology, using constant
comparative analysis to identify themes in the mothers’ data.
In summary, the key characteristics of qualitative research are presented
in Box 1.2.

Arguments for using a qualitative approach in

communication disorders research
Qualitative research can complement quantitative research to enhance our
understanding of communication disorders as well as speech and language
therapy practice for four reasons. First, communication as a human right is
enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which
states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression (United
Nations, 1948). People with communication disabilities have been excluded
from research because of assumptions that they would be unable to participate
due to their communication disabilities. If we take a human rights perspective,
then it is incumbent upon us to include people with communication disabilities
in research, to give them a voice and, more importantly, to listen to their voice.
A special edition of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and authors discussed communication as a human right and focused on four
themes: “(1) communication rights for all people; (2) communication rights of
people with communication disabilities; (3) communication rights of children;
and (4) communication rights relating to language” (McLeod, 2018, p.5).
Qualitative methodologies can be used to explore the first-hand experiences
of people with communication disabilities, their communication partners and
those who work with them, which may in turn shape the services we provide.
Second, one of the frameworks that has informed assessment and
intervention in the field of communication disorders has been the International
Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF; World Health
Organisation, 2001). The ICF provides a holistic biopsychosocial framework
 Introduction and overview of qualitative research 13

and consists of three lists of codes: one list of body structure and function;
one list for activities and participation; and a list of codes relating to personal
and environmental factors that may impact on functioning. Many of the tests
available to speech and language therapists focus on the impairment rather
than activities and participation or personal and environmental factors.
Qualitative methodologies provide rich opportunities to explore the lives
and experiences of people with communication disorders as well as their
communication partners in context. These data can complement data from
traditional tests by providing ecologically valid information on what it is like
to live with a communication disability and the types of supports which are
required to improve quality of life.
Third, evidence-based practice (EBP) underpins speech and language
therapy practice and has been defined as “the conscientious, explicit, and
judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care
of individual patients” (Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson,
1996, p.71). When using EBP, the clinician integrates three different kinds
of evidence: external evidence from systematic research, clinical expertise,
and patient values and preferences. When SLTs think about evidence-based
practice, they may focus on one of these pillars (i.e., external evidence from
rigorous quantitative studies). Qualitative research provides opportunities
to explore the other two pillars of EBP. For example, if we want to explore
how clinicians implement evidence or make decisions in practice, qualitative
methodologies are useful to uncover their reasoning and decision making
(see Chapter 20). Qualitative research can also enhance our understanding
of patient preferences and values. For example, Greenhalgh (2016) argued
that narrative inquiry, a type of qualitative methodology, can complement
traditional quantitative approaches and enhance our understanding about
the cultural contexts of health. Qualitative methodologies can be used to
understand lived experiences and lifestyle choices which in turn can inform
interventions which are aimed at influencing these experiences and choices
(Greenhalgh, 2016). Qualitative research is also recommended in the early
stages of designing complex intervention trials to enhance credibility and the
impacts of interventions (Morgan et al., 2016).
Fourth, there have been calls to promote patient and public involvement
(PPI) in healthcare and research with the goal of improving the health and
experiences of patients, families, and the wider public (Ocloo & Matthews,
2016). Involvement in this context refers to activities that are done ‘with’ rather
than ‘on’ patients. In PPI there is a partnership between patients, the public, and
Figure 1.2
Qualitative Research Level of Alignment
Wheel (QR-LAW)TM (Bradbury-Jones
et al., 2017). Reproduced with permission
from Taylor and Francis.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
beschermen en van welke wij in hunne mythen en legenden nu en dan
voorbeelden leeren kennen (zie No. 39). Zij mogen bijv. niet te veel van
een zelfde diersoort schieten, uit vrees dat haar bijzondere boschgeest
hen kwaad zou kunnen doen. Daarom ook dragen de Indianen het wild
en de visch, waarmeê zij terugkeeren, niet zelf in de hut, doch leggen
het buiten neêr, het aan de vrouwen overlatende, den buit te halen.
(Zie No. 1 en No. 36). Ook hierdoor meenen zij zich tegen den geest te
kunnen beschermen, die in het dier huist, dat zij hebben bemachtigd;
vast zijn zij overtuigd dat, als zij zich hieraan niet houden, de jacht den
volgenden dag niets zal opleveren. Overal, waar men in Guyana, op de
eilanden en in het Orinocogebied zijn onderzoekingen instelt, zal men
dit gebruik aantreffen.

Op bepaalde tijdstippen of altijd zal men zich van verschillende planten

en dieren hebben te onthouden. Men spreekt ook in dit geval van
taboe* 12. Daar een dier of plant bij den eenen stam taboe is, bij een
anderen niet, behoeven wij geen voorbeelden te noemen. In het
[38]algemeen worden geen dieren gegeten, die door Blanken en Negers
zijn ingevoerd. Moeten zij dit wegens gebrek aan voedsel toch doen,
dan roepen zij de hulp van den geestenbezweerder, den piaiman in, of
ook wel die van een ouden vertrouwden vriend, die vooraf op het te
eten dier blaast, ten einde de er in gedachte geest te verwijderen—te
verdrijven. Het wegblazen van den geest geschiedt in het bijzonder in
geval van ziekte. Men denkt op deze wijze de ziekte te kunnen
genezen. In het algemeen past men het blazen toe om een
ongewenschten geest te verwijderen (No. 1).

Aan de vrees voor gevaren van den kant der geesten ligt nog een
ander gebruik, waaraan de Indiaan zich in bepaalde omstandigheden
steeds zal houden, ten grondslag, nl. de gewoonte om even de oogen
te sluiten. De Arowakken en Caraïben zullen b.v. de oogen even
sluiten, wanneer zij voor het eerst een landschap zien, dat hun
aandacht trekt, of wanneer zij ergens voor de eerste maal komen. Zij
meenen dan te kunnen voorkomen, dat de Geest zich tot hen zou
voelen aangetrokken. Dikwijls heeft deze gewoonte ook ten doel, een
gevaar te kunnen vermijden. Veelal is het voor hen een teeken van
wangunst, haat of kwaadaardigheid. Bij Warraus en Arowakken zal,
wanneer twee mannen of twee vrouwen hevige oneenigheid hebben,
de vertoornde de andere partij aanzien en daarna plotseling de oogen
sluiten, om na het weder openen, zich zonder iets te zeggen te
verwijderen. Het sluiten der oogen en het daarna uitspreken van een
wensch (zie No. 25) zal wel met het geloof aan geestenbeïnvloeding in
verband staan.

Ook ten opzichte van gebruiksvoorwerpen zal de Indiaan bepaalde

voorschriften getrouw moeten opvolgen. Vaatwerk o.a. dat bij sommige
stammen uit klei gebakken is, dat niet op een bepaalden tijd gedolven
is, nl. in de eerste [39]nacht na volle maan, zal volgens hen slechte
eigenschappen hebben. Dat aardewerk eveneens met geesten in
verband wordt gebracht (zie blz. 28), leert ons No. 26, getiteld: „De
gelukspot.”

Hoe moeielijk het is, den Indianen gewoonten en gebruiken af te

leeren, die het vastgewortelde geloof hen heeft ingegeven, moge uit de
mededeeling van een zendeling blijken, die onder de Indianen in het
Orinocogebied heeft gearbeid. Toen hij er hen opmerkzaam op maakte,
dat zij hunne vrouwen zooveel hard werk laten doen en haar daarbij
niet hielpen en hun zei: „Broeders, waarom helpen jelui de vrouwen
niet met het planten van cassave*? 13 Zij worden vermoeid van de hitte,
en moeten zelfs werken met een kind aan de borst. Zie jelui niet, dat
het haar en haar kinderen ziek maakt”? kreeg hij ten antwoord: „Vader,
Gij begrijpt deze dingen niet, die U hinderen. U moet leeren, dat
vrouwen weten, hoe kinderen voort te brengen. Wij doen dat immers
niet. Wanneer zij planten, geeft de maïs* altijd meer korrels en brengt
de cassave manden vol wortels op, en zoo wordt elk ding door de
vrouw vermenigvuldigd.” Uit dit antwoord blijkt weêr de groote filosofie
der Indianen, die zij zoo dikwijls in beeldspraak tot uiting brengen. 14
Tot hetgeen de Indiaan steeds zorgvuldig in acht te nemen heeft,
behoort ook het nalaten van het uitspreken van den naam van een
persoon. Er is volgens hem een nauw verband tusschen een persoon
en diens naam, zoodat, evenals dit ten opzichte van geesten het geval
[40]is, het uitspreken van iemands naam in zijne tegenwoordigheid
kwade gevolgen kan hebben. Daar de naam als een deel van den
mensch wordt beschouwd, kan het uitspreken van diens naam ten
gevolge hebben, dat diens geest macht over den naamnoemer krijgt. Al
naar den leeftijd en de sexe zal men zeggen: broêr, zuster, vader,
moeder, zoon, dochter enz. Bij sommige stammen spreekt men daarom
alleen de helft van den naam uit, b.v. Mala in plaats van Mala-Kaali.
Van de Trio’s, een stam der Bovenlandsche Indianen van Suriname
vertelt de Nederlandsche onderzoekingsreiziger C. H. de Goeje, dat
sommigen twee namen hebben, een voor vrienden, en een voor
vreemden. Van de Ojana’s, een Caraïbenstam aan de Boven-
Marowijne in Suriname en in Fransch Guyana, vermeldt J. Crévaux,
dat zij een afzonderlijken naam gebruiken, wanneer zij den persoon
aanspreken en een anderen, wanneer zij over hem in zijn afwezigheid
spreken. Moeilijk is het soms, den waren naam van een Indiaan te
weten te komen. Steeds is hij bekend onder een bijnaam of een naam,
hem gegeven om zijn bijzondere eigenschappen, als kundig jager of
visscher, als moedig strijder enz. Zelfs na iemands dood zullen velen
het zorgvuldig vermijden den naam van den overledene te noemen.
Het verhaal getiteld: „De Honigbij en de zoete drank” (No. 26) geven wij
in verband met bovenstaand gebruik.

Een merkwaardige gewoonte, die vroeger bij Indianen in zwang was,

en waaraan zij zich zorgvuldig hielden, was het verbod, om de hut van
de schoonmoeder binnen te gaan, met haar te spreken, of zelfs naar
haar te zien. Van dit vreemde voorschrift wordt verteld in het verhaal,
getiteld: „De piaiman en de stinkvogels” (No. 28).

Een belangrijke rol speelt in het Indianen-leven—bij den eenen stam

meer dan bij den anderen—hetgeen met [41]den algemeenen naam van
Kenaima wordt aangeduid. Ziekten en alle mogelijke soort van
lichamelijke letsels, die den Indianen kunnen treffen, zijn volgens hem
het werk van Kenaima’s, hetzij bekende of onbekende, hetzij
lichamelijke, hetzij geestelijke. De Kenaima-geest kan niet alleen in een
mensch maar ook in een dier opgewekt worden. Als iemand
gedwongen is, volgens de wet der bloedwraak, volgens de Indianen-
leus: „oog om oog, tand om tand”, wraak te nemen, wekt hij de
Kenaima-geest in zich op, en hij kan in dien toestand aan zijn
wraakzuchtige neigingen bot vieren. In dit geval spreekt men van de
lichamelijke Kenaima. Er bestaat echter ook een geestelijke Kenaima,
die de eigenschap heeft, om den geest van zijn lichaam los te maken
en een of ander dier, tot zelfs insekten en wormen toe, doch meer in
het bijzonder een jagoear en een slang binnen te dringen, ten einde in
die gedaante kwaad te doen.

Kenaima, den geest der wrake, zien wij vooral aan het werk in No. 29,
maar ook in No. 47, waar hij in de gedaante van den zoon van
Mapajawari optreedt.

Doorgaans bedient een Kenaima zich van onzichtbare pijlen (No. 44) of
van gebroken pijlen (No. 24 en No. 37).

De voorstelling van onzichtbare pijlen, die, volgens den Indiaan,

ziekten en allerlei kwaad kunnen stichten, is vermoedelijk
voortgekomen uit de geheimzinnige en onverwachte wijze, waarop een
pijl dikwijls treft.

Een gebroken pijl is vermoedelijk het zinnebeeld van den strijd.

Volgens meer dan één schrijver was bij vele stammen het breken van
een pijl in het openbaar voldoende, om het volk tot den strijd op te
roepen. Moeilijker te verklaren is het, waarom—zooals bij de oude
Warraus gebruikelijk was—de helften van een gebroken pijl over het
lichaam gewreven, moed en kracht zouden geven (No. 24). [42]
Boschgeesten worden veelal in het bezit gedacht van onzichtbare of
gebroken pijlen.

De geestenbezweerder, de piaiman, wordt in staat geacht, het

gestichte kwaad, in het bijzonder ziekte, te keeren. De piaiman is dan
ook een belangrijke persoonlijkheid in elk dorp of kamp. Voor dezen
arbeid is een zeer lange en moeilijke voorbereiding noodig, die de taak
allesbehalve benijdenswaard doet zijn. Maar de eigenschap van den
Indiaan, om met het staalste gezicht de vreeselijkste lichaamspijnen te
kunnen verdragen, zal hem deze gemakkelijker doen dragen, dan wij
denken.

Wie aan het einde van een verblijf van eenige dagen in een
Indianenkamp, waarin hij het doen en laten van dit sympathieke volk
aandachtig heeft gadegeslagen, de piaiman bezig heeft gehoord, heeft
reeds van het zieleleven van den Indiaan een diepen indruk kunnen
medenemen (C. a.). Geen ander verhaal in dezen bundel geeft een
zóó helder beeld van hetgeen er in de Indianenziel omgaat en van het
leven van de Indianen, dan „de Geschiedenis van Maconaura en
Anoeannaïtoe” (No. 29). Vooral het opwekken van den Kenaima-geest
en het werk van den piaiman is er op boeiende wijze in geschetst. In dit
verhaal worden wij tevens herinnerd aan de wijze, hoe het eertijds in de
groote hutten of vergaderplaatsen der Indianen moet zijn toegegaan,
alvorens tot een vijandelijke aanval werd overgegaan. De Gebroeders
Penard hebben van hetgeen op een besluit daartoe placht te volgen
een belangwekkende schets gegeven, die wij hier woordelijk
overnemen, en die in het bijzonder betrekking heeft op de vroegere
oorlogen tusschen de strijdlustige Caraïben en de meer zachtaardige
Arowakken:

„Werd in de raadsvergadering tot den strijd besloten, dan volgde

onmiddellijk den strijd- of z.g. knotsdans (Apoetoedans). Met
opgeheven knotsen, bogen en pijlen [43]bezongen de strijders den roem
hunner voorvaderen, tegelijk de gelofte doende, op gelijke wijze te
zullen handelen. Zij werden dan tevens door vrouwen, kinderen en
ouden van dagen bespot, ten einde hen nog meer aan te vuren. Het
doel van dezen dans was, dat ieder strijder in zich den jagoeargeest,
de kaikoetji juma, trachtte op te wekken”.

„De Indiaan immers redeneert als volgt: In koelen bloede stuit het mij
tegen den borst, is het mij onmogelijk een man te vermoorden, laat
staan een onschuldig wicht den schedel te verpletteren. Handel ik
alzoo, dan geschiedt zulks niet uit eigen aandrift, doch word ik
voortgedreven door een gevoel van woede en moordlust, dat niets
anders kan zijn dan de geest van den Jagoear. Om dien geest in mij op
te wekken, dans ik den Jagoeardans; ik volg alle bewegingen van den
Tijger na. Ik brul, ik his, ik zwaai den knots, gelijk het vreeselijke
roofdier, dat zijn prooi met één slag der geduchte klauwen verplettert.
En heb ik eenmaal mijn vijand gedood, dan moet ik ook zijn bloed
drinken en proeven van zijn vleesch, 15 ten einde te voldoen aan den
geest, die mij voortdrijft. [44]

Ieder mensch en dier kan, hoe goedaardig ook, getergd zijnde, den
tijgergeest in zich opwekken, die hem handelingen doet begaan,
waarover hij later berouw gevoelt. Hij vraagt zich af: hoe is het
mogelijk, dat ik zoo te keer kan gaan? En het antwoord luidt: Is de
Tijger in den mensch, dan wordt ook de mensch gelijk den Tijger”.

„Maar de Jagoeargeest alleen was niet voldoende, om den strijd te

beslissen, want de Tijger kan in een hinderlaag gelokt worden. Daarom
dansten de strijders ook den slange- of bekoringsdans, die in hen
opwekte den geest, die onhoorbaar en onzichtbaar nadert, die
omstrengelt en vastlegt, evenals de slang eerst haren prooi door vrees
betoovert, verstikt en eindelijk inslikt. En daar de Worgslang niet alleen
de geest van bekoring in zich heeft, doch tevens alle dieren, tot zelfs
den Jagoear* en den Kaaiman* inslikt, wordt haar geest speciaal
opgeroepen.” 16

„Tevens dronken de strijders den zg. Strijddrank, die bestond uit

paiwarri*, waarin een poeder of zalf gemengd was, bereid uit wormen
van de rottende hersenen, den lever en het hart van den Jagoear en
den Boa of Anaconda*, alsmede van den moedigsten en listigsten van
vroeger door hen gedoode vijanden. De hersenen werden ondersteld
de list, de lever den moed en het hart het leven op [45]te wekken. Ook
tijgerklauwen werden in den grond begraven, en de daaruit ontstane
wormen tot poeder en zalf verwerkt, en aan de armen en de knotsen
der strijders gesmeerd.”

„Meisjes en vrouwen brachten den drank rond in kalebassen, terwijl de

strijders zongen:

Okone kaikoetjijumu, okone Awaloewa

Kaikoetji ke wa.
Awoe tage kaikoetji toewotjan irowa la
Okone Ikili inasao ko.

Wij roepen U; Tijger, kom geest van geweld,

Doorgloei met Uw vuur al ons wezen.
Omzweef ons opdat in deez’ bloedigen strijd
De vijand den Caraïb leer’ vreezen.

Daal neder, bekoring, verduister het oog

Der strijders, die dra gaan nad’ren,
Om brullend, den Tijger in bloeddorst gelijk,
Te wreken den dood onzer vad’ren.

IJl voort dus Constrictor, 17 omklem Uwen prooi,

Wij volgen en worgen met d’ armen.
Bezield door den moordlust van Tijger en Slang,
Mist ons hart elk spoor van erbarmen.”
Deze beschrijving zal, meenen wij, het genot, dat de lezing van „de
Geschiedenis van Maconaura en Anoeannaïtoe” verschaft, niet weinig
kunnen verhoogen. Hoewel Christelijke invloed aan dit verhaal niet
geheel en al vreemd schijnt te zijn, toch blijft het als belangrijke
bijdrage tot de kennis van de moraal en het leven van den Indiaan zijn
waarde behouden.

In verschillende der reeds genoemde verhalen, treedt, zooals haast

van zelf spreekt, de geestenbezweerder of de piaiman (o.a. in No. 28)
als een belangrijk lid der Indianenmaatschappij op. In No. 30, getiteld:
„De kolibri, die tabak brengt aan den eersten piaiman”, is meer in [46]het
bijzonder daarom belangrijk, omdat er in deze legende van de
herkomst van het belangrijkste der ingrediënten, die de piaiman bij
zijne bezweringen gebruikt, de tabak, wordt verteld. De Indianen, die
tabak ook als genotmiddel gebruiken, onderstellen, dat ook Geesten
zeer op tabaksrook gesteld zijn. De piaiman haalt daarom bij zijne
bezweringen voortdurend tabaksrook in, om daardoor de Geesten te
kunnen aantrekken. Dit verhaal is daarom ook nog de aandacht waard,
omdat het vermoeden zou geopperd kunnen worden, dat van de
Arowakken, die oorspronkelijk de Antillen hebben bewoond, ook de
tabak, die bij de Indianen van Guyana zulk een rol speelt, afkomstig is,
en in de tweede plaats, omdat er van de bij alle Indiaansche stammen
voorkomende legenden aangaande het voorkomen van vrouwennaties
(zg. Amazonen) in wordt melding gemaakt.

Reeds Columbus heeft op zijn eerste reis onder de Indianen

vechtende vrouwen gezien en wat de groote ontdekkingsreiziger uit de
Oude Wereld bekend was, meende hij nu ook in de Nieuwe Wereld te
hebben aangetroffen.

Von Humboldt meende echter, dat de bij alle Indianenstammen

voorkomende Amazonen-legende aan de strijdlustigheid van de
vrouwen bij sommige stammen moet worden toegeschreven, die door
de eerste reizigers, die ze ontmoetten, sterk overdreven is geworden,
onder den invloed van de groote vreugde, bij de pas ontdekte volken
gevonden te hebben, wat de oude Grieken vertellen omtrent de
barbaarsche Skythen en Afrikanen. Wallace meent, dat het geloof aan
Amazonen in de wereld is gekomen door de eigenaardige haardracht
der mannen bij sommige Indianenstammen, waarbij hij nog de
aandacht vestigde op het dragen van armbanden door de mannen van
enkele stammen en de zorgvuldige verwijdering van [47]elk teeken van
baardgroei. Ook Schomburgk is deze meening toegedaan. Van deze
Amazonen werd verteld, dat zij, om beter in den strijd de wapens te
kunnen hanteeren, de rechterborst zouden laten afsnijden; dat zij van
de mannelijke bevolking geregeld bezoeken zouden ontvangen en dat
de jongens, die geboren werden, òf den vaders werden meêgegeven,
òf gedood werden.

De Gebroeders Penard meenen, dat de legenden, waarvan wij er een

uit hun werkje opnemen (No. 31, getiteld: „Het ontstaan der
vrouwennaties”) gedeeltelijk een voorstelling is van het paradijs der
Indiaansche vrouwen. Volgens hen kan de vrouw zich geen staat van
gelukzaligheid denken, waarin de man haar heerscher en zij slechts
zwoegende slavin is. „In hare verbeelding ontstond dus een
voorstelling van het paradijs, waar zij als gebiedster optreedt en de
man slechts geduld wordt tot voortplanting der soort.”

Dat, hoewel onder alle Indianenstammen van Amazones verteld wordt,

toch geen Indiaan ooit de juiste plaats dezer schoonen kon aanwijzen,
schijnt voor de meening van bovengenoemde oudere schrijvers te
pleiten. Bij de ingeboren eigenschap van den Indiaan, om zich vaak in
beeldspraak uit te drukken, is de meening der Penards niet te
verwerpen, die het bestaan van een vrouwennatie als een voorstelling
van het Mazwano, het Paradijs der Indiaansche vrouwen beschouwen.

De legenden leeren, dat dit paradijs niet gemakkelijk te bereiken is. De

vrouwen moeten daartoe tal van gevaren doorstaan. Zij moeten varen
over de duistere wateren in het land Enamba of der Eeuwige nacht.
Dan eerst zullen, gelijk de nacht vliedt voor den dag, voor hare verrukte
blikken verrijzen de witte wateren, de als goud glinsterende, door de
morgenzon beschenen bergtoppen en zal de rook uit de barbakotten*
der Maswana- of [48]manvrouwennatie opstijgen. Maar niet één vrouw,
die het gelukt, dit paradijs binnen te treden, zal weder tot hare
stamgenooten terugkeeren.

De voorstelling van de Duistere wateren in het land Emanba of der

Eeuwige nacht, meenen de Penards, komt vrij wel overeen met de
rivier Styx en de onderwereld Amenthes uit de Oostersche mythologie.

Een oude vrouw vertelde aan de schrijvers, waaraan het voorgaande

ontleend is, dat zij in haar jeugd naar de Mazwano had willen vluchten,
omdat haar man haar mishandelde, doch dat zij overal, waar zij
inlichtingen inwon, moest vernemen, dat de vrouwen den weg naar het
lustoord vergeten waren. Ten slotte was het haar echter gelukt, door
middel van Oeloekwa-toelala de oogen van haar man zoodanig te
verduisteren, dat hij haar verliet.

Het is eigenaardig, dat terwijl alle gewoonten en opvattingen der

Indianen in hunne Mythen- en Legendenschat worden aangetroffen, er
aangaande een zeer eigenaardig gebruik zoo zelden iets voorkomt. Wij
bedoelen hier de vreemde gewoonte, die zoowel bij Arowakken, als bij
Caraïben en Warraus wordt aangetroffen, dat na de geboorte van het
kind gedurende den tijd, dat de vrouw in het kraambed ligt, ook haar
man in zijn hangmat moet blijven en zich als kraamvrouw moet
aanstellen. Men noemt dit gebruik, dat ook bij andere wilde stammen—
o.a. in Oost-Indië—voorkomt 18, Couvade en bij de Caraïben
Kenonimáno. Volgens de meening van Dr. Herman ten Kate wordt er
een magische band gedacht tusschen vader en kind gedurende de
eerste levensweken van den pasgeborene. Alles, wat dus den vader
zou kunnen overkomen, als hij zich van huis verwijderde, zou
[49]schadelijk kunnen inwerken op het kind. Volgens een mededeeling
der Penards gaat kort nadat de kinderziel zich van het vaderlichaam
heeft losgemaakt, een proces dat dikwijls meer dan een maand duurt,
de moeder overal bij hare kennissen rond, om het kind te vertoonen.

Walter E. Roth heeft in de Indianen-folklore slechts één enkel spoor

gevonden, dat op dit gebruik doelt. Ik geef het korte verhaal weêr onder
den titel: „Het gebroken ei” (No. 32). Daarop laat ik volgen hetgeen
Dance (D) aanhaalt betreffende de gewoonte der Couvade bij de
Arowakken, en dat als een vertelling, getiteld: „De Geest van den
pasgeborene” onder No. 33 in dezen bundel voorkomt. De inhoud is,
zooals den lezer zal blijken, met ten Kate’s meening in
overeenstemming.

Een aantal vertellingen der Indianen geven een antwoord op de vraag,

hoe verschillende dieren hunne tegenwoordige eigenschappen hebben
gekregen o.a. in No. 1 en No. 34, getiteld: „De huid van den
reuzenslang”, terwijl er ook velen zijn, waarin aan dieren herinnerd
wordt, die den mensch kwaad kunnen doen.

Hoewel de geheele Indiaansche folklore een moralistische strekking

heeft, zijn er toch een aantal vertellingen aan te wijzen, die meer
bepaaldelijk een waarschuwing bevatten voor de gevolgen van
overtredingen, van ondoordachte handelingen of verkeerde neigingen.
Hiertoe behooren No. 35, getiteld: „Een waarschuwing voor vrouwen”
en No. 36, getiteld: „Hoe een man van zijn luiheid genezen werd.”

Het „Een man een man, een woord een woord”, een der eerste regels
eener goede moraal, en dat in de hedendaagsche, zoogenaamde
beschaafde maatschappij, waarin wij moeten verkeeren, steeds minder
wordt toegepast, wordt bij den Indiaan nog altijd in hooge eere
gehouden, [50]hoewel eerlijkheid en woordtrouw bij den
„geciviliseerden” Indiaan wel even groot gevaar zal loopen, belangrijk
achteruit te gaan, als dit met alle primitieve volken, die met het blanke
ras in aanraking zijn gekomen, het geval is geweest.
De Indiaan zal een eenmaal gegeven woord niet gauw verbreken en
doet hij dit, bijv. wanneer hij zich bedronken heeft, dan zal, volgens
hem, vroeg of laat de gerechte straf niet uitblijven. (Zie No. 37 en 43).
In het algemeen kan kwaad, meent hij, nimmer ongestraft blijven 19 (No.
16, 27 en 39) en typeerend voor de Indiaansche moraliteit kan gelden,
dat in vele zijner verhalen de veranderingen, die in den
oorspronkelijken Indiaanschen gelukstaat hebben plaats gegrepen,
hieraan worden toegeschreven, dat de ongehoorzaamheid in de wereld
haar intrede heeft gedaan. Volgens de Indianen waren het de blanken,
die de laatste sporen van dezen gelukstaat verloren deden gaan.

Al hetgeen in het voorafgaande omtrent den inhoud van de mythen,

sagen en legenden der Zuid-Amerikaansche Indianen is meegedeeld,
groepeert zich bijna zonder uitzondering om het hoofdmotief—de zorg,
om zich het noodige voedsel te verschaffen, die bij een volk, dat geen
intensieven landbouw drijft, doch hoofdzakelijk van de jacht en
visscherij en daarnevens van de produkten van eenen primitieven
hakbouw op hunne slechts tijdelijke verblijfplaatsen leeft, een punt van
dagelijks wederkeerende zorg is, en het denken bijna geheel in beslag
neemt.

Wie ondervonden heeft, hoe schuw het wild in de tropische oerwouden

is, en dat alleen hij, die met de [51]gewoonten der daarin levende dieren
bekend is, zich er geruischloos doorheen weet te bewegen en van het
juiste oogenblik weet gebruik te maken, om zijn oogmerk te treffen,
kans op succes zal hebben 20, kan het niet verwonderen, dat een
jongeling, die een Indiaansch meisje tot vrouw begeert, naar ouder
gewoonte tot volle tevredenheid van zijn aanstaanden schoonvader
proeven zijner bekwaamheid op de jacht heeft af te leggen (No. 35) en
dat hij, wanneer deze voorwaarde, om in het onderhoud van een
familie te kunnen voorzien, niet bij hem aanwezig is, alles zal doen om
zich deze bekwaamheid eigen te maken (No. 35 en No. 37).

De mythen, sagen en legenden, die de eerste reizigers en zendelingen

bij de Indianen te hooren kregen, worden, zooals meerdere schrijvers,
die door een langer verblijf onder hen, grondige onderzoekingen
hieromtrent hebben kunnen doen, hebben vastgesteld, nog steeds—de
aanraking met het blanke element ten spijt—door hen verteld, omdat zij
zich het als eerste plicht rekenen, dat de mondelinge overleveringen,
waarin voor een niet gering deel hunne heilige, godsdienstige
overtuigingen zijn neêrgelegd, op het jongere geslacht overgaan.

Bij de Noord-Amerikaansche stammen worden, zooals reeds vermeld,

in het bijzonder de lange winteravonden aan dit heilige werk gewijd,
wanneer de jeugd, gehurkt om het flikkerende vuur naar de mysteries
van het leven en hun godsdienst luistert en zij den innigen band moet
leeren begrijpen, die de menschheid, volgens hun leer, met de geheele
haar omringende natuur vereenigt. Tevens moest het haar duidelijk
worden gemaakt, dat men met [52]planten en dieren evengoed
gesprekken kan voeren (No. 30) als deze het onder elkaar doen, enz.

De lezer, wien hier uit de uitgebreide mondelinge litteratuur der

Indianen, meer in het bijzonder der stammen van West-Indië, meerdere
voorbeelden worden aangeboden, die hem de overtuiging zullen
kunnen schenken, dat de Indiaan daarin zijn gansche leven en denken
heeft neêrgelegd, zal het zeker evenmin verwonderen, dat ook
belangrijke historische gebeurtenissen, die indruk op hem hebben
gemaakt, en van zoo grooten invloed op zijne maatschappij zijn
geweest, nog steeds in de herinnering van het Indiaansche volk zijn
blijven voortleven en als historische legenden tot op den huidigen dag
door hen worden verteld.

Niet alle gebeurtenissen in de geschiedenis van een primitief volk

hebben echter even groote kans, een haast onvergankelijk deel van
zijn folklore te vormen. Groote feiten, die het volk met trots blijft
gedenken, zullen eerder door het verre nageslacht nog als legenden
worden verteld, dan gebeurtenissen, waaraan de herinnering
onaangename gewaarwordingen te voorschijn roept. Velen der eerste
categorie schijnen als het ware onsterfelijk te zijn. Het spreekt van zelf,
dat, waar de volken, ook in geestelijk opzicht, zoozeer uiteenloopen,
ook de inhoud hunner historische legenden bepaalde trekken zal
vertoonen, die met het karakter van het volk overeenstemmen.

Alb. S. Gatschet (Ga) waaraan wij het bovenstaande ontleenen, heeft

dit in zijn leerrijk werk „A migration legend of the Creek Indians”
duidelijk gemaakt. In sommige legenden wordt bijv. uitsluitend verteld
van de Opperhoofden en wordt over het Volk gezwegen; in anderen
spelen mythische helden en onmogelijke feiten een groote rol. Terwijl er
volken zijn, die er van houden, het [53]wonderbaarlijke op den
voorgrond te laten treden, houden anderen hunne legenden vrij van het
wonderbaarlijke element, enz. Tot de bijna onsterfelijke historische
legenden behooren de z.g. migratie-legenden, die van de groote
volksverhuizingen (migraties) vertellen, welke bij talrijke volken en bij
de Indianen in overoude tijden op grooten schaal hebben plaats
gegrepen. Zulke migratie-legenden behooren zeker tot de belangrijkste
historische legenden, omdat zij voor de kennis van een volk dikwijls
waardevolle gegevens bevatten, die, in verband met de uitkomsten der
Archaeologische onderzoekingen en der vergelijkende taalstudiën, tot
vaststaande feiten geworden zijn. Zulks is o.a. het geval geweest met
de traditie der Joden, waarin verteld wordt van hunne immigratie in
Palestina uit de noordelijke landen over de rivier de Euphraat; en
eveneens met de legenden, die de immigratie der Doriërs naar
Griekenland behandelen, uit Thracië en Macedonië dwars door Epirus
en Thessalië heen enz. Zulke migratie-legenden zijn veelal
samengeweven met mythen, die den oorsprong der volken behandelen
of die van het ontstaan van bepaalde instellingen of van belangrijke
produkten vertellen, die een groote economische beteekenis voor hen
hebben verkregen.

Bij de Indianen is de herinnering aan oeroude gebeurtenissen, zooals

volksverhuizingen, niet zelden verbleekt tengevolge eener strenge wet,
die verbiedt, de namen hunner overleden voorvaderen uit te spreken
(zie blz. 39). Zulks is o.a. het geval bij vele Noord-Amerikaansche
stammen, zooals die, welke hunne woonplaatsen hebben langs de
kusten der Stille Zuidzee. In de zuidelijke deelen van Noord-Amerika,
o.a. in het gebied, dat de Golf van Mexico begrenst, schijnt dit bijgeloof,
dat de geschiedkundige overlevering tegenhoudt, niet te bestaan,
zoodat bij de daar levende Indianenstammen verschillende legenden
[54]bewaard zijn gebleven, die van verhuizingen in lang vervlogen tijden
vertellen, en die voor de geschiedenis dezer stammen belangrijke
gegevens hebben opgeleverd.

Dit geldt bijv. voor de groote groep der Maskoki-stammen, waartoe ook
de z.g. Creek-Indianen behooren, en wier migratie-legenden leeren,
dat zij in oude tijden van het Westen naar het Oosten en het Zuid-
Oosten zijn getrokken, waar zij nu ten Oosten van den Mississippi-
stroom in Alabama, Georgia en op het schiereiland Florida in
verschillende stammen hunne woonplaatsen hebben. Daar deze
stammen evenals vele anderen, als de Chirokezen, Choctaws,
Chickasaws enz., die landbouw en veeteelt drijven, en reeds lang in
dorpen samenwonen—als „geciviliseerde” Indianen het eigenlijke
Indianen-territorium vormen, staan de Sioux, die echte jagerstammen
zijn en de Nomaden en Bedouïnen der Nieuwe Wereld kunnen
genoemd worden, nog in den aanvang der „beschaving”; hun bestaan
hing bijna uitsluitend van den Bison af, die nu zoo goed als geheel
uitgeroeid is.

Bij de Creek-Indianen, eertijds Moskoquis genoemd, die zoowel in

lichamelijk opzicht en door hunne gewoonten en gebruiken, als door de
natuur hunner woonstreek een brug vormen, die de Noord-
Amerikaansche met de Indianen van Zuid-Amerika verbindt, worden
nog verschillende migratie-legenden verteld, van welke ik er een als
voorbeeld en ter aanvulling in dezen bundel heb opgenomen (No. 48),
omdat het, vreemd genoeg, niet gelukt is, in de litteratuur betreffende
de Zuid-Amerikaansche stammen een tot deze categorie behoorende
legende op te sporen, tenzij men er toe wil rekenen een lange legende,
door Walter E. Roth uit een Arowakken-mond opgeteekend, waarin
de avonturen verteld worden gedurende een lange reis, in oude tijden
gedaan, om steenen bijlen* op te zoeken. Een migratie-legende in den
waren zin is [55]deze niet, want de reizigers keeren weder naar hunne
woonplaatsen terug.

Ter toelichting der bedoelde migratie-legende der Creek-Indianen

diene, dat, toen zij in het jaar 1735, waarin deze staat nog aan
Engeland behoorde, te Savannah in Georgia, in tegenwoordigheid van
den Gouverneur Oglethorpe, was uitgesproken, de verteller Tchikilli,
Keizer van de Boven- en Beneden Creek-Indianen, haar, geschreven
op een Bisonhuid, aan den Engelschen vertegenwoordiger
overhandigd heeft, en het merkwaardige document nog in hetzelfde
jaar met de Engelsche vertaling naar Engeland werd verzonden. De
toegevoegde huid werd in een lijst in het toenmalige „Georgia Office” te
Londen opgehangen. Het eenige wat, in verband met het geschenk, op
verzoek van den bekenden schrijver over Indianen, Dr. D. G.
Brinton 21, later teruggevonden werd, was een brief, die door
genoemden Tchikilli in Maart 1734 geschreven was en gedeponeerd
werd in „The Public Record Office” te Londen.

Een vertaling in het Duitsch van de Legende was echter onder een
aantal verhandelingen over koloniale aangelegenheden tusschen 1735
en 1741 opgenomen, en onder den titel „Ausfuerliche Nachricht von
den Saltzburgischen Emigranten, die sich in America niedergelassen
haben enz.” Halle 1735, blz. 869–876, gepubliceerd. De legende vindt
men in het eerste deel in Hernn Philipp Georg Friedrichs von Reck’s
„Diarium von Seiner Reise nach Georgien im Jahr 1735.” Deze von
Reck was de leider van een aantal protestantsche emigranten, die
wegens godsdienstvervolging uit Salzburg uitgeweken waren. Wij
geven deze bijzonderheden, teneinde sommige der hiaten te verklaren,
die den lezer wellicht in de [56]legende zullen opvallen, en ongetwijfeld
te wijten zijn aan de vertaling van het Engelsch in het Duitsch, en
daarna weder van het Duitsch in het Engelsch. Ik volgde streng den
Engelschen tekst in het werk van Gatschet.

In alle migratie-legenden der Maskoki-Indianen wordt, hetgeen de

aandacht verdient, vertelt, dat de verhuizingen steeds oostwaarts
gericht waren. 22 Van deze Zonaanbidders was het te begrijpen, dat
hunne Hoofden het volk steeds den raad gaven, daarheen te trekken,
waar hun weldoener en beschermer—de Zon—zich uit het aardrijk
verheft, dus naar het Oosten, hoewel bij zulke verhuizingen het
opsporen van streken, waar men rijkdom aan eetbare gewassen,
goede jachtterreinen en vischwateren hoopte te vinden, wel altijd op
den voorgrond zal hebben gestaan.

Aan den arbeid der Penards hebben wij de kennis van een aantal
historische legenden te danken, die, hoewel zij wegens de invloeden
der blanke overheerschers, [57]die er zoo duidelijk in naar voren komen,
uit een wetenschappelijk oogpunt van minder belang zijn, toch in dezen
bundel niet mogen ontbreken.

In de „Legende van Letterhoutstomp” (No. 38), die den schrijvers door

een ouden Caraïb van de Boven-Marowijne werd verteld, wordt de
herinnering nog levendig gehouden aan een der eerste nederzettingen
van Europeanen in Suriname, nl. aan de Fransche Kolonisten, die er
tusschen 1640 en 1650 hebben verblijf gehouden en die vooral door de
herhaalde invallen der Indianen genoodzaakt zijn geweest, het land
weêr te verlaten.

De als hoofd der volkplanting aangestelde Poncet de Bretigny, die

den oorlog verklaard had aan alle Indianen, moet een zeer gevreesde
wreedaard geweest zijn. Hij bewapende zelf een vaartuig en daarin trok
hij tegen hen ten strijde, maar de aanvallers werden met een hagelbui
van pijlen ontvangen en tot den laatsten man doodgeschoten. De
overwinnende Caraïben bemachtigden de lijken, deden ze op een licht
vuur braden en maakten er een verschrikkelijk maal mede.

Verwonderen kan het ons niet, dat van de eerste aanraking der
Indianen af aan met menschen van zóó geheel ander voorkomen, van
zóó geheel verschillenden aard en levensbeschouwing als zij, allerlei
zonderlinge verhalen aangaande de vreemde indringers onder hen de
ronde gingen doen, noch minder, dat ook deze verhalen van geslacht
op geslacht werden overgeleverd en tot op den huidigen dag bewaard
zijn gebleven.

Voor hem, die zich eenig denkbeeld wil vormen van het psychologisch
proces, dat bij dit dichterlijk en wijsgeerig aangelegd, moreel
hoogstaand volk zich door deze aanraking ging voltrekken, mogen
bedoelde legenden zeker van niet minder belang geacht worden, dan
het [58]grootste deel van dezen bundel mythen, sagen en legenden, die
ons in de oorspronkelijke denkwijzen van het zoo lang buiten iedere
vreemde aanraking gebleven Roode ras een blik kan leeren slaan.

De Legende van Armoribo en Jorobodie (No. 39), waarin van den strijd
der Arowakken met de eerste blanken verteld wordt 23, is niet alleen in
verband met de voorafgaande regels onze aandacht waard, doch ook
wegens eenige gewoonten en opvattingen, die wij er in aantreffen en
die tot illustratie kunnen dienen van de voorgaande beschouwingen.

Na deze legende, die wij aan den katholieken missionaris, Pater C. van
Coll te danken hebben, nemen wij uit den arbeid der gebroeders
Penard een tweetal legenden over, omdat deze verhalen, naar onze
meening, de uiting zijn van het besef der diepe klove, die de Indianen
ten opzichte hunner levensbeschouwingen en denkbeelden met die der
van verre komende blanken steeds meer moesten gaan gevoelen.
Zulks moet vooral het geval geweest zijn bij hunne aanraking met
zendelingen, die hun een geloof trachtten op te dringen, dat zóó ver
buiten hun gedachtensfeer ligt en dat deze zoo streng aan hun
overtuiging en aan de met hun geloof in verband staande voorschriften
zich houdende menschen in hooge mate moest krenken.

In dit licht beschouwd, zijn de „Legende van de uitdrijving van een

priester uit den Indiaanschen hemel” (No. 40) en de „Legende van de
uitdrijving van Indianen uit den Hemel der Paters” (No. 41) de aandacht
waard, niet het minst, omdat de „beschaafde blanken”, die zich zoo
gaarne tegenover de zoogenaamde „wilde volken” [59]stellen, uit den
mond van den Indiaan er in moeten vernemen, hoe hij daarover denkt,
en wat hij naar zijn meening aan de Blanken dankt.

Stemt het niet tot nadenken, dat de meermalen genoemde missionaris

Pater van Coll, die meer dan 40 jaren onder de Indianen van
Suriname gearbeid heeft, moest verklaren: „Zij (de Indianen) zijn er
verre van af, zich tegenover ons als wilden te beschouwen. Daarvoor
ligt de zwakke zijde van den Europeaan te bloot en te open voor hen.”

In dit verband verwijzen wij den belangstellenden lezer nogmaals naar

het belangrijke artikel van den Nederlandschen kenner der Indianen,
Dr. ten Kate in de Gids van 1919, getiteld: de Indiaan in de
Letterkunde, waarin hij o.a. de aangehaalde Brieven (Love Letters) van
mrs. Ryan (zie onder „dichters” in het verklarend register) „als een
ernstige waarschuwing” beschouwt „aan het adres van fanatieke
ijveraars voor de beschavingsidee, zooals er onder zendelingen en
zendingsvrienden maar al te veel voorkomen.”

Treffend zijn deze beide legenden vooral hierom, omdat de Indianen

zich er als de slachtoffers in beschouwen van de zonden der blanken;
want de drank, die deze hun gebracht hebben, en waarop zij zoo
verzot zijn geworden, is zooveel sterker dan de paiwarri, die zij door
gisting van Cassave bereiden.

In de „Legende van Paramaribo” die wij onder No. 43 aan de Penards

ontleenen, komt eveneens de ellende tot uiting, die de Blanken den
Indianen hebben toegebracht door hen met jenever en brandewijn te
doen kennis maken. Het schoone Indiaansche voorschrift, nimmer het
eenmaal gegeven woord te verbreken, heeft hen, zooals wij er mede uit
leeren, in het ongeluk gebracht. Ook deze ondervinding der Indianen is
de aandacht waard, [60]omdat, gelijk ik reeds opmerkte, een Indiaan
zich nog steeds aan zijn gegeven woord houdt, terwijl men het in het
„beschaafde” land der blanken, vooral in de tegenwoordige periode, in
dit opzicht zoo nauw niet neemt.

Het zwerversleven, dat de Indianen van oudsher geleid hebben 24 en

dat, zooals reeds betoogd, eensdeels een gevolg is van het leven van
de opbrengst der jacht en visscherij, en van den roofbouw op
onbemest land, anderdeels te verklaren is uit het bijgeloof, dat hen
dikwijls noodzaakt een plaats des onheils te verlaten, vinden wij in tal
van legenden neêrgelegd.

De lange, in het duister gehulde geschiedenis der Indianen was eene

van herhaalde onderlinge oorlogen, die met de komst der blanken nog
lang bleven voortduren. Er waren stammen, die voortdurend tegen
elkaar ten strijde trokken; maar er waren ook stammen, die steeds
bevriend met elkander bleven. In No. 42 wordt van een bezoek aan
een veraf wonenden, bevrienden stam verteld.

In de vele legenden, die onder de Benedenlandsche Indianen van

Guyana de ronde doen en die doelen op geschiedkundige
gebeurtenissen, sedert de blanken hunne woonstreken zijn
binnengedrongen, worden wij ook herinnerd aan de tochten, die de
nieuwe bezitters van het land tegen de weggeloopen negerslaven, de
z.g. Marrons ondernamen, waarbij de laatsten niet zelden door de
Indianen geholpen werden. Hierop doelt „De [61]Legende van Post
Sommelsdijk” (No. 44) die wij aan de Gebroeders Penard ontleenen.

De verbinding dezer legende aan Post Sommelsdijk is duidelijk. Onder

het Bestuur van den Gouverneur Cornelis van Aerssen van
Sommelsdijk, die van 1684–1688 de Kolonie Suriname bestuurde, en
na het vertrek der Engelsche Kolonisten den grondslag legde van