Chicago, Illinois. August 8, 2009.

Depth of field is the term used to describe those circles of least confusion that appear to the human eye to be in focus. When we do qualitative research, finding the appropriate depth of field or range of focus is one of our first challenges. When faced with complex family realities and a wide range of compositional possibilities, we must compose the picture in order to locate on our film plane the circle of least confusion – a range of objects in focus that provides a basis for close scrutiny. Finding the appropriate depth of field is an important strategy in qualitative research. In qualitative research, focus is often narrowed to understand the details of everyday living: how decisions are made, how relationships are managed, and how identities are constructed …

Composition is a matter of selection that involves not only technical decisions about framing edges and spaces, but moral and aesthetic decisions that reflect values, interests, and preferences. In the Introduction to his book Frame Analysis, Goffman (1974) argues that in our effort to understand the organization of everyday experience, we need to concern ourselves not so much with what it is that a camera takes pictures of, but rather with the camera itself. In other words, it is not the nature of reality itself that is important, but the conditions under which we perceive reality. These are matters of selective attention, focus, and engagement with the subject matter.

Excerpted from Qualitative Methods for Family Studies and Human Development, by Kerry J. Daly. Published by SAGE Publications, 2007.