Johnny Salda-a outlines the basic elements of longitudinal qualitative
data, focusing on micro-levels of change observed within individual
cases and groups of participants. He draws upon his primary experience
in theater education to examine time and change in longitudinal
qualitative studies; contending that 'playwrights and qualitative
researchers write for the same purpose: to create a unique, insightful,
and engaging text about the human condition.' Offering sixteen specific
questions through which researchers may approach the analysis of
longitudinal qualitative data, Professor Salda-a presents a text
intended as a primer for fellow newcomers to long term inquiry, based on
traditional social science methods from traditional qualitative and
quantitative paradigms, but enriched by an artist-educator's
unconventional perspective.