Preface

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We are proud to publish our first issue of the Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research (MJQR). We would like to thank all who have contributed to the publication of this first issue - especially our reviewers and contributors. The focus of this first issue is to share some insights and experiences of professionals and practitioners on two pertinent issues in qualitative research: the value of qualitative research and the ethics involved. In relation to that, a book review on the experiences of local researchers in the application of the qualitative research methodology is provided to give the Malaysian perspective.

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The first article is on "Whose Data is It Anyway? Ethics in Qualitative Research" discusses a critical and pertinent issue of ethics in data collection and ownership. Helen Simons proposes that co-ownership of data between the researcher and subject be considered. The second article, "Qualitative Research Endeavour: Negotiation Access and Ethical Dilemmas" by Mohd. Hasani Dali and Mohd Rosli Abdul Rahman shares the various ethical issues experienced in their fieldwork and the impact these issues had on their research design. In the third article, "An approach to phenomenological analysis of data," Khatijah Lim Abdullah discusses the application of van Manen's (1990 ) six research activities as a framework of her research approach and the rationale for using the heidegerrian-gadamerian phenomenological approach. The fourth article, "Quality in qualitative research and reporting: A consideration of practitioner research" by John Loughran outlines the criteria of quality in qualitative research using teacher research as a case in point. He discusses the relevance of qualitative research in education and the different world views of research that shape the kind of resultant knowledge it present s to its audience. In the final article, "Using Software to Analyse Qualitative Data," Michael Jon es explains the advantages of using NVivoTM, a software developed by QSR International Pry Ltd. (2002) to ease the analysis of qualitative data.

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We hope that these article s and the book review will provide you with an insight into qualitative research, its practices and outcome. More importantly, we hope that MJQR is able to provide the platform for sharing and discussing qualitative research.

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The Editorial Board
January 2007