Abstract:

There is a number of ways to present voluminous data in interviews when adopting qualitative research methodology. One of the methods is by crafting a profile. Profile is a narrative form of presentation consists of rich, dense and refined themes which are drawn from the data using the participants’ own words (Seidman 2006). The paper aims to highlight an example of two profiles implemented in a doctoral thesis that researches the experiences of international students and academic staff in learning and teaching processes in a Malaysian institution. These profiles were implemented to observe the experiences of these participants towards drawing the discussions on how they adjust in their learning and teaching processes. Findings identified that by using profiles, the complexities of the participants’ experiences were clearly evident by allowing words to 'speak to each other'. This characteristic assists the discussion into the process of mutual adjustment which is the central argument of the whole project. In addition, a profile of a particular participant also anchors the experiences of other participants and link the experiences into the context in which the participants’ operate. As a whole, it can be concluded that the complexities underpin themes that are undeniably important in presenting qualitative data could be more evident when presenting using profiles.

Keywords:

Interview data, profile, qualitative research.