Qualitative Data Analysis and the Transforming Moment

Abstract

Insight is an important and repeated component of most qualitative research studies. Yet insight is often a vague concept that is not well articulated in textbooks and research reports. The late James Loder of Princeton University posited a theologically-based process he termed ‘the transforming moment’ that identifies predictable phases in a wide variety of transformations, including those of a psychological, scientific, and spiritual nature. This process corresponds at many levels with the role of insight in qualitative research. As a result, careful examination of Loder's outline of the transformative process can help clarify what is meant by insight and how it informs research activities.