[Book Review] Understanding Narrative Inquiry: The Crafting and Analysis of Stories as Re-search

Sairah Ahmed(Sairah Ahmed), Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida(Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida), Halkano Hargura(Halkano Hargura), Shelley Lee(Shelley Lee) Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2025 아시아질적탐구 Vol.4 No.1

Understanding Narrative Inquiry by Jeong-Hee Kim presents a comprehensive text exploring narrative inquiry “embracing both the depth and breadth” of this form of research methodology (Kim, 2016, p. xvi). Kim thoughtfully addresses each stage of the research process, offering a range of strategies to validate findings and ensure analytical trustworthiness. Understanding Narrative Inquiry highlights narrative inquiry’s interdisciplinary context, philosophical and theoretical struc-ture, research design, genre, data collection methods, analysis and interpretation, and coding techniques. Literary prose is used in each section of the text, drawing on the author’s own experiences to convey key tenets of narrative inquiry. Taking the reader into the world of narrative inquiry by appealing to the senses gives each section of the book some added texture. This unique style allows the reader to experience narrative inquiry as an insider to the machinations of this method and to envision themselves as qualitative researchers who are living and experiencing narrative inquiry.

Korean Epistemology and Research: Centering Local Epistemologies in Qualitative Inquiry

Seungho Moon Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2024 아시아질적탐구 Vol.3 No.2

This study examines how philosophical questions and discussions surrounding Korean epistemology can be reconstructed and created through qualitative research. Drawing upon Korea’s unique perspectives on human relationships and worldviews, it explores diverse discourses on knowledge and truth. The author investigates the potential for qualitative researchers of varying cultural and historical heritage to expand their horizons and directions of qualitative inquiry. Illumi-nating the ontological dynamics of being and non-being within the multifaceted and in-depth discourses of Korean episte-mology, it offers an example of what new versions of qualitative research are possible based on methodologies such as Suda, Dasan studies, seodang education, Wonhyo’s theory of hwa-jaeng, the Yeok-Gyeong [Book of Changes], Donghak, to list several. Ultimately, this research will contribute to the advancement of new theoretical and methodological frame-works that enable local, Indigenous qualitative researchers to imagine their versions of qualitative inquiry inspired by Ko-rean epistemology and research practices.

A Journey of Revealing Artistic Unfoldings Toward Essentialist Portraiture

Youngcook Jun(Youngcook Jun), Yongsock Chang(Yongsock Chang) Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2025 아시아질적탐구 Vol.4 No.1

In this study, we present a journey to learn and explore essentialist portraiture while accompanying Klaus Witz to under-stand human experiences. The research has already been explored by Witz and his colleagues with a series of papers that delve deeper from the “awakening to others” and “a single-consciousness-and-‘I’” perspective (Witz, 2007a; Witz, 2015b; Witz & Lee, 2013). We reflect on our experiences of accompanying Klaus Witz in the process of practicing essentialist portraiture between 2016 and 2018 as part of cooperative academic efforts and as part of cooperative academic efforts and try to reveal artistic unfoldings related to our qualitative inquiries. Klaus Witz presented three major thrusts of the essentialist portraiture and emphasized the integrated wholeness that leads to data interpretation and writing through in-depth interviews. First, he explored the reality of research participant's experiences according to Cooley’s principle of sympathetic introspection and captured its essential aspects. Second, the researcher used to guide the reader to empathize and understand the results of portrait writing based on the interaction and interpretation between the researcher and the participant through in-depth interviews. Third, he also tried to present good examples of portraiture that could provide some insights through an intuitive understanding of “we are all part of a Larger Mind.” At the end, the paper presents closing remarks on three major thrusts of the essentialist portraiture for future work.

Parents as Enemy: Life History Research on South Korean Classroom Teach-ers' Changes of School lives and Teaching practices after Parents' Legal Of-fense

Yeosun Yun(Yeosun Yun), Young Chun Kim(Young Chun Kim) Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2025 아시아질적탐구 Vol.4 No.1

This study explored how teachers’ lives are transformed through the lens of life history in response to excessive parental complaints. Through an analysis of the life histories of nine current elementary, middle, and high school teachers, the study examined the changes in teachers’ lives and educational practices following complaint experiences. The findings revealed the following: First, parental complaints fractured teachers’ professional identities, leading them to doubt their own peda-gogical judgment and autonomy. Second, such experiences constricted the relational structures in teachers’ everyday lives, fostering defensive and passive attitudes across all interpersonal relationships, including those with students, colleagues, administrators, and even in their personal lives. Third, the recurrence of complaints caused teachers to lose sight of the fundamental meaning of education. Rather than realizing educational values, teachers prioritized the prevention of com-plaints, resulting in a reduction of creative and inquiry-based lessons and a distorted limitation of learning opportunities in the classroom. Fourth, the emotional burnout caused by parental complaints contributed to a vicious cycle of parental monstrosity, teacher burnout, and growing distrust, ultimately generating secondary harms to students―namely, the re-duction of learning experiences, loss of opportunities for relational learning, and the weakening of emotional safety nets.

Arising and Ceasing in an Instant (刹那生 刹那滅): Perceiving the Flow of Change in the I Ching through Hexagonal Visualization

Seungwon Shin(Seungwon Shin), Youngcook Jun(Youngcook Jun) Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2025 아시아질적탐구 Vol.4 No.1

This study explores the visual reconstruction of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching―a cornerstone of Eastern natural philos-ophy―through a hexagon-based visual language grounded in the qualitative arts-based method of a/r/tography (Irwin et al., 2006; Springgay et al., 2005). Rather than treating the I Ching as a symbolic code for divination, this research reimagi-nes it as a living field of change, relationship, and awareness. Traditionally arranged in a linear vertical structure, the hex-agrams are reorganized into dynamic, relational patterns using hexagonal geometry, an organic form that expands infi-nitely from its center. Developed through algorithmic design, the visual system reflects the philosophical concept of arising and ceasing in an instant, revealing the fluid and interconnected nature of transformation. Connective structures illustrate not only the evolution of each hexagram but also their mutual interactivity, creating a networked cosmology of movement. This work embodies the integrated roles of artist, researcher, and educator. It seeks to visualize pre-conceptual percep-tion―the awareness that arises before language or form―and how that awareness expands into lived, relational knowing. Through the lens of non-dual awareness, the study emphasizes presence over representation, response over interpreta-tion. Ultimately, this is not merely a visual experiment but a philosophical art practice that interweaves art, philosophy, and education into a living, cyclical inquiry. It offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the I Ching, where artistic form serves as a medium for ontological reflection and participatory transformation.

Show me the Learning!: Practical Applications of IB Education for Concept-Based Inquiry Learning

Yunkyoung Kim Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2024 아시아질적탐구 Vol.3 No.2

This paper presents a practical case study of IB education through concept-based inquiry learning, focusing on the design and implementation of an AI-integrated lesson, “Hat Fashion Show,” as a model for conflict resolution. The research ex-plores the theoretical foundations of concept-based inquiry and IB education, emphasizing the development of critical thinking, creativity, and social awareness. By combining literature, ethics, and design, students engage in both fictional and real-world conflict exploration. The project involves symbolic hat creation and role-playing, using AI tools to enhance the design process. This study demonstrates the potential of blending interdisciplinary approaches with innovative tech-nologies to foster meaningful learning experiences that connect theory with practice, nurturing students' reflective and empathetic abilities. The integration of AI allows for a personalized, dynamic learning environment, reinforcing the trans-formative power of education in addressing global and personal challenges.

The Broadening of Art Perspectives in an Art Course of Non-Art Major Students through a Korean Art Teacher’s Asian Art Viewpoint

Yongsock Chang(Yongsock Chang) Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2023 아시아질적탐구 Vol.2 No.1

This research explores how Multicultural and Asian art affects college students in a U.S. university. The students did not major in art, and they chose art as elective subjects. The art course consisted of art theory and practice based on DBAE(Discipline-Based Art Education). In the art class, some non-white students always enrolled in the course. The researcher found that DBAE was satisfactory but sometimes inappropriate because DBAE is rooted in Western high art. The researcher changed the art studio class with a multicultural perspective, especially Asian art because he wanted to introduce a new art style to the class and give them a chance to appreciate non-western art. Qualitative action research and arts-based research methods were used to conduct this project. The result revealed that the students of color showed more confidence and actively participated in the class. The works of students of color were changed and improved. Second, women became more aware of social issues and expressed their feelings and emotions in their works. It seemed that the women students would become social activists and voice their opinions by making their art. Third, some students, especially Hispanic and Asian students showed their identity through their artworks. Forth, some Korean students did not make much progress. By including multicul-tural art in art classes, more students could broaden their perspectives on art and understand diversity through their artworks.

A Bold Challenge in Wilderness and Wasteland”: Applicability of Qualitative asteland Applicability of Qualitative Approach for Research on Korean Churches

Hyunchul Lee Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2024 아시아질적탐구 Vol.3 No.1

Toward a Complementary Use of Artificial Intelligence for Causal Analysis and Mapping: Experimental Approaches of Qualitative Causal Coding and Data Visualization

Dong-hyun Lee Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2025 아시아질적탐구 Vol.4 No.2

This novel study proposes an experimental prototype of using artificial intelligence (AI) for qualitative causal analysis and mapping, aimed at lowering person-hours, financial resources and language barriers, as well as improving generalizability and scalability in causal coding and data visualization. Utilizing three AI Large language models (LLM), this work attempted descriptive, causation, and pattern coding on Korean and English narratives and produced relevant directed acyclic graph visualizations. Benchmarking findings highlight the feasibility of complementary use of AI for scalable, resource-efficient, and language-inclusive causal inference in time, labor, and cost-constrained research environments within Korean social sciences. Results also show that while each model has distinct strengths, cross-model triangulation enhances methodological rigour, and data visualization can be achieved using AI tools; a comparative analysis with a validated human-coded case confirmed that LLM can replicate much of the causal structure, though complex loops require human-AI iteration. This study proposes LLM-assisted qualitative causal workflow model via humane-AI collaboration, ranging from traditional elemental coding, multi-level causal inference and non-linear causal mapping, while acknowledging limitations in prompt sensitivity, over-generalization, procedure standardization, and adherence to ethics guidelines.

Documenting and Reflecting upon Pandemic-era New York: A Photographic Qualitative Study Employing Photo-essays and Visual Autoethnography

Min Young Yang Asian Qualitative Inquiry Association 2025 아시아질적탐구 Vol.4 No.2

This study analyzes photographs and diaries taken in New York during the early pandemic from a phenomenological perspective. The photographs are not merely documentary rather than they function as fields of experience in which perception, the body, and temporality intersect. By employing photo‐essays, the interaction between language and image is explored. From the data analysis, the following categories emerged fear and isolation, social conflict, cultural deficiency the daily realities of survival, the ethics of essential workers, hope and recovery. Theoretically, the study draws on Husserl’s inquiry into essence, Merleau-Ponty’s theory of perception, and Sontag’s reflections on photography. Photographs become a testimonial domain that reveals the emotional geography of the pandemic city and its social inequalities. Upon revisiting in 2022, evidence of urban adaptation and change was observed in screening central Park, vaccination sites, and other infrastructures. The academic contribution of this research lies in integrating phenomenology, visual culture, and arts-based research, while offering implications for education and therapeutic potential. Through the images and narratives of pandemic-era New York, this study delineated how individual experience may be elevated into universal social meaning. It demonstrated that photography can serve both as a vehicle for scholarly knowledge production and as a practice of civic testimony and healing. This suggests strongly the need for a research-practice model that combines image-based evidence with storytelling in domains of education, public health, and urban cultural policy. Phenomenological photographic inquiry thus emerges as a novel qualitative methodological approach that reveals human experience in its multilayered complexity.