Abstract:

There is a good deal of misunderstanding about how qualitative researchers work with participants and how participants react in qualitative studies in Asian countries and especially in Japan. In fact, when we do cross-cultural qualitative research in Japan, there are always some issues regarding Japanese culture/society that do not fit into the Western way of thinking. This paper discusses how and why such issues occur in data collection, analysis/interpretation, and recruitment - from the perspective of Japanese social and cultural characteristics and that of Japanese people. Finally, to meet those issues, the author proposes possible approaches for qualitative researchers in Japan to deliver results in a global context, while satisfying the demands of two major conditions: standardisation and cross-comparability.