ETHNOGRAPHIC CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF COUPLE AND THERAPIST PERCEPTIONS IN A REFLECTING TEAM SETTING

An ethnographic content analysis was used to examine couple and therapist perspectives about the use and value of reflecting team practice. Postsession ethnographic interviews from both couples and therapists were examined for the frequency of themes in seven categories that emerged from a previous ethnographic study of reflecting teams (Sells, Smith, Coe, Yoshioka, & Robbins, 1994). The study demonstrated that quantitative numerical data and qualitative narrative data can examine the same phenomenon from multiple perspectives and allow for greater accuracy and stability in study findings. Ethnographic content analysis is briefly contrasted with conventional modes of quantitative content analysis to illustrate its usefulness and rationale for discovering emergent patterns, themes, emphases, and process using both inductive and deductive methods of inquiry.