To quote T.S. again:
Well, its Saturday morning and rather than the smells of beer, it's the distinct aroma of interest in the topic of research. Thanks to Lloyd for isolating the issue which has got the hounds running and to Walter Wager for scenting the trail.
Walter, in particular, has put his finger on one of the great weaknesses of much research that passes as qualitative--poor design and lack of generalizability. I recall a paper from Tom Reeves a year or more ago in which he described some awful dissertation project to do with collecting conversations in coffee shops. I just hope that Walter is not including the Kearins and Lam case studies in my paper in his sweeping generalization, as I consider them to be fine work with important and generalizable results.