Research method RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Rindra Nuriza, 2014 A CHILD CHARACTER’S DEVELOPMENT IN R.J. PALACIO’S CHILDREN’S REALISTIC FICTION NOVEL WONDER Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu personalities. Hence, in the end, he got a medal from the school awards for inspiring other people. His social life becomes different and everything is changed afterwards. The most important thing, August is then noticed for the way he is.

3.2 Research method

The research was guided by qualitative research design with descriptive analysis as a part of the method, since it was related to spoken and written language rather than numbers Polkinghorne, 2005. More precisely, the research collected data in the form of written texts —the excerpts of characters’ focalization in the novel— which were consequently interpreted, elaborated and described for the evidential grounded data to base the findings —which were drawn dependent on a single writer’s interpretation—regarding the main character’s development in R.J. Palacio’s Wonder New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. In supporting this, according to Airasian, Gay Mills 2006, qualitative research allows the writer to collect data consisting large words or text to be described and analyzed related to their themes, and to conduct the inquiry in a subjective, biased manner. Therefore, qualitative research fits the research. In line with that, as suggested by Hancock, Ockleford Windridge 2009, the nature of qualitative research focuses on how people can have different perspectives towards reality or the real world contexts, which are reported through description or interpretation based on their accounts. Consequently, all findings within the research determine on whether the entire data have been clearly described or not Alwasillah, 2000. For Creswell 2007, in order to clarify the data, the description of them should involve detailed rendering of information about people, places, or events in a setting, so that the readers know where the findings were derived. Besides, due to this matter of the research is concerning character’s development in a novel, it is hard to express the data numerically. Thus, the form of written text data could effectively be conducted as the primary ground to illustrate the findings. To clearly describe the data in the present research, the writer arranged the description of textual evidences from the novel. In this context, the writer Rindra Nuriza, 2014 A CHILD CHARACTER’S DEVELOPMENT IN R.J. PALACIO’S CHILDREN’S REALISTIC FICTION NOVEL WONDER Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu attempted to illustrate cause and effects of selective narrative events through characters’ focalization on the main character’s development. Furthermore, the description of data also denoted information regarding the kind of relationship between the main character and the others whereby affecting the main character to develop. As a result, qualitative research design with descriptive analysis method was applied as the guiding to examine the data needed to answer the research questions. In the attempt to answer the research questions, intensive reading regarding related framework was conducted following these sequences adapted from Cresswell 2009: a. Reading the whole novel carefully, in order to understand the overall story- line, major issues and general sense of the story. b. Preparing for collecting the data analysis by re-reading the novel in detail, to gain more comprehensive understanding concerning the main character within the story and then taking memos about it. c. Highlighting the key narrative events in the story in which they become the catalyst for changes in the main character’s personalities and attitudes, and specifically selecting multiple characters’ focalization that contribute to the main character’s development. d. Identifying the data collection by engaging it with the frameworks and previous research that have been elaborated in Chapter II. e. Generating the data analysis into narrative passage, by making elaboration and interpretation to draw the findings in connection with the theories applied. f. Discussing the findings to draw the conclusion and giving some suggestions eventually.

3.3 Context of the research