CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Approach
The problem arisen under this research is about narratives of gender exist in Doerr’s All The Lights We Cannot See. It is, in specific, about the gender narratives
found in the novel. The data are the textual descriptions or narrations found in the novel. Qualitative research was used to approach the problem of gender narratives in
the novel as well as its relation to its social context. The acquired data were, then, studied.
Qualitative research is commonly used in social sciences. It is usually used to study social issues and human related behaviors. Qualitative research is strongly
determinant and bases its research on logic Goertz and Mahoney, 2012: 2. Logic has a fundamental task in conducting a qualitative research. In this research, logic was
also used as guidance in examining the problem being presented in the work. Further, Goertz and Mahoney 2012: 17 also add that logic is the mathematical tool of
qualitative research which shows how equal it is actually with quantitative research viewed from calculation perspective. Therefore, there should be no worries to
question qualitative approach’s power and its quality as a research theoretically. It is undoubtedly legitimate and significantly contributive to the world of research as a
whole.
Textual analysis was employed under this research. According to Vanderstoep and Johnston 2009: 210, textual analysis is an analysis which identifies and
interprets signs. He also regards narrative analysis as a branch of method in this textual mode of study. Vanderstoep and Johnston 2009: 213 explain that narrative
analysis focuses the analysis on how a story is told and how it functions as a constructive material to society. This researc
h about Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See employed narrative analysis in studying the
novel’s story. The way the story was narrated is examined carefully under this research. The problem of gender narratives
encountered in the novel is indeed best fitted to be analyzed using this mode of study.
B. Source and Type of Data
The data we re taken from Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. The novel
was published in 2014 by Fourth Estate. It has 178 chapters and 544 pages. Generally, the data of qualitative research has no relation with number and usually in
the form of written materials Saldana, 2011: 3-4. In this research, the story from the novel became the main source of the data.
Some theories like narratology, feminism, gender, and war were utilized as the supporting materials to relate and analyze the data. The books that were used by
the researcher to help conduct the analysis to Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See
were Handbook of Narrative Analysis Vervaeck, 2001, The Creation of Patriarchy Lerner, 1987, Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary Theory Wallace, 2009, Gender
Trouble Butler, 1990, War and Gender Goldstein, 2001 and some other books to support the above theories.
The type of data acquired was in the form of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, as well as paragraphs which embody the story. The data were only those
which depicted or implied gender narratives. Those data were then identified, categorized, and interpreted.
C. Data Collection
To obtain the data for this research, there were at least four fundamental steps. Those steps were reading, taking notes, categorizing, and interpreting the data.
Reading was the first step to begin collecting the data. There should be a close reading to the novel as the main source of data. Rereading was necessary to achieve
the better result. Next step was taking notes. After reading the novel, the researcher took notes on the novel that describes the gender narratives. Then, he categorized
those gender narratives found in the novel. Lastly, the categorizations among narratives were categorized again into two main thematic categories i.e. female
subordination and male domination before they were interpreted as suggestive values to women.
This datasheet below was employed to help the researcher in collecting the data.
Kategori