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Qualitative diss. tense (help please!)

R

Hi All,

I have a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway lol. I'm not sure about the tense to use when referring to participants' comments. For example, in my analytical chapters should I use: a) Sara states, contends, argues, etc.....OR
b) Sarah revealed that, shared, expressed, etc....
Please, any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks!!!
:-)

B

I have been told by my sup to use past tense throughout my research (methodology and findings etc). My thesis is also qualitative so I have used 'participants stated/revealed etc'.

R

Hi Button,

Thanks for the reply! You know, When I started to write, it was in the past tense. Halfway through, I noticed that some of the points sounded better in present tense. Now, I have past and present tense in the chapters :p.... I just wanted to see how others were approaching it. I'll stick with the past tense and keep it consistent.

Thanks!

E

Well, I' ve been told by my sups to use whichever tense I like but to use only one throughout the thesis....

I prefer present tense.....so, my participants state, argue etc

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