Observations of supervisors and an actuarial research student on the qualitative research process

Memes are a prominent feature of global life in the 21st century. The author asserts that memes are significant to current and future qualitative research. In particular, the text establishes memes as: (a) part of everyday communication, expression, and explanation, thus useful in qualitative research; (b) valuable cultural units and symbols; (c) forms of rapport building and cultivating relational research; (d) approaches that bolster and sustain remote data collection; (e) methods that infuse agency, humor, and creativity into the research process. The author then showcases distinctive ways memes can be effectively incorporated in qualitative research pursuits and publications. The article concludes with the necessity of data collection and representation approaches that advance the meaningfulness and cultural-relevance of qualitative inquiry.

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Resilient Research in the Field: Insights and Lessons From Adapting Qualitative Research Projects During the COVID-19 Pandemic

International Journal of Qualitative Methods ◽

10.1177/16094069211016106 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 160940692110161

Author(s):

Syahirah Abdul Rahman ◽

Lauren Tuckerman ◽

Tim Vorley ◽

Cristian Gherhes

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Social Interaction ◽

Research Methods ◽

Research Process ◽

Qualitative Research Methods ◽

Research Projects ◽

Social Distancing ◽

Face To Face ◽

Building Resilience ◽

Digital Methods

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the implementation of unprecedented social distancing measures, restricting social interaction and with it the possibility for conducting face-to-face qualitative research. This paper provides lessons from a series of qualitative research projects that were adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure their continuation and completion. By reflecting on our experiences and discussing the opportunities and challenges presented by crises to the use of a number of qualitative research methods, we provide a series of insights and lessons for proactively building resilience into the qualitative research process. We show that reflexivity, responsiveness, adaptability, and flexibility ensured continuity in the research projects and highlighted distinct advantages to using digital methods, providing lessons beyond the COVID-19 context. The paper concludes with reflections on research resilience and adaptation during crises.

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A Review of Qualitative Data Analysis Practices in Health Education and Health Behavior Research

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/1090198118795019 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 32-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Ilana G. Raskind ◽

Rachel C. Shelton ◽

Dawn L. Comeau ◽

Hannah L. F. Cooper ◽

Derek M. Griffith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Data Analysis ◽

Health Education ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Analysis Data ◽

Research Process ◽

Common Coding ◽

Education And Health ◽

Analytic Process ◽

Member Checks

Data analysis is one of the most important, yet least understood, stages of the qualitative research process. Through rigorous analysis, data can illuminate the complexity of human behavior, inform interventions, and give voice to people’s lived experiences. While significant progress has been made in advancing the rigor of qualitative analysis, the process often remains nebulous. To better understand how our field conducts and reports qualitative analysis, we reviewed qualitative articles published in Health Education & Behavior between 2000 and 2015. Two independent reviewers abstracted information in the following categories: data management software, coding approach, analytic approach, indicators of trustworthiness, and reflexivity. Of the 48 ( n = 48) articles identified, the majority ( n = 31) reported using qualitative software to manage data. Double-coding transcripts was the most common coding method ( n = 23); however, nearly one third of articles did not clearly describe the coding approach. Although the terminology used to describe the analytic process varied widely, we identified four overarching trajectories common to most articles ( n = 37). Trajectories differed in their use of inductive and deductive coding approaches, formal coding templates, and rounds or levels of coding. Trajectories culminated in the iterative review of coded data to identify emergent themes. Few articles explicitly discussed trustworthiness or reflexivity. Member checks ( n = 9), triangulation of methods ( n = 8), and peer debriefing ( n = 7) were the most common procedures. Variation in the type and depth of information provided poses challenges to assessing quality and enabling replication. Greater transparency and more intentional application of diverse analytic methods can advance the rigor and impact of qualitative research in our field.

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Positionality and Ethics in the Qualitative Research of Migrants’ Homes

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.5153/sro.3208 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 111-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Anna Pechurina

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Power Distribution ◽

Ethical Decision Making ◽

Research Process ◽

Ethical Decisions ◽

Ethnographic Studies ◽

Social Positioning ◽

Rich Data ◽

The Uk

This article discusses ethical decisions in the qualitative research of homes, with particular focus on a situation, in which a researcher studies his/her own migrant community. While exploring more common topics, such as negotiating access and receiving permission to photograph within participants’ homes, this article will also highlight issues that occur specifically within community-based ethnographic studies among Russian migrants. Using examples from the study of Russian immigrants’ homes in the UK, this article raises important questions of social positioning and power distribution within studied community. It will demonstrate the complexities of ethical decision making at different stages of the research process, which reflects the constantly changing relationship(s) between the cultural and social backgrounds and identities of researchers and participants. The insider and outsider role of the researcher is relative and the constant need to balance it, while simultaneously creating difficult ethical dilemmas, often reveals rich data and moves the whole research process forward.

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Accounting for the messiness of the research process: the fieldpath approach

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/qrom-06-2017-1536 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 315-332 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Perttu Salovaara

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Research Process ◽

Content Type ◽

Environmental Consequences ◽

Human Ethics ◽

Conceptual Paper ◽

The Common ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose It has recently become more acknowledged that there is a quality of “messiness” to the qualitative research process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fieldpath approach—a hermeneutically inspired framework—to account for the non-linearity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the research process. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper reviews how the scope of hermeneutics has been partly misunderstood. The paper discusses how the scope of hermeneutics has lately been expanded by works such as Günter Figal’s (2010) Objectivity: The Hermeneutical and Philosophy. Findings The fieldpath approach proposes that a heightened relation to materiality enables the messiness of the process to be preserved, while at the same time offering a way to find one’s footing in the midst of ontologically incomplete phenomena that are still—in a processual fashion—forming and becoming. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. In addition to the research mentioned here, more studies would be needed to legitimise, test and refine the approach. Practical implications Objectivity provides an additional criterion for researchers to lean on when facing the non-linearity and unexpected turns inherent in the qualitative research process. Social implications The stress on materiality involves an ethical dimension. Post-human ethics are concerned with the future environmental consequences and sustainability of the material world. The way that matter matters in our methodologies is of primary importance. Originality/value First, the paper emphasises that hermeneutics, contrary to the common perception, does offer criteria for evaluating between interpretations. Second, it introduces the notion of hermeneutic objectivity, which stresses the importance of materiality for interpretations. Third, it introduces the fieldpath approach, which, based on the previous criterion of hermeneutic objectivity, allows for the messiness of the research process, while also preserving a tight grip on the hermeneutic imperative of “understanding in a new way”.

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THE QUALITY OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: FROM EVALUATION TO ATTAINMENT

Texto & Contexto - Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/0104-070720150001150015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 883-890 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Carmen de la Cuesta Benjumea

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Research Process ◽

Qualitative Studies ◽

Research Quality ◽

Reflexive Attention ◽

The Third ◽

Qualitative Knowledge ◽

Situated Practice

ABSTRACTThe objective of this paper is to emphasize the importance of quality in the research process instead of its valuation afterwards, an issue the literature has given extensive attention to. In addition, it is a reflection on the debate about the quality of qualitative research and presents the assessment of quality as a situated practice. Reflexivity is presented not as a criterion to assess the research quality but as an instrument to achieve it. There are three characteristics of qualitative research that researchers need to pay reflexive attention to. The first is that qualitative studies deal with human experiences; the second that these experiences are subjective; and the third that qualitative knowledge is ideographic and constructed during the study. Beyond these characteristics, issues are signaled that are constantly repeated in the studies and that unknowingly are a threat to their quality are addressed in this paper.

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The Application of Abductive and Retroductive Inference for the Design and Analysis of Theory-Driven Sociological Research

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.5153/sro.2819 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 86-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Samantha B. Meyer ◽

Belinda Lunnay

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Social Theory ◽

Sociological Theory ◽

Research Process ◽

Medical Professionals ◽

Sociological Research ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

Stage Model ◽

Qualitative Research Design

Abductive and retroductive inference are innovative tools of analysis which enable researchers to refine and redevelop social theory. This paper describes and demonstrates how to apply these tools to strengthen sociological theory-driven empirical research outputs. To illustrate how abductive and retroductive inference work for the benefit of enhanced qualitative analysis we present the findings of a qualitative study that investigated heart disease patients’ trust in medical professionals (n=37). We outline the research process using a six-stage model developed by Danermark et al. (1997) that will guide researchers doing exploratory research in how to use abductive and retroductive inference in qualitative research design and analysis. A snapshot of the study findings are provided for illustration purposes. The reader will learn how the application of these under-utilized methodological tools provides a novel way of analyzing sociological research.

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Qualitative Research and Quilting: Advice for Novice Researchers

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2006.1658 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Leigh Ausband

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Research Process ◽

Qualitative Researcher

This paper relates how the author, a novice qualitative researcher, uses the familiar process of quilting to help her clarify the research process. Other novice researchers are advised to look around for similar connections they can make in their lives to assist with their research.

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A Call for Enhancing Saturation at the Qualitative Data Analysis Stage via the Use of Multiple Qualitative Data Analysis Approaches

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3554 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Amber Sechelski ◽

Anthony Onwuegbuzie

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Discourse Analysis ◽

Data Analysis ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Research Process ◽

Comparison Analysis ◽

Qualitative Data Analysis ◽

Data Analyses ◽

Multiple Data

The analysis of data represents the most important and difficult step in the qualitative research process. Thus, recently, a few authors have written methodological works that contain discussion of an array of qualitative data analysis approaches. Yet, despite the call of Leech and Onwuegbuzie (2007) a decade ago for qualitative researchers to analyze a given set of qualitative data in multiple ways, this practice has been largely ignored. Thus, in this article, we bolster the argument for conducting multiple data analyses. In particular, we use data stemming from an interview to demonstrate how using five qualitative data analysis approaches (e.g., constant comparison analysis, discourse analysis) helped to enhance what we refer to as analysis saturation, thereby increasing verstehen (i.e., understanding).

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Through the Looking Glass Space to New Ways of Knowing: A Personal Research Narrative

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2127 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Gabrielle Brand

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Health Professional ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Historical Context ◽

Ways Of Knowing ◽

Research Process ◽

Value Systems ◽

Research Experience ◽

Looking Glass ◽

Personal Research

This article describes how writing personal research narratives during my doctoral research journey challenged my role as a health professional and my personal beliefs and values in fundamental ways. In qualitative narrative inquiry, the reflexive account of the research experience is a key element in conducting ethical, rigorous, and meaningful forms of qualitative research. However, as a novice researcher, I was unprepared for the unlearning journey I experienced during the research process. This uncomfortable experience cut to the core of my identity by dismantling unexamined belief and value systems that lay dormant and hidden from my everyday consciousness as a health professional. In the spirit of transparency, reflexivity and “good” qualitative research, this article presents an explicit account of my exquisite and sometimes excruciating reflexive research journey that profoundly changed how I relate and work with people. I believe health care professionals should adopt a narrative view of experience that creates the “looking glass space” to locate their own stories within the broader socio-cultural and historical context of their lives, especially in relation to their health professional identity. Exchanging diminishing dialogue with deeper dialogue honours both the complexities of young peoples’ lives and social worlds and encompasses socially-conscious methodologies of promise and hope.

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