Qualitative Research Practice Research Articles

The Challenges of Conducting Qualitative Research in Quantitative Culture: Saudi Arabia as a Case Study

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), qualitative research methods are infrequently employed, as researchers in the region are more accustomed to quantitative approaches, with a certain hesitancy to embrace qualitative methodology. This research endeavor focuses on exploring the impediments faced by individuals engaged in qualitative research within the Saudi context. To do so, I conducted semi-structured interviews with eight doctoral students and employed a qualitative case study design for this paper. Utilizing the MAXQDA software, I also applied thematic analysis to the data gathered from the interviews. The primary findings highlight three significant themes: (a) challenges related to organizational aspects, (b) difficulties stemming from social and cultural factors, and (c) obstacles specific to qualitative research practices. This paper, unique in its contribution to the region, addresses a wide range of issues faced by qualitative researchers to support and enhance their research endeavors. While this study holds relevance for researchers, its significance extends notably to policymakers, academics, and higher education institutions in the KSA.

Opportunities and Challenges of Qualitative Research in Academic Health Sciences in Ethiopia

Background. The goal of qualitative research is to learn more about the opinions and experiences of the subjects being studied in relation to a particular question. There is a paucity of information on opportunities and challenges encountered to conduct qualitative research among the academic staffs in the health sciences. The purpose of this study was to examine the opportunities and challenges of conducting qualitative research among academic staff of health sciences in Ethiopia. Methods. A descriptive qualitative study design was conducted among health sciences academic staffs of selected public universities in Ethiopia. The study was conducted at three universities’ health sciences colleges, namely, Addis Ababa University, Dilla University, and Wolaita Sodo University. Data were collected using focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and key informant interviews. MAXQDA 2020 software was used for coding and data management. A thematic analysis approach was followed to present the results. Both inductive and deductive coding approaches were used. Results. Three main themes have been identified as follows: general research practice, opportunities for qualitative research, and challenges to conduct qualitative research. Participants indicated that the availability of research opportunities will have a good impact on qualitative research engagement. Availability of grants, funding, and other incentives and demand for qualitative research in healthcare were described as opportunities for qualitative research practice. Despite the available opportunities, study participants uncovered different challenges that encountered by health academic staffs in conducting qualitative research. Resource limitations, lack of knowledge, negative attitudes or beliefs, publication, and language issues were raised as main challenges. Conclusion. Qualitative research practices were found to be low among health sciences academics. Lack of resources, training, and expertise, problems associated with publication, a lack of funding, and a shortage of experts were the main challenges in conducting qualitative research in health sciences academic settings in Ethiopia.

Writing Qualitatively: Crossing Borders, Claiming the Margins

Our paper is an invitation for scholars to challenge the mainstream dominant western approaches to qualitative research and writing. Situated as emerging scholars on the margins, we discuss what it means for us to write qualitatively through the two foci of writing and research. Our methodologies are informed by listening to the stories and shared memories of our academic ancestors and writing through rhythms of poetry. First, we look at writing qualitatively as an invitation to think with others and writing itself as a practice of “claiming the margins.” Second, we look at qualitative research practices that directly relate to our communities, where research and writing become an imperative and a responsibility rather than a choice exercised from a place of privilege. Grounded in the wilderness of the margins, we embark on the ethico-political scholartistry of qualitative writing.

Should Researchers Destroy Audio or Video Recordings?

It is a common practice in qualitative research to transcribe audio or video files from interviews or focus groups and then destroy the files at some future time, usually after validating the transcript or concluding the research. We argue that it is time to rethink this practice and that retention of original qualitative data-including audio and video recordings-should be the default stance in most cases.

Emic and etic perspectives in transnational migration research: methodological reflections of a cross-national research team

PurposeThis article presents fieldwork perspectives and research reflexivity gained from the cross-national research team, with the aim of promoting better qualitative research practices in transnational research. It focuses on how the team incorporates diverse cultural perspectives and insider and outsider roles to enhance the research in the data collection process.Design/methodology/approachThis article is drawn from the authors' qualitative research with 25 Japanese retirees in Thailand, addressing cultural challenges encountered by researchers in the cross-national team when conducting field research.FindingsOur findings indicate that researchers with an emic view in the cross-national team who shared nationality and cultural background as the participants facilitated an effective recruitment process and productive collaboration in data gathering. They also served as cultural brokers, tailoring smooth communication during interviews on certain cultures, participant traits and sensitive issues. On the other hand, the outsiders helped the team uncover more transnational issues that the insiders had overlooked. Additionally, combining emic and etic perspectives helps to avoid ethnocentric narratives or purely etic and emic conclusions.Originality/valueThis article addresses a gap in the methodological reflections in transnational research that remains largely overlooked. Our reflection highlights the advantages of cross-national teams, which include researchers from emigration and immigration countries. Their status and roles as insiders and outsiders significantly facilitate a positive impact on the research process and increase the extent of investigating the complex cultural dynamics of transnational practices. The incorporation of emic and etic perspectives is suggested in the methodological approach for transnational migration research.

Shifting professional and personal identities of the cisgender scholar doing LGBT research

Background: Scholars researching the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBT) are being denounced as performers of ‘dirty’ work and promotors of ‘immorality’. Such scholars face obstacles in the workplace, such as difficulties in obtaining ethical approval, scarcity of funding, bullying, denial of promotion and unacknowledged scholarship, among other struggles.Objectives: This article intends to highlight the unintended, unanticipated and often overlooked impact that certain LGBT research interests have on the professional and personal identities of the scholar.Method: This exploratory qualitative study uses a reflexive dialogical single case study approach to understand how Katlego (a pseudonym), a cisgender heterosexual researcher, is affected by his interest in LGBT studies. Continuous supervision notes that enable thoughtful reflexive practice in qualitative research shaped the basis of this article.Results: This article shows how Katlego’s LGBT research interest resulted in him being policed, his professional intentions questioned, his bodily expression scrutinised and personal conflict being blamed on his allegedly ‘disgraceful’ research interest. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the conflation of Katlego’s interest in LGBT research with pervasive negative assumptions of non-heteronormative sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions has resulted in a shift in his professional and personal identities.Conclusion: This article calls for awareness of the issues faced by all researchers interested in LGBT research and support strategies for navigating the professional identity, workplace environment and social ecologies within a frowned-upon research field. Failure to do so could compromise their career trajectory, well-being and safety in compulsory heterosexual environments.Contribution: This article illustrated how gender regimes position the researcher as an active creator of knowledge; therefore, the research process experiences can neither be made invisible nor neutralised. Researchers must overtly consider and prepare for situational and unanticipated ethical issues.

Transcribing in the digital age: qualitative research practice utilising intelligent speech recognition technology.

The digital revolution provides many opportunities for researchers to develop and evolve data collection methods. A key process in qualitative research data collection is the transcription of interviews, focus groups or fieldwork notes. Transcription is the process of converting audio, video or notes into accessible written format for qualitative data analysis. Transcribing can be time intensive, costly and laborious with decisions and methods of transcribing requiring transparency. The development of intelligent speech recognition technology can change how qualitative data is transcribed. This methods paper describes audio data transcribing, current challenges, opportunities and implications in using intelligent speech recognition technology for transcribing. An application of this methodology is presented.

Qualitative Research in Digital Era: Innovations, Methodologies and Collaborations

The differentiation of contemporary approaches to qualitative data analysis can seem daunting even for experienced social science researchers. Especially when they move forward in the data analysis process from general analytical strategies used in qualitative research to more specific approaches for different types of qualitative data, including interviews, text, audio, images, videos, and so-called virtual data, by discovering the domain ontology of the qualitative research field, we see that there are more than twice as many different classes of data analysis methods as qualitative research methods. This article critically reflects on qualitative research and the qualitative computer data analysis process, emphasising its significance in harnessing digital opportunities and shaping collaborative work. Using our extensive analytical and research project experience, the last research results, and a literature review, we try to show the impact of new technologies and digital possibilities on our thinking. We also try to do the qualitative data analysis. The essence of this procedure is a dialectical interplay between the new world of digital technology and the classic methodology. The use of digital possibilities in qualitative research practices shapes the researcher’s identity and their analytical and research workshop. Moreover, it teaches collaborative thinking and teamwork and fosters the development of new analytical, digital, and Information Technology (IT) skills. Imagining contemporary qualitative research and data analysis in the humanities and social sciences is difficult. Opening to modern technologies in computer-based qualitative data analysis shapes our interpretation frameworks and changes the optics and perception of research problems.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Qualitative Research Among Health Sciences Faculty.

Background The importance of qualitative research in health sciences is rising. Qualitative research needs more attention from healthcare practitioners. Hence, some questions in the healthcare field may only be answered through qualitative research methodologies. In this study, we aimed to assessthe knowledge, practice, and attitude among health sciences faculty about qualitative research. Methodology This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS). A convenient sampling technique was used to collect data from health sciences faculty participants. Participants were included from five different colleges, i.e., College of Medicine, Applied Health Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy, and College of Dentistry. A 20-question, self-made questionnaire was given to each participant. The questionnaire had five attitude questions, 10 knowledge questions, and five practice questions. Results A total of 236 participants completed the study questionnaire. The majority of the study participants (198, 84%) had an overall poor knowledge of qualitative research methodologies. Most participants (214, 91%) agreed that qualitative research is important in health sciences. More than half of the participants had never attended a qualitative methods workshop (140, 59%). About three-quarters of the participants (175, 74%) had never participated in a qualitative research project. Conclusions The overall knowledge and practice of qualitative research methodologies were poor among KSAU-HS health sciences faculty while they had a good attitude toward its importance in health sciences.

Validity practices in qualitative research in school psychology

Validity refers to the extent to which a given study reflects the dominant values of a research community regarding what constitutes “good” research. Methodological texts on qualitative research provide a wide range of criteria and strategies to help qualitative researchers validate their studies. Given the importance of these strategies to establish a study as trustworthy and legitimate, the objective of this study was to understand the strategies commonly used by school psychology researchers in qualitative research. We therefore reviewed qualitative research articles published in seven school psychology journals between 2006 and 2021. We found 15 strategies authors used to enhance the validity of their research. We also found that a strategy could be enacted in many different ways by different researchers depending on the context. We conclude by recommending four ways in which qualitative researchers in school psychology can improve their validation practices.

Drawing a River: Utilizing the Power of Metaphors in Interviews With Children and Young People.

In the field of qualitative health research on children, scholars have called for the inclusion of children's perspectives. Still, health care research on children appears to be characterized by an exclusionary approach that stems from a conception of disability and sickness as equivalent to a lack of agency. This article responds to the call to include children's perspectives. It presents the Double-view (Dovi)-river interview, which is a drawing- and metaphor-based interview method that enables ambiguous and multi-layered life course narratives. Based on two steps - (1) a life course interview conducted while drawing a river of the child's life and (2) revisiting and unfolding the child's stories - the method allows for an arts-based, joint exploration of life experiences. Inspired by childhood studies as well as a poststructuralist epistemology, the article discusses and proposes ways to challenge power relations between the adult interviewer and the child interviewee. It is argued that the method can also challenge the predominant deficit view and the dichotomous understanding of children's experiences of their life and capabilities that characterize much health care practice and health research, by focusing both on challenges and opportunities. Doing so enables a more nuanced and appreciative approach to children. We draw on empirical examples from a study with children with disabilities. However, we suggest that the method's potential for enabling articulation of the complex and ambiguous can inspire qualitative research and health care practice more broadly.

Engaging Students in Qualitative Research Practice and Understanding through Constructionist Perspectives: Socially Constructed Qualitative Research Pedagogies

A growing number of books have explored how teachers teach students' qualitative research in second or foreign language classroom contexts step by step. It is rare, however, to find a book on research methods that includes a social constructionist approach to reflective and experiential learning for conducting qualitative research to help students become good qualitative researchers. To fill this void, Janet C. Richards, Audra Skukauskaitė, and Ron Chenail wrote a book entitled Engaging Students in Socially Constructed Qualitative Research Pedagogies (2022). This book is an important, forward-thinking, and useful resource for the rapidly expanding field of qualitative research pedagogy. In addition, it is applicable to a broader range of active teaching in higher education. The authors discuss a constructionist approach to education. The book is separated into three sections, each of which describes a unique strategy or method for actively incorporating students into qualitative research. Chapter authors with backgrounds in six countries (the United States, Lithuania, Canada, Israel, China, and Russia) present imaginative, practical, and theoretical methods for actively incorporating students in the research learning process. The book will be of interest to students, who will appreciate the inclusion of student projects and authentic scenarios through which instructors assist student learning and qualitative research. The book will also be interesting for instructors who want to improve their pedagogy and find new ways to teach.

Enriching research practices through knowledge about Indigenous research methodologies

Introduction
 Learning about Indigenous research paradigms and methodologies offers insights and reflexive opportunities for those who seek to improve their research practice.  This paper explores how research at the ‘interface’ can enrich scholarly inquiry across the academy. Whilst a single paper cannot do justice to the sophistication and nuance of Indigenous methodologies, as an authorship team of one Indigenous and two non-Indigenous academics, and through our established relationship and subsequent conversations, we present in this paper seven distilled methodological learnings that can enrich standard qualitative research practice. We predominantly explored the work of Indigenous scholars worldwide, and where relevant have drawn on non-Indigenous scholars where there may be ‘interface’ compatibilities. We also build off some of our previous work such as Andrews (2020a, 2020b), Andrews (2021) and Bolton and Andrews (2018).
 It is very important to clearly state that we are not suggesting readers, particularly non-Indigenous readers, use this paper as a template for Indigenous research, or as a guide for conducting research with Indigenous peoples and communities.  Rather, our intention is to share our personal learnings about Indigenous research with a view to bridging methodological understanding to achieve high quality qualitative research. Indigenous researchers have sought to navigate the interface between Indigenous and western research to generate new knowledge that reflects the interests, values and priorities of Indigenous peoples. The last twenty-five years has seen significant effort by Indigenous scholars across the globe to establish an Indigenous academic research agenda and pioneer change in research practices. The interface between Indigenous and western knowledge systems has much to offer research as a basis for the generation of new knowledge (Durie, 2004; Martin, 2008). It is at this interface, or intersection between two knowledges, that we make connections and offer our insights.
 This paper is divided into four sections: Beginning, Middle, Reflective End and New Beginnings, a framework drawn from our work. Within these four sections are seven key methodological reflections under the sub-headings: Understanding place in research, Positionality, Worldviews in research, Privileging knowledges, Relational accountability, Storytelling as methodology and Circular research processes, and at each sub-heading is our key learnings.   This is shown in Figure 1, noting the arrows grow in size as we approach ‘Beginning Again’ as a way of illustrating the enriching of knowledges and practices as the learning process loops iteratively.

Fostering a culture of qualitative research and scholarly publication in a leading university in the West Bank: a Palestinian-UK capacity-building collaboration

ABSTRACT Research practices in Arab universities, especially the use of qualitative methods, tend to fall behind international standards of excellence; hence, the relatively small number of qualitative journal articles published by Arab academics. Conducting research in Palestine is particularly problematic due to the continued Israeli occupation and its negative impact on Palestinian education. Certain cultural and historical factors pose further difficulties, specifically for qualitative researchers. To address the challenges with conducting qualitative research for its own staff and students, An-Najah National University (West Bank) collaborated with Coventry University (UK) to design and deliver a joint researcher-development programme on the uses of qualitative research methods, and the process and requirements of scholarly publication. Whilst implementing the programme, the team of British and Palestinian academics sought to examine the socio-cultural challenges of capacity-building between higher education institutions in the Global North and South – specifically in relation to qualitative research practice – and answer the question of how an equitable partnership between Global North and South institutions can be built. By engaging in Action Research, the North-South collaborators observed and analysed how Western researcher-development practices and assumptions were questioned, re-examined and adapted to give rise to a near-symmetrical relationship between the two institutions.

Phenomenological Attitude in Descriptive Phenomenological Psychological Research

Phenomenological approach is one of the leading approaches in the practice of qualitative psychological research. Two perspectives can be distinguished in it: descriptive phenomenology and interpretive phenomenology. A researcher intending to apply a phenomenological strategy is expected to be able to practice the phenomenological attitude, which plays a key role both in the process of data collection and analysis. This article focuses on the field of descriptive phenomenology based on E. Husserl’s philosophy and represented by A. Giorgi and F. Wertz in the context of phenomenological psychology. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essential characteristics of the phenomenological attitude, to unfold theoretical emphases and to provide certain practical insights for those researchers who decided to conduct a descriptive phenomenological study. Literature analysis is used to achieve the goal. The phenomenological attitude is described using two contexts – E. Husserl’s phenomenological philosophy and the phenomenological psychology based on its assumptions – briefly presenting both, revealing their connections and distinguishing features.

A Pacific Qualitative Methodology for the Intersection of Images of God, Cultural Identity and Mental Wellbeing

ABSTRACT This article draws on unpublished doctoral research which investigated the significance of Christianity for the spiritual and mental wellbeing of young Catholic, multi-ethnic Pacific women from a theological perspective. This qualitative research project focused on this cohort's individual images of God, what influenced these images of God and how these images can impact an individual's mental wellbeing. Findings from qualitative interviews of 64 Roman Catholic, mixed Pacific heritage aged 17-24-year-old women are discussed using a relational methodology. The article challenges the Church and families to reflect on how God is imaged throughout both positive and negative life events as these can have varying impacts on the mental wellbeing of young Pacific women, particularly in the context of an indigenous definition of mental wellbeing. It highlights the importance of indigenous worldviews in pastoral theological education and qualitative research practice.

Fleshing Out the Embodied Potentialities of Positionality

Through this pulsating textual exploration, I viscerally uncover the potentialities of positionality and reflexivity in the context of research and pedagogical practice by tending to the emergent tensions of my own lived/living body. I weave in and out of the interstitial intimacies of embodied, performative, and living inquiries in situating myself amid my multi-identities and social locations to unearth how embodied arts-based approaches cultivate sensorial, cultural, and critical consciousness and invite multidimensional representations of human experience that transgress fixed dichotomies of insider/outsider status in qualitative research. This sensorial inquiry dwells in the in-between sites of breath and bone, ambiguity, and paradox, to reveal how embodied arts-integrated inquiries offer transformative possibilities for (re)humanization, healing, and social justice in arts-based and qualitative research and educational practice.

Ethics Beyond the Checklist: Fruitful Dilemmas Before, During, and After Data Collection

In this article, we aim to contribute to current discussions about ethical conduct in qualitative research practice. We provide examples of how ethics is a recurring issue throughout a research process and not just an issue to safeguard procedurally. The examples on which we build our argument are based on three research projects from two countries, namely, Norway and Denmark, focusing on three different groups, namely, the elderly, parents, and children. Through our analyses of these ethical dilemmas, we aim to provide reflections on dilemmas encountered in three different qualitative research projects at three different stages, specifically before, during, and after data collection. We thus provide a way for researchers to frame their work with ethical dilemmas as a continuous process beyond the checklist. Furthermore, we frame complex ethical dilemmas as something not to avoid but as a continuous part of a fruitful analytical process.

Attitudes, beliefs and social norms regarding infant and young child feeding among Nigerian mothers, fathers and grandmothers across time.

Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) interventions in low-resource countries mainly target pregnant women and mothers of young children; however, fathers and grandmothers also influence IYCF practices. We conducted focus group discussions with mothers, fathers and grandmothers of young children across three time points in areas where an IYCF social and behaviour change intervention was implemented in Nigeria to explore differences by participant type and shifts over time in attitudes, beliefs and social norms related to breastfeeding and dietary diversity (DD). Overall, across time points, we found more discrepancies in attitudes, beliefs and social norms for early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) among different participant types than for DD. Although most participants agreed EIBF and EBF are good practices, mothers believed this more strongly than fathers and grandmothers; however, at endline, a shift towards acceptance of EIBF and EBF appeared among fathers and grandmothers. Across time points, all participant types acknowledged the nutritional and health benefits of green leafy vegetables and animal-source foods but described various barriers to feeding them to children. Across time points, all participant types also highlighted the importance of health workers and antenatal visits as important sources of IYCF knowledge and facilitators to following recommended practices. Insights from this study highlight the importance of including key influencers of IYCF practices in qualitative research.

Optimization and reflexivity in interdisciplinary agri-environmental scholarship

IntroductionThe Chesapeake Bay and Upper Bann watersheds in the United States and Northern Ireland, respectively, exemplify how agricultural systems contribute to groundwater and surface water pollution, which leads in turn to water quality issues in downstream water bodies. Interdisciplinary research, public outreach, and stakeholder engagement have received increased attention and consideration as pragmatic approaches for addressing these types of complex agri-environmental dilemmas. However, such approaches are far from guaranteed to improve water quality, as political-economic constraints, power asymmetries, cultural differences, divergent incentives, research gaps, and personality differences all complicate the process, and this can ultimately impact water quality efforts.MethodsWe present a holistic approach to addressing these challenges in the Chesapeake Bay and Upper Bann watershed management efforts by integrating the methodological strategies of optimization and reflexivity. Our use of these approaches, widely recognized as respective successful practices in quantitative and qualitative research, is novel in that it focuses directly on the researchers themselves as they discuss, evaluate, and develop potential solutions for complex agri-environmental water quality dilemmas. More specifically, our quantitative optimization is explored via a Functional Land Management (FLM) approach to land and natural resources management, while our qualitative reflexivity is explored through the process of participant observation.ResultsThis paper provides a behind-the-scenes perspective on how interdisciplinary teams can improve their cooperation efficiency when addressing complex agri-environmental issues. In being reflexive, we sought to “optimize” on the methodological, ethical, social, and environmental possibilities of our scholarship. We found that our reflexive work on this project furthered our interest in FLM, a tool that embraced complexity and creativity over rigidity and oversimplification - the very same principles that guided our reflexive work.DiscussionThroughout our collaborative investigation of FLM as a potential solution to soil and water quality issues, we came to appreciate that in order to better understand agri-environmental challenges issues, we also needed to better understand ourselves—our own disciplinary, cultural, and ethical standpoints. Reflexive approaches to research can provide practical guidance in this process by encouraging us to critique and analyze our assumptions, our methodologies, and the socio-historical context of our research.