Rigorous Qualitative Research Research Articles

Emotional impact on healthcare providers involved in medical assistance in dying (MAiD): a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

BackgroundMedical assistance in dying (MAiD) traverses challenging and emotionally overwhelming territories: healthcare providers (HCPs) across jurisdictions experience myriad of affective responses secondary to possible tensions between normative and interwoven values,...

Rigorous Qualitative Research Involving Data Collected Remotely From People With Communication Disorders: Experience From a Telerehabilitation Trial

Diverse challenges arise with research involving people with communication disorders while using remote methods for data collection. Ethical and methodological issues related to the inclusion of people with communication disorders in research, specifically qualitative research, are magnified by communication challenges specific to remote communication. Avenues are discussed to ensure that remote data collection processes can include people with a communication disorder, while limiting negative impacts on the validity of the data.

A practical guide to reflexivity in qualitative research: AMEE Guide No. 149

Qualitative research relies on nuanced judgements that require researcher reflexivity, yet reflexivity is often addressed superficially or overlooked completely during the research process. In this AMEE Guide, we define reflexivity as a set of continuous, collaborative, and multifaceted practices through which researchers self-consciously critique, appraise, and evaluate how their subjectivity and context influence the research processes. We frame reflexivity as a way to embrace and value researchers’ subjectivity. We also describe the purposes that reflexivity can have depending on different paradigmatic choices. We then address how researchers can account for the significance of the intertwined personal, interpersonal, methodological, and contextual factors that bring research into being and offer specific strategies for communicating reflexivity in research dissemination. With the growth of qualitative research in health professions education, it is essential that qualitative researchers carefully consider their paradigmatic stance and use reflexive practices to align their decisions at all stages of their research. We hope this Guide will illuminate such a path, demonstrating how reflexivity can be used to develop and communicate rigorous qualitative research.

Reflexivity Conducting Mixed Methods Research on Indigenous Women’s Health in Lower and Middle-Income Countries - An Example From Bangladesh

Indigenous women’s health in low and middle-income countries continues to experience exclusions from the mainstream context and has remained underrepresented in health research, including qualitative research. Based on mixed methods research (comprising qualitative and quantitative methods) into Indigenous women in Bangladesh, this article addresses the reflexivity of a non-Indigenous researcher studying Indigenous women’s health issues in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. As reflexivity is a crucial strategy to ensure rigor in qualitative research, understanding how the characteristics and experiences of the study may influence the research process is of paramount importance. For non-Indigenous researchers working in an Indigenous context, the imperative to understand one’s impact and position within the research becomes even more critical. Unfortunately, non-Indigenous researchers often avoid providing appropriate detail on reflexivity aspects in conducting research, particularly mixed-method research, among Indigenous communities in low- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh. In this reflexive evaluation, the researchers of this mixed method study evaluate the introspective reflexivity; reflect on the pre-research stage in developing collaborative and negotiated design and reflect on positionality during fieldwork and data analysis to consider interpersonal and collective dynamics during the research process. Strategies are offered to harvest the benefits of the researcher’s familiarity with the subject and limit any unfavorable consequences. Directions for future research include integration of research methods, using qualified Indigenous researchers, engaging Indigenous community leaders, and collecting data using native language to respect and value the culture and voice of Indigenous communities.

Unpacking Qualitative Methodology to Explore Experiences of Mothers with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the UAE: A Thematic Analysis Inquiry

The current study provides a detailed description of the qualitative research design and methodology, used while exploring challenges and support structures experienced by expat mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United Arab Emirates. In-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were administered with 17 mothers recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Recurrent and relevant themes were generated using thematic analysis. Given there is a greater need for highlighting methodological rigor in qualitative research, we discuss steps such as a) using field knowledge to create an interview protocol, b) administering collaborative qualitative research, c) having strong eligibility criteria for participants, d) incorporating perspectives of multiple coders in the analytical process, e) being reflective and aware of one’s potential biases, f) enhancing interview protocol based on pilot interviews, g) and focusing on the quality of perspectives or information power instead of quantity of perspectives. Interpretation of findings and recommendation of evidence-informed guidelines incorporates strengths and limitations of the qualitative methodology utilized in the study.

Five Qualitative Research Concepts Grounded in Anthropological Methods for Teaching Design in Healthcare.

Biomedical engineering, engineering, and design in health programs around the world have involved human-centered design as part of their undergraduate curriculum. The disparities evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid developments of biotech startups have highlighted the importance of preparing professionals in the health areas for undertaking rigorous, empathetic, and ethical research. In addition to working with human-driven information, students in the health areas are challenged to deal with technical developments that involve legal and ethical concerns deeply rooted in sociopolitical issues and human rights. Concerned with how to achieve a better understanding of behavior in designing for healthcare, this article describes the rationale behind teaching qualitative research in healthcare for biomedical engineering and engineering design education. Through portraying different healthcare designs resulting from an engineering design course, it describes the instruction of qualitative-driven concepts taught to biomedical engineering, design, and premed undergraduate students. Using a design-based research approach, we look to increase the chances of adoption of the presented qualitative research concepts in educational design in health programs. We deliver five tested research tools that better prepare students to carry out more rigorous, respectful, and aware qualitative research in health areas for the development of novel solutions.

An Alternative Method of Interviewing: Critical Reflections on Videoconference Interviews for Qualitative Data Collection

Qualitative research is an increasingly popular research approach for tackling the evolving complexity of social issues. With this rise in use, methods of qualitative data collection are becoming highly diverse, moving away from conventional approaches and welcoming more innovative and creative methods of data collection in a quest to produce critically and theoretically engaged new knowledge. Although traditional face-to-face interviews remain a compelling and popular means, modern innovative technology-based interviewing, such as videoconference interviews, can play a pivotal role in qualitative research. This article argues that this approach is pragmatic because video conferencing interviews are relatively affordable for research teams and, for many research participants, they are more accessible than face-to-face interviews. On the other hand, it provides a unique opportunity for researchers and participants by compressing the time-space divide, facilitating safety, reducing travel-related expenses, accessing transnational participants, maintaining social distance, and protecting personal space and privacy. Yet, this article also argues that videoconferencing can be dogged by practical challenges that might conflict with the holistic quality of qualitative research, such as dropped calls and loss of intimacy compared to traditional in-person interviews. This article presents the experiences of a young researcher, who reflects on how and why he conducted Skype interviews in his research. The article concludes that, despite the relative merits and demerits, videoconference interviews can be a useful supplement or replacement for traditional face-to-face interviews. However, more research is needed to gain a robust understanding of how this type of interview meets basic assumptions about the quality of interviews and affects the overall rigor of qualitative research.

Exploring careers through a qualitative lens: an investigation and invitation

PurposeIn this paper, the authors investigate and celebrate the contributions that qualitative research has made to Career Development International (CDI) and careers scholarship over the past 25 years. The authors highlight the positive impact of understanding the “lived/emic experiences” of individual career actors using qualitative research designs and identify areas for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ multiple approaches in their investigation. The authors’ enquiry is part conceptual, part critical analysis and part bibliometric visualisation of qualitative papers published in CDI.FindingsThe authors identify the underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions of qualitative research, and the key tenets and contributions of qualitative research published in CDI. Their bibliometric analysis shows the interrelatedness and frequency of topics addressed by qualitative research and published in CDI, revealing areas for further research. While identifying some of the key criteria for rigor in qualitative research, the authors also engage with emerging calls to avoid rigid templates in how qualitative research is designed and implemented. In this regard, authors echo calls for “methodological bricolage” as an approach to qualitative research in the study of careers.Originality/valueThis is the first bibliographic and visual analysis of qualitative research published in a single journal. The authors offer this investigation as a way of looking back and as an invitation looking forward, encouraging further qualitative research in anticipation of future theoretical developments in career scholarship.

The student's experience of teacher support in French vocational high-school classes with difficulties in school engagement in physical education: interest of mixed methods research

ABSTRACT Background: Our study focuses on the work engagement in PE of French vocational high school students. Indeed, the work engagement of these students is a major concern of the teaching staff. The majority of these students have not chosen the vocational field to which they are assigned. This non-choice is one of the factors leading to disengagement from work and deviant behaviour [Arrighi, Jean-Jacques, and Céline Gasquet. 2010. “Orientation et affectation: la sélection dans l’enseignement professionnel du second degré.” Formation emploi 109 (March): 99–112. doi:10.4000/formationemploi.2814]. In order to encourage the engagement of these students, the social support of the teacher appears to be an important lever [Tennant, Jaclyn E., Michelle K. Demaray, Christine K. Malecki, Melissa N. Terry, Michael Clary, and Nathan Elzinga. 2015. “Students’ Ratings of Teacher Support and Academic and Social–Emotional Well-Being.” School Psychology Quarterly 30 (4): 494–512. doi:10.1037/spq0000106]. Purpose: This article aims to show the contribution of mixed methods research [Creswell, John W. 2015. A Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research. New York: Sage Publications; Smith, Brett, and Kerry R. McGannon. 2018. “Developing Rigor in Qualitative Research: Problems and Opportunities Within Sport and Exercise Psychology.” International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 11 (1): 101–121. doi:10.1080/1750984X.2017.1317357] to a study conducted within the Course-of-Action Research Programme [Theureau, Jacques. 2006. Le Cours d’action: Méthode Développée. Edited by Octares. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01107065; Theureau, Jacques. 2015. Le cours d’action : l’enaction & l’expérience. Toulouse: Octarès Editions. https://www.decitre.fr/livres/le-cours-d-action-l-enaction-l-experience-9782366300468.html]. It analyses the experience of French vocational high-school students in physical education over a school year to identify and understand the social support of the teacher in engaging the students. This enabled us to describe and understand the typical supports experienced by students to engage with the work. Methods: To do this, we completed the Course-of-Action observatory with the CASS-S questionnaire [Malecki, Christine, and Stephen Elliott. 1999. “Adolescents’ Ratings of Perceived Social Support and its Importance: Validation of the Student Social Support Scale.” Psychology in the Schools 36 (November): 473–483. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6807(199911)36:6 < 473::AID-PITS3 > 3.0.CO;2-0] to study the most significant experiences of support for students in the classroom during three teaching sequences of the year. Ten vocational high school classes with difficulties in engaging in school work were monitored during three teaching sequences. The teachers monitored were experts in teaching in vocational schools and had the characteristic of being highly invested in supporting the success of students with task engagement difficulties. The collection and processing of heterogeneous data (qualitative and quantitative). The first stage consisted of quantitative data collection using the CASS-S questionnaire in order to identify the teacher's social support as perceived by the students. The second stage consisted of conducting self-confrontation interviews enriched with the questionnaire with students who had a high perception of their teacher's support in order to understand their engagement in class. The data was processed in two stages: statistical analysis of the scores obtained in the questionnaires and analysis of the students’ verbatims by typification of the components of the experience. Results: The quantitative results showed a global perception of frequent and important class-wide teacher social support via the CASS-S questionnaire. Furthermore, a more in-depth analysis shows variations over the year. This overall analysis is complemented by qualitative findings that provide insight into the significance that students attach to teacher support in their engagement with school tasks. The analysis of students’ experience shows different kinds of typical-support paired with: the valorisation of students’ progress, the students’ concerns, the game action of the teacher, and teacher knowledge, promoting their engagement. Conclusion: Our study shows the contribution of mixed methods in understanding the meanings that these vocational high school students give to the teacher's support activity in a classroom. This contribution is to the Course-of-Action Research Programme by means of an articulation of heterogeneous data respecting the subjective viewpoint of the actors, and the enriched self-confrontation interview as a methodological device to help students’ verbalisation.

PD14-05 THE PATIENT VOICE: LIVING WITH A URETERAL STENT AFTER URETEROSCOPY - A URINARY STONE DISEASE RESEARCH NETWORK (USDRN) STUDY

You have accessJournal of UrologyStone Disease: Epidemiology & Evaluation I (PD14)1 Sep 2021PD14-05 THE PATIENT VOICE: LIVING WITH A URETERAL STENT AFTER URETEROSCOPY - A URINARY STONE DISEASE RESEARCH NETWORK (USDRN) STUDY Amy Corneli, Carrie Dombeck, Kevin McKenna, Jonathan Harper, Jodi Antonelli, Alana Desai, Henry Lai, Greg Tasian, Justin Ziemba, Rebecca McCune, Brooke Piskator, Hussein Al-Khalidi, Naim Maalouf, Peter Reese, Hunter Wessells, Ziya Kirkali, and Charles Scales Amy CorneliAmy Corneli More articles by this author , Carrie DombeckCarrie Dombeck More articles by this author , Kevin McKennaKevin McKenna More articles by this author , Jonathan HarperJonathan Harper More articles by this author , Jodi AntonelliJodi Antonelli More articles by this author , Alana DesaiAlana Desai More articles by this author , Henry LaiHenry Lai More articles by this author , Greg TasianGreg Tasian More articles by this author , Justin ZiembaJustin Ziemba More articles by this author , Rebecca McCuneRebecca McCune More articles by this author , Brooke PiskatorBrooke Piskator More articles by this author , Hussein Al-KhalidiHussein Al-Khalidi More articles by this author , Naim MaaloufNaim Maalouf More articles by this author , Peter ReesePeter Reese More articles by this author , Hunter WessellsHunter Wessells More articles by this author , Ziya KirkaliZiya Kirkali More articles by this author , and Charles ScalesCharles Scales More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000001990.05AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Ureteral stents are often employed after ureteroscopy, and thought to impair patient quality of life. Despite this well-known impact, there has been little rigorous qualitative research on patients’ experiences with stent placement after ureteroscopy. The objective of this study was to describe the qualitative impact of stents on psychological, functional, and interpersonal aspects of patients’ lives. METHODS: The USDRN Study to Enhance Understanding of Stent-Associated Symptoms (STENTS) is a prospective observational cohort study that included a nested cohort of participants who completed qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs, n=39) within 30 days after stent removal. Participants shared their experiences focusing on symptoms and symptom impact on daily activities. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a rigorous qualitative approach (applied thematic analysis). Participants were categorized into three groups during analysis based on their experiences with interference in daily activities: minimal, moderate, and substantial interference. RESULTS: Of the 39 participants, 21 (54%) were female, and the median age was 44 (IQR 29,58; range 13–77); median stent dwell time was 8 days (IQR 6.5, 11). Interviews were conducted 7–30 days (median=16 days) after stent removal. All participants experienced pain and almost all experienced urinary symptoms. Participants often linked their pain with apprehension or anxiety caused by knowing that urination would be painful, as well as resentment for needing to drink water as it would ultimately lead to painful urination. A subset of participants (n=12) experienced only minimal interference with activities, 19 experienced moderate interference, and importantly, the remainder of participants (n=8, Table) reported substantial and pervasive interference with activities. CONCLUSIONS: These qualitative findings provide important insights into the lived experience of patients with stents. Counseling to better prepare patients for the impact of stent-associated symptoms, and efforts to identify patients at risk for pervasive symptom interference, may help mitigate the burden of stent-associated symptoms. Source of Funding: NIH/NIDDK © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e217-e217 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Amy Corneli More articles by this author Carrie Dombeck More articles by this author Kevin McKenna More articles by this author Jonathan Harper More articles by this author Jodi Antonelli More articles by this author Alana Desai More articles by this author Henry Lai More articles by this author Greg Tasian More articles by this author Justin Ziemba More articles by this author Rebecca McCune More articles by this author Brooke Piskator More articles by this author Hussein Al-Khalidi More articles by this author Naim Maalouf More articles by this author Peter Reese More articles by this author Hunter Wessells More articles by this author Ziya Kirkali More articles by this author Charles Scales More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Loading ...

Recommendations for Virtual Qualitative Health Research During a Pandemic.

Qualitative health research has been uniquely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Various public health directives will likely remain in place until this pandemic is fully controlled, creating long-lasting impacts on the design and conduct of qualitative health research. Virtual qualitative research provides an alternative to traditional interviews or focus groups and can help researchers adhere to public health directives. In this commentary, we respond to methodological needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we explore unique elements of, and recommendations for, the design and conduct of obtrusive virtual qualitative research (online interviews, online focus groups, and email interviews) and demonstrate crucial ethical, recruitment, analytical, and interpretive considerations. Researchers are currently faced with an ethical imperative to advance virtual qualitative research methods and ensure that rigorous qualitative health research continues during this pandemic and beyond. Our discussions provide a starting point for researchers to explore the potential of virtual qualitative research.

A Clarion Call for More Qualitative Studies in Surgery

Qualitative studies in Surgery are important because they contextualize the previously missing social facets of the surgical narrative and inquire into the crucial issues of quality of life/well-being, gender and other discriminations and biases faced by surgeons and patients, surgical education/training, mental issues and burnout, etc. This has resulted in an increasing trend of qualitative studies in surgery. Authors, editors and journals have to ensure that the principles of scientific rigour in qualitative research are followed; otherwise, the answers will not be valid, thus rendering the whole exercise futile. More studies, addressing these fascinating ‘social’ facets of surgery, are needed.

Two sets of qualitative research reporting guidelines: An analysis of the shortfalls.

Findings from qualitative research may make valuable contributions to the evidence informing healthcare practice. Qualitative research methodologies and methods, however, are less familiar to health researchers and research consumers when compared with quantitative methods. Qualitative research reporting guidelines and their merit have been hotly debated for at least two decades. Herein I discuss two sets of qualitative research reporting guidelines endorsed by many high tiered health research journals: Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research and Standards for reporting qualitative research. Six aspects of the two sets of guidelines are compared. The first aspect is the focus of the guidelines. The latter five aspects are items included in the guidelines: reflexivity, participant sampling and saturation, data collection, member checking, and data analysis. Except for reflexivity, these items were selected for comparison as they include features of, or strategies to, enhance the rigor of qualitative research that are applicable within some but not all qualitative methodologies. Reflexivity, a central feature of rigor within all qualitative research, is discussed for its suboptimal representation in both sets of reporting guidelines. Without regular and critical review of reporting guidelines, efforts to promote the design, conduct, and reporting of rigorous qualitative health research to support evidence-informed practice may be undermined. Moreover, for qualitative research reporting guidelines to be useful, they must be applied appropriately and in a flexible manner by researchers and reviewers. This paper has implications for researchers, journal editors, reviewers, and research consumers.

Editor’s Acknowledgment of Service to JSSWR

Editor’s Acknowledgment of Service to <i>JSSWR</i>

The Research Audit Trail: Methodological Guidance for Application in Practice

The merits of qualitative research remain an issue of ongoing debate and investigation. Qualitative researchers emphasise issues such as credibility, dependability, and transferability in demonstrating the trustworthiness of their research outcomes. This refers to the extent to which the research outcomes are conceptually sound and serves as the basis for enabling other researchers to assess their value. Carcary (2009) proposed trustworthiness in qualitative inquiry could be established through developing a physical and intellectual research audit trail – a strategy that involves maintaining an audit of all key stages and theoretical, methodological, and analytical decisions, as well as documenting how a researcher’s thinking evolves throughout a research project. Since 2009, this publication has been cited in greater than 600 studies. The current paper provides an analysis of the use and value of the research audit trail, based on the author’s application of this strategy across diverse research projects in the field of Information Systems management over a ten year time period. Based on a critical reflection on insights gained through these projects, this paper provides an in‑depth discussion of a series of guidelines for developing and applying the research audit trail in practice. These guidelines advance existing thinking and provide practical recommendations in relation to maintaining a research audit trail throughout a research project. Based on these guidelines and the core issues that should be covered at a physical and intellectual research audit trail level, a checklist that can be tailored to each project’s context is provided to support novice researchers and those who are new to the research audit trail strategy. As such, this paper demonstrates commitment to rigor in qualitative research. It provides a practical contribution in terms of advancing guidelines and providing a supporting checklist for ensuring the quality and transparency of theoretical, methodological, and analytical processes in qualitative inquiry. Embedding these guidelines throughout the research process will promote critical reflection among researchers across all stages of qualitative research and, in tracing through the researcher’s logic, will provide the basis for enabling other researchers to independently assess whether the research findings can serve as a platform for further investigation.

Paradigms, Methodologies, and Rigor in Qualitative Research

Paradigms, Methodologies, and Rigor in Qualitative Research

Living with hypoparathyroidism: development of the Hypoparathyroidism Patient Experience Scale-Impact (HPES-Impact)

PurposeHypoparathyroidism (HP) is a rare endocrine disorder characterized by absent or inappropriately low levels of circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH). Research indicates that HP patients on conventional therapy may have a reduced quality of life. The study’s purpose was to develop a new disease-specific measure of the impacts of hypoparathyroidism on functioning and well-being and provide evidence for its content validity based on rigorous qualitative research methodologies for patient-reported outcomes development.MethodsSemi-structured, individual concept elicitation (CE) interviews were conducted with 5 clinical experts and 42 adults in the USA with HP to identify impacts of relevance and importance to the target population. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using an adapted grounded theory approach common to qualitative research. Following item generation, the draft measure was cognitive debriefed in an independent sample of 16 adults with HP.ResultsAnalyses identified four impact domains: physical functioning, including ability to exercise (n = 32, 76%) and mobility (n = 21, 50%); daily life, including ability to do things around the home (n = 33, 79%), and interference with work productivity (n = 18, 43%); psychological well-being, including feeling anxious/anxiety (n = 34, 81%) and frustrated (n = 27, 64%); and social, including ability to participate in social activities (n = 33, 79%) and relationships (n = 32, 76%). Twenty-seven impacts were identified and included in the preliminary measure. After the cognitive debriefing, a validation-ready, 26-item Hypoparathyroidism Patient Experience Scale-Impact (HPES-Impact) was generated.ConclusionFindings provide substantial evidence of content validity for the validation-ready HPES-Impact in adults with HP.

Pro-equity legislation, health policy and utilisation of sexual and reproductive health services by vulnerable populations in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.

Twenty-five years ago, the International Conference on Population and Development highlighted the need to address sexual and reproductive health (SRH) rights on a global scale. The sub-Saharan Africa region continues to have the highest levels of maternal mortality and HIV, primarily affecting the most vulnerable populations. Recognising the critical role of policy in understanding population health, we conducted a systematic review of original primary research which examined the relationships between equity-focused legislation and policy and the utilisation of SRH services by vulnerable populations in sub-Saharan Africa. We searched nine bibliographic databases for relevant articles published between 1994 and 2019. Thirty-two studies, conducted in 14 sub-Saharan African countries, met the inclusion criteria. They focused on maternal health service utilisation, either through specific fee reduction/removal policies, or through healthcare reforms and insurance schemes to increase SRH service utilisation. Findings across most of the studies showed that health-related legislation and policy promoted an increase in service utilisation, over time, especially for antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and facility-based delivery. However, social health inequalities persisted among subgroups of women. Neither the reviewed studies nor the policies specifically addressed youth, people living with HIV and people with disabilities. In the era of the sustainable development goals, addressing health inequities in the context of social determinants of health becomes unavoidable. Systematic and rigorous quantitative and qualitative research, including longitudinal policy evaluation, is required to understand the complex relationships between policy addressing upstream social determinants of health and health service utilisation.

Templates in Qualitative Research Methods: Origins, Limitations, and New Directions

The inability to define and understand rigor in qualitative research has led to a number of issues that require further thought and movement towards resolution. These include, among many others, the mechanistic application of templates for conducting qualitative research, the conformity in presentation of data, the increasing role of qualitative researchers as glorified reporters of participant perceptions and experiences rather than as interpreters and critical evaluators of underlying tensions, dynamics, and processes, or the preference for certain qualitative methodologies and approaches over others without fully evaluating their respective merits and purposes. The time is ripe that we step back, re-evaluate and rethink current trends regarding how the field applies qualitative research methods. In this symposium we bring together leading scholars from diverse sub disciplines of the Academy who are experienced qualitative researchers and have either previously held or currently hold senior editorial positions. The goal of the symposium is to stimulate conversation among management researchers about these contemporary trends and tensions in qualitative research and to elicit thoughts about ways forward, away from template convergence and towards a diversity of approaches. An Interpretive Alternative to the Gioia Template: Reconnecting with the Hermeneutic Tradition Presenter: Jacqueline Mees-Buss; U. Of Sydney Presenter: Catherine Lynelle Welch; U. Of Sydney Presenter: Rebecca Piekkari; Aalto U. School of Business Tracing Ideas from Langley (1999): Exemplars, Adaptations, Considerations, and the Overlooked Presenter: Michael Lerman; Iowa State U. Presenter: Nick A. Mmbaga; Butler U. Presenter: Anne D. Smith; U. of Tennessee, Knoxville Researcher Motivations to Use Templates in Qualitative Research Presenter: Tine Koehler; U. of Melbourne Presenter: Anne D. Smith; U. of Tennessee, Knoxville Presenter: Vikram Bhakoo; U. of Melbourne Innovating Methods: An Exploration of Research Practice Presenter: Jane Kirsten Le; WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management Presenter: Torsten Schmid; U. of St. Gallen

Rigor With or Without Templates? The Pursuit of Methodological Rigor in Qualitative Research

The domain of qualitative research is replete with templates, standard protocols for the analysis of qualitative data. The use of such templates has sometimes been considered as automatically enhancing the rigor of qualitative research. In this article, we challenge the view that in the context of qualitative research, rigor is tied into the application of established protocols. Instead, we argue that rigor emanates from the way in which researchers engage in a deliberate reasoning process of inferring theoretical claims from their data. Such reasoning exists outside of templates, although it may make use of templates. Framing rigor as an emergent quality of reasoning, we distill the main processes through which qualitative researchers derive inferences from data and provide criteria for reflecting on the rigor with which they do so. We then extend these criteria into a set of practical recommendations through the presentation of examples and the framing of questions to focus researchers’ thinking on the application of the criteria. In doing so, we aim to help qualitative researchers to conduct research that leads to rigorously derived theoretical insights without having to resort to templates to attempt to do so.