Training In Qualitative Methods Research Articles

Qualitative Research: An Interview with Margaret Roller

In this edition of “Interview the Expert,” we are joined by our Associate Editor Margaret Roller, a renowned expert in qualitative methodology and passionate supporter of mixed-methods research. Margaret is the lead author of the book she co-wrote with Paul Lavrakas “Applied Qualitative Research Design: A Total Quality Framework Approach,” which received the AAPOR Book Award in 2021. Margaret is a professional moderator and interviewer with a 40-plus-year career in qualitative research. She shares her expertise and knowledge on the many aspects of quality research design in her blog “Research Design Review” and delivers training in qualitative methods.

Enhancing quality of qualitative evidence in food safety and food security

Qualitative research studies make up only a small portion of all publications in the food disciplines. Despite this, these approaches have offered an in-depth understanding of several food safety and food security problems over the last few decades. However, there continues to be inadequate reporting of qualitative research specific to food contexts, which results in a lack of transparency, rigour, questioning the credibility of qualitative approaches, and challenges in its uptake and synthesis. Several reviews of qualitative evidence in food safety have found reporting to be lacking in the following areas: study title, philosophical orientation, study design, researcher reflexivity, ethical approval, and qualitative analysis. In this paper, we describe the primary hurdles new qualitative researchers face in conducting and reporting research, and present practical solutions to complex qualitative challenges. For permanent and widespread changes aimed at advancing qualitative evidence in the food disciplines, we call on food educators to integrate qualitative methods training in research-based programs; journals and reviewers to appraise qualitative studies using established reporting guidelines; and appeal to academic publishers to expand current word limits to facilitate reporting of all important aspects of qualitative research.

LONELINESS IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING US OLDER LATINX ADULTS

Abstract Loneliness is a critical public health problem yet little is known about older Latinx’s experiences with loneliness. We conducted narrative interviews (Cultural Formulation Interview), with 17 Spanish-speaking Latinx (60 years+) living with loneliness (based on 3-item Loneliness scale) in New York or Los Angeles. Interviewers were bilingual (English/Spanish) gerontological social workers with training in qualitative methods, culturally-sensitive clinical research and elicitation of “sensitive data”. Our thematic analysis was informed by Biopsychosocial and Minority Stress Models, and our gerontological clinical experience with Latinx groups. Most participants immigrated from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador or Uruguay and lived in the US for more than 20 years. Interviews ranged from 60 to 120 minutes. Most participants described comorbid depression or pain. A substantial majority (82%) had never discussed feelings of loneliness with family or friends. No participant reported seeking professional help to address loneliness. Other identified themes demonstrated how cultural and contextual factors shape loneliness: 1) Descriptions and interpretations rooted in familism and views of aging (“it seems I no longer matter to my children”); 2) perceived causes e.g. discrimination, family conflict, bereavements, immigrant stress, violence; 3) religious and cognitive coping to mitigate loneliness (“I pray that God gives me strength, “I befriend loneliness”); and 4) psychosocial functioning impact ( “there is no reason to live”). Our findings support development of culturally congruent loneliness prevention and treatment practices for older Latinx adults. Future quantitative research should explore the association of cultural and minority stress factors related to loneliness in diverse samples of older Latinx.

Erotic Ethnography: Sex, Spirituality, and Embodiment in Qualitative Research

Qualitative methods training in sociology often warns of the dangers of sex in fieldwork and discounts the power of the erotic for knowledge production. This essay makes a case for a deeper engagement with the erotic in qualitative research. The erotic is an ineffable energy that connects us to one another on a sensual, spiritual, and political plane. Despite its scope, the erotic is typically reduced to sexual intimacy. This limitation maintains the idea that all erotic encounters during ethnographic research are sexual and potentially harmful, discounting the possibilities of pleasure and mutual exchange. Through a meditation on key eroticized moments from ethnographic research for various projects, the author examines how an embrace of erotic ethnography can produce more ethical, mindful, and human-centered approaches to doing qualitative research. A deeper engagement with the erotic creates greater opportunity for mutual exchange and reduces instances of exploitation and extraction during ethnographic research.

Colorblind Spots in Qualitative Methods Training

Academia, like many other institutions, is experiencing a racial reckoning. As part of this reckoning, members of institutions of higher education are reflecting on how their structures and cultures reproduce racial inequality and how to disrupt the cycle. One aspect of this conversation that has escaped scrutiny has been methodological training, which can be central to the reproduction of inequality via the marginalization of researchers of color. Qualitive methods guidance and instruction has been criticized for leaving scholars of color unprepared to navigate the complex racial dynamics they confront in the field. In this article we build on these conversations by discussing colorblind spots that surfaced in our graduate-level qualitative methods course in Sociology related to one-time field exercises and fieldwork in a continuous site. We conclude with reflections and recommendations for ethnographic training courses.

Conducting Cross-Cultural, Multi-Lingual and Multi-Country Focus Groups: Guidance for Researchers

Conducting cross-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-country focus groups represents unique logistic and analytical challenges. However, there is little guidance for the necessary considerations required for such international focus groups. Based on the author’s experience of conducting such research, this publication documents the different stages of planning, fieldwork, analysis and dissemination, and how to mitigate possible challenges and overcome them. It is essential to set up an adequate research team with the linguist and cultural background required. All researchers should have the necessary training in qualitative methods and follow a standardised approach in the facilitation of focus groups across the different countries and in the analysis of the data, ideally in their original languages.

Graduate Qualitative Methods Training in Political Science: A Disciplinary Crisis

ABSTRACTMost political scientists conduct and publish qualitative research, but what training in qualitative methods do political science doctoral programs offer? Do scholarly views converge on the proper content of such training? Analysis of methods curricula and syllabi from 25 leading US political science doctoral programs reveals a troubling gap: only 60% of top departments offer any dedicated graduate training in qualitative methods. Departments can remedy this disjuncture between scholarship and training by enhancing their basic qualitative methods curricula. Our research shows that scholars agree broadly on the content of such training, effective pedagogical practices, major alternatives for curriculum design, and a menu of focused topics. Graduate programs that aspire to train professionally competent qualitative and multi-method researchers now can orient their reform efforts on shared disciplinary standards for qualitative methods training.

Bringing method to the madness: An example of integrating social science qualitative research methods into NVivo data analysis software training

It is not uncommon for researchers who wish to delve into qualitative data analysis to be lacking in qualitative methods training. Data professionals who support these aspiring qualitative researchers are well positioned to recognize and develop resources, training, and services to address this methods gap. This article describes a specific training session aimed at bridging this gap: a collaboration between a sociology professor and the author that integrates a qualitative methodological framework with specific features of NVivo qualitative data analysis software that complement and facilitate research guided by that framework. This article (1) outlines how this collaboration came to be; (2) describes the roles that the sociology professor and the author play in the collaboration, including specific examples from the training session; and (3) offers a reflection on the experience, including successes and growth possibilities going forward.

Graduate education in qualitative methods in U.S. psychology: current trends and recommendations for the future

ABSTRACTThe visibility of qualitative research methods (QRM) in U.S. psychology has increased with the dissemination of qualitative research in journals and books, formation of professional and scientific organizations, and recognition in educational institutions. While gains have been made, the current state of doctoral training in qualitative methods remains uncertain. It is unclear what training graduate students receive in U.S. psychology programs about qualitative methodologies and how further gains can be made in expanding visibility of QRM in graduate education. In this mixed-methods study, we surveyed a sample of faculty in U.S. psychology graduate programs about the frequency of QRM course offerings, graduate training, and students’ use of QRM in their dissertation research. We also explored qualitative responses from faculty regarding their attitudes about QRM and how these attitudes might help increase or diminish the frequency of methods training available to students. We found that even within graduate programs where there was support for QRM, enduring perceptions about the value of qualitative research limit faculty and graduate students’ use of qualitative methodologies in their research. With these findings in mind, we offer several recommendations for increasing the visibility of QRM in U.S. graduate education and the discipline of psychology as a whole.

Qualitative methods in PhD theses from general practice in Scandinavia

Qualitative methodology is gaining increasing attention and esteem in medical research, with general practice research taking a lead. With these methods, human and social interaction and meaning can be explored and shared by systematic interpretation of text from talk, observation or video. Qualitative studies are often included in Ph.D. theses from general practice in Scandinavia. Still, the Ph.D. programs across nations and institutions offer only limited training in qualitative methods. In this opinion article, we draw upon our observations and experiences, unpacking and reflecting upon values and challenges at stake when qualitative studies are included in Ph.D. theses. Hypotheses to explain these observations are presented, followed by suggestions for standards of evaluation and improvement of Ph.D. programs. The authors conclude that multimethod Ph.D. theses should be encouraged in general practice research, in order to offer future researchers an appropriate toolbox.

Qualitative research in rehabilitation science: opportunities, challenges, and future directions

Purpose: Qualitative research has had a significant impact within rehabilitation science over time. During the past 20 years the number of qualitative studies published per year in Disability and Rehabilitation has markedly increased (from 1 to 54). In addition, during this period there have been significant changes in how qualitative research is conceptualized, conducted, and utilized to advance the field of rehabilitation. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the progress of qualitative research within rehabilitation to date, to explicate current opportunities and challenges, and to suggest future directions to continue to strengthen the contribution of qualitative research in this field.Methods: Relevant literature searches were conducted in electronic data bases and reference lists. Pertinent literature was examined to identify current opportunities and challenges for qualitative research use in rehabilitation and to identify future directions.Results: Six key areas of opportunity and challenge were identified: (a) paradigm shifts, (b) advancements in methodology, (c) emerging technology, (d) advances in quality evaluation, (e) increasing popularity of mixed methods approaches, and (f) evolving approaches to knowledge translation. Two important future directions for rehabilitation are posited: (1) advanced training in qualitative methods and (2) engaging qualitative communities of research.Conclusion: Qualitative research is well established in rehabilitation and has an important place in the continued growth of this field. Ongoing development of qualitative researchers and methods are essential.Implications for RehabilitationQualitative research has the potential to improve rehabilitation practice by addressing some of the most pervasive concerns in the field such as practitioner–client interaction, the subjective and lived experience of disability, and clinical reasoning and decision making. This will serve to better inform those providing rehabilitation services thereby benefiting patients that are utilizing these services.Changes over time in how qualitative research is conceptualized, conducted, and utilized to advance rehabilitation science have resulted in a number of unique opportunities and challenges in using qualitative research that must be considered within this field.Advances in methodology and increased expectations for evaluation must be considered to ensure quality and credibility of qualitative rehabilitation research within rehabilitation. Improved quality and credibility may increase likelihood of research dissemination and use by clinicians intervening within the rehabilitation process in order to improve clinical practice.In order to maximize opportunities and mitigate challenges there are two principal future directions for rehabilitation scientists to consider: (1) advancing training in qualitative methods to adequately prepare future rehabilitation scientists and (2) engaging qualitative communities of research.

Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Doctoral Education: A Case Study

We were honored and flattered to be recognized in the feature article for our commitment to qualitative methods training. As an interdisciplinary program focused on organizational science, we strive not to privilege one form of training, thought, or inquiry over another. We recognize that a number of the problems and questions faced by organizational scholars and practitioners cannot adequately be addressed solely by a single discipline or method. Instead, we emphasize the synergy between different methods and modes of thought. Ultimately, our philosophy is that organizational phenomena are inherently interdisciplinary, thus training should reflect that. Our students are trained in industrial–organizational (I-O) psychology, management, organizational sociology, and organizational communication. We use this commentary as an opportunity to explain why our program values qualitative methods equally with quantitative methods, describe how we integrate that training, highlight a few success stories resulting from qualitative projects in our program, and then share some advice to other programs considering additional qualitative training.

Reflexivity Beyond Regulations

Research ethics are an integral part of the research process and are not limited to institutionalized regulatory procedures. While there is no standard formula for ethical reflexivity and practice, the question arises as to how research ethics can be taught as part of a curriculum for qualitative research. The approach taken here is one of learning by doing. Sociology students were trained to pursue a research question and reflect on ethical aspects of their experiences. Their research projects explored the meaning of a trial against a neo-Nazi group in Munich, Germany. In teams, the students conducted qualitative interviews on how members of local communities viewed the trial. The students’ questions and learning experiences regarding research ethics are analyzed. Key topics of discussion include informed consent, researcher subjectivity, and the de/merits of ethics codes and guidelines. Recommendations are drawn for teaching research ethics in qualitative methods training in the future.

Reflexión metodológica sobre un caso de docencia e investigación con métodos cualitativos: la trastienda del proceso investigador y su archivo como conceptos clave

Drawing from the analysis of three experiences between teaching and research with postgraduate students in Social Sciences, at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), this article argues that both training in qualitative methods and methodological reflection on their possibilities of application and innovation, can benefit from the concepts of backstage (Wainerman and Sautu 1997; Castillo, Valles and Wainerman 2009) and archive (Corti 2011). First we trace a conceptual line of teaching while doing research with roots in the Americas and Europe. Main attention is paid to concrete ways of combining different methods practiced with three promotions of postgraduate students with diverse curricular, academic and labor origins. Methodological reflection and lessons learned from the three ways of teaching and research practice are extracted. Among the practices with each promotion, around common projects of investigation, exercises of biographical writing and ethnographic diary were shuffled, also qualitative interviews and discussion groups. Forms of theorizing and doing qualitative fieldwork with the key concepts of archive and backstage are focused on both the researcher and on what is investigated, from coordinates of sociological methodology open to other social sciences.

Constructing Hopes and Fears Around Technology

Graduate students often receive their first training in qualitative methods during an introductory course. The textbook that is chosen often sets the tone for how qualitative research is understood. We conducted a discourse analysis of the ways in which 11 introductory qualitative methods texts took up the relationship between technology and qualitative research. One text included virtually no mention of technology use; five discussed technology only in relation to the data collection, transcription, and analysis domains of research; and the remaining five discussed technology primarily in relation to those three domains with minimal attention to how it could support the additional domains of researcher reflexivity, literature review, representation of findings, ethics, and collaboration. We contrasted texts that took up a discourse of possibility with those that took up a discourse of caution around technology use. We call for greater dialogue around how emergent technologies might inform the qualitative research process.

Teaching Visual Methods Using Performative Storytelling, Reflective Practice and Learning through Doing

Visual images percolate our everyday lives, visual technologies are increasingly accessible and affordable, and visual methods are at the forefront of methodological innovation. If psychology students are to capitalise on these exciting developments, visual methods teaching needs to be integrated into ‘mainstream’ qualitative methods training. This report offers an example of how this has been done through the use of three pedagogical practices, namely performative storytelling, modelling reflective practice, and learning through doing. It describes how these practices inform the authors' teaching of visual methods, gives an example of how these have been applied, and offers suggestions to the reader for other ways of developing these principles in practice.

Qualitative Methods in Health Services and Management Research: Pockets of Excellence and Progress, but Still a Long Way to Go

The 10-year systematic review of published health services and management research by Weiner et al. (2011) chronicles the contributions of qualitative methods, highlights areas of substantial progress, and identifies areas in need of more progress. This article (Devers, 2011) discusses possible reasons for lack of progress in some areas--related to the under-supply of well-trained qualitative researchers and more tangible demand for their research--and mechanisms for future improvement. To ensure a robust health services research toolbox, the field must take additional steps to provide stronger education and training in qualitative methods and more funding and publication opportunities. Given the rapidly changing health care system post the passage of national health reform and the chalresearch issues associated with it, the health services research and management field will not meet its future challenges with quantitative methods alone or with a half-empty toolbox.

Methods and Management of the Healthy Brain Study: A Large Multisite Qualitative Research Project

To describe processes used in the Healthy Brain project to manage data collection, coding, and data distribution in a large qualitative project, conducted by researchers at 9 universities in 9 states. Project management protocols included: (a) managing audiotapes and surveys to ensure data confidentiality, data tracking and distribution; (b) managing qualitative data to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of transcription; (c) training in qualitative methods and use of qualitative software; and (d) managing participant survey data and analysis. The project team coded and managed qualitative and survey data for 69 focus groups with more than 500 participants. Multiple interactive training sessions in qualitative data analysis and use of qualitative software (ATLAS.ti) were conducted. To develop a codebook, 2 teams used an open-coding process to identify codes and develop definitions; 2 team members integrated and conceptually organized these results into an initial codebook. For the audio-recordings from each research site, 2 or 3 team members hand coded 1 transcript and calculated interrater agreement (.80 or higher). Using clear protocols, participatory training sessions, team-based coding, and frequent communication among team members via e-mail and regular in-person meetings promotes effective management of large-scale qualitative research projects.

Software and Method: Reflections on Teaching and Using QSR NVivo in Doctoral Research

This reflective paper draws on a range of experiences developed over the last 11 years regarding the way in which qualitative data analysis (QDA) software (QSR NUD*IST and NVivo) is taught and used within doctoral research. The existing separation of qualitative methods training from QDA software training can result in disconnected technical and methodological learning curves. This can cause a number of problems for doctoral students because a ‘methods revolution’ is being experienced and current students are not necessarily exposed to the support they require via the methods literature, their postgraduate training programme or their supervisor. Three key influences on the use of QDA software are discussed within the context of teaching and learning QSR NVivo: the increased popularity of QDA software amongst those from traditionally positivistic backgrounds; the promise of improved levels of transparency; and the reliance upon the free tutorials, which are distributed with the software, to learn qualitative research methods as well as software processes. Implications for doctoral students, supervisors and examiners are discussed.

Opening the black box: qualitative methods training from the Wolds Primary Care Research Network (WoReN)

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