There comes a time when qualitative researchers must begin working with the data that they have accumulated throughout a project, make sense of it, and present findings to others. Qualitative methodologists frequently recommend that the analytic process be pursued from the very beginning of a project – and implore researchers to begin data analysis while … Continue reading Managing fear and anxiety in inductive analysis of qualitative data
Month: March 2017
Using digital tools thoughtfully in qualitative research
There is no question that digital tools have revolutionized our work as researchers in numerous ways. For example, rather than writing down as much as I can recall from an interview after the event as Hortense Powdermaker (1966) describes in her tales of anthropological fieldwork completed over 50 years ago, all I need do is … Continue reading Using digital tools thoughtfully in qualitative research
11 thinking “tricks” when analyzing data
Kathryn Roulston A number of authors who write about qualitative research have talked about “thinking” as it relates to doing qualitative research (Freeman, 2017; Jackson & Mazzei, 2012; Saldaña, 2015); and in particular doing qualitative data analysis. One older source that I still find helpful is Tricks of the trade: How to think about your … Continue reading 11 thinking “tricks” when analyzing data
Research integrity and the qualitative researcher
Kathryn Roulston Trust is a crucial component of the enterprise of scientific research. That is because scholars trust others to conduct research ethically with human subjects, accurately report the methods that they used in research project, fairly review manuscripts for publication, and represent findings honestly. Nevertheless, researchers do not always behave in honest and trustworthy … Continue reading Research integrity and the qualitative researcher
What to do when research interviews go awry…
Research interviews do not always proceed as anticipated. For example, the anthropologist, Evans-Pritchard (1972 [1940], pp. 12-13) reports on the difficulties he encountered with the Nuer people, with whom he conducted an ethnography in the 1930s. He comments that the “Nuer are expert at sabotaging an inquiry”, and provides the opening of a conversation with … Continue reading What to do when research interviews go awry…
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