This past week saw the 14th annual Qualitative Report conference hosted virtually. Well over 1000 people registered for the conference this year – with people attending from well over 100 universities and organizations all over the world. In addition to the United States, there were presenters and attendees from Lebanon, Australia, Greece, Turkey, Vietnam, India, Uganda, Canada, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Israel, West Indies, Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
The theme of the conference this year was “Living in a post-covid world”. Rather than keynote addresses, each day began with panel discussions around a specific topic. The conference kicked off on Thursday 16th February with a panel discussion with Johnny Saldaña, Maria Lahman, and Jessica Nina Lester. They talked about how the pandemic has changed how we live and work, and more specifically how we conduct research. On Friday, the topic concerned qualitative data analysis, with Stacy Penna, Daniel Turner, and Julia Gerson. The third and final day began with a discussion of the online journal, The Qualitative Report, by co-editors-in-chief Ronald Chenail, Sally St. George, and Dan Wulff, and managing editor and community director, Adam Rosenthal. With 691 submissions in 2022, the journal continues to publish work representing people from countries not yet represented. Dr. Chenail talked about some of the new initiatives begun (e.g., YouTube channel, a podcast, establishing regional editors). You can subscribe to the YouTube videos by going to this link:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheQualReport
For the podcast, see https://tqr.nova.edu/category/tqr-podcast/
As has been customary at this conference, there were lots of opportunities to learn about the latest advances in qualitative data analysis software, with three “power lunches” featuring NVivo, MaxQDA, and Quirkos. And just as The Qualitative Report has always supported publication of articles about teaching qualitative methods and the sharing of resources, the conference had plenty of sessions devoted to teaching. I attended several of these and came away with lots of great ideas to incorporate into my own teaching. It was inspiring to learn from colleagues, and there was plenty of action in the chat room during the sessions that I attended.
As in past years, conference presenters represented a wide range of disciplinary interests, including family therapy, education, psychology, social work, medicine, allied health professions, student affairs, and religion. Next year’s conference theme has been announced as “Qualitative inquiry: Access denied?” If you missed this year’s conference, add next year’s conference to your 2024 list. You’ll be richly rewarded!
Kathy Roulston
QualPage 