We are entering the holiday season, which for some is also the season of gift-giving. Have you thought about giving your skills as a qualitative researcher? Interviewing others, observing, reviewing documents, taking photos and videos, and reviewing literature, analyzing data, and writing are all skills that can be used in ways to give to others. … Continue reading Qualitative research as a gift
Category: Conducting qualitative research
Doing ethnography in a war zone
This semester, I'm using Doctors at War: Life and Death in a Field Hospital, authored by Mark de Rond in a class I am teaching. De Rond is a professor of Organizational Ethnography in the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge in the UK. One of the topics that he examines is how people … Continue reading Doing ethnography in a war zone
What is Autoethnography?
Researchers are usually familiar with the term “ethnography”, which is a research approach that examines culture through being there. Ethnographers typically embed themselves in settings and observe what is going on. They get to know participants over extended periods of time, use interviews to understand participants’ perspectives about their lives and cultures, and perhaps collect … Continue reading What is Autoethnography?
Recently published qualitative studies
This semester I’m using several recently published studies with one of my classes. Here are two, both of which discuss “whiteness” and “white privilege”, albeit from different perspectives and in different contexts. Timothy Lensmire’s book, White folks: Race and identity in rural America (Lensmire, 2017) explores whiteness through in-depth qualitative interviews that the author conducted … Continue reading Recently published qualitative studies
Considering the ontological properties of a research phenomenon
Recently, I was using a different lens on my camera to take photos around my garden. Although I should not have been too surprised, I was amazed to see just how different things looked through a new lens. What I took to be an "ordinary" piece of moss was hardly recognizable to me when viewed … Continue reading Considering the ontological properties of a research phenomenon
Evidence and Ethnomethodology
As Mason (2018, p. 34) writes, “questions about whether qualitative data can constitute ‘evidence’, and about how the quality of qualitative research can be judged, are particularly fraught ones.” This blogpost looks at one approach to research —ethnomethodology —and considers how “evidence” has been discussed. Harold Garfinkel developed an approach to the study of social … Continue reading Evidence and Ethnomethodology
What is applied conversation analysis?
Jessica Lester and Michelle O’Reilly’s new book, Applied Conversation Analysis: Social Interaction in Institutional Settings (Lester & O'Reilly, 2019), provides a guide to how to design, conduct, and present findings using this approach. But first, a little historical background…. Harvey Sacks (1935-1975) met Harold Garfinkel (1917-2011), a sociologist and originator of “ethnomethodology” (EM) at Harvard … Continue reading What is applied conversation analysis?
Decolonizing and indigenous methodologies
Over the summer, I was very fortunate to travel for the first time to the North Island of New Zealand where I was able to walk among the magnificent Kauri trees, visit the amazing thermal landscapes around Rotorua, and appreciate the wonderful rivers, waterfalls and coastlines. What beauty! Enjoying the wonderful scenery and learning about … Continue reading Decolonizing and indigenous methodologies
Exploring arts-based research
It has already been a decade since Gary Knowles and Ardra Cole’s (2008) edited handbook of the arts in qualitative research was published. Patricia Leavy’s Handbook of Arts-Based Research (2018), published by Guildford Press, provides an updated overview of the incredible variety of arts-based research currently undertaken. The Handbook of Arts-Based Research adds to Leavy’s prolific output, … Continue reading Exploring arts-based research
Recently published: The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research
The 5th edition of Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln’s (2018) edited volume, The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research was published earlier this year. I’ve now had a chance to look over a volume and compare it to the previous editions sitting on my book shelf. I recall consulting the first edition of the … Continue reading Recently published: The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research
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