Part 1: The Nature of Qualitative Inquiry Question #1: What is qualitative research? Question #2: What disciplines use qualitative approaches and are there differences in disciplinary approach? Question #3: Is qualitative research used in practice or only in academic research? Question #4: My supervisor says that quantitative research is more objective, so it's better than qualitative research. Is that true? Question #5: What is the difference between 'ontology' and 'epistemology' and why do they matter? Question #6: I've heard that qualitative research is more inductive rather than deductive - what does that mean? Question #7: What is the difference between a project designed with a qualitative 'paradigm' and one designed only to gather qualitative 'data'? Question #8: What is the difference between quantitative positivism and qualitative constructionism? Question #9: Qualitative research seems to always involve people - is that true? Question #10: What is the difference between a research 'participant' and a research 'subject'? Question #11: My 'participants' are really co-researchers in my work - so what are the implications for my project? Question #12: What kind of education or training do I need to conduct qualitative research? Question #13: What kind of time investment is needed for a qualitative research study? Question #14: Qualitative research seems to be more expensive to do than other types of research - is that so? Question #15: What are the limitations of qualitative research? Part 2: Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research Question #16: What are the researcher's ethical responsibilities in qualitative practice? Question #17: At what stage of the research do I need to get formal ethics review to talk to people? Question #18: What kinds of ethics challenges do qualitative researchers face, typically? Question #19: Ethics approval seems to be more difficult to obtain for qualitative projects. Is that true? Question #20: Can I name my participants and their organization in publications about my study? Question #21 - I'm going to do focus groups and I know I'll need ethics approval for those - but can I examine postings to social media without seeking ethics approval? Question #22: Can I show my colleague some transcripts and let her listen to interview recordings to get advice on my interpretation of the data? Question #23: The ethics review board requires me to submit my interview questions - but the project is exploratory and the questions will emerge as the interview happens. What types of questions should I submit for review? Question #24: The ethics review board says I have to destroy my data, but I think my analysis will take years. Do I have to destroy everything? Question #25: I have learned negative things about people in the setting I'm studying. How do I deal with this? Question #26: My ethics approval says that I have to let the board know if there are 'significant changes' to my methodology and/or method. As my qualitative study is exploratory and emergent in design, how do I know when a significant change has occurre Question #27: One of my participants told other people that she was involved in my study, even though I promised I would not identify her. Is this a problem? Part 3: Designing Qualitative Research Question #28: What is a qualitative research problem - and how does this inform the development of research questions? Question #29 = What is the role of an hypothesis in qualitative research? Question #30: What is an exploratory qualitative design? If I do this, does it mean that my research isn't going to come up with 'usable' findings? Question #31: What is an emergent qualitative design? Question #32: What is the role of a theoretical and/or conceptual framework in a qualitative study? Question #33: How extensive should my literature review be when I'm designing my project? Question #34: What kinds of sampling approaches are appropriate for qualitative studies? Question #35: Why are sample sizes so small in many qualitative studies? Isn't this a problem? Question #36: What is the ideal sample size for a qualitative project? Question #37: How do you recruit participants for a qualitative study? Question #38: I really want to use focus groups, so how can I design a project that will use that method? Question #39 - What is Triangulation? Part 4: Ensuring Rigor in Qualitative Research Design Question #40: I've heard that quantitative research is more rigorous than qualitative research - is that true? Question #41: What are effective strategies for promoting trustworthiness? Question #42: I've heard that qualitative studies suffer from researcher bias. How do I deal with this criticism? Question #43: Can the findings from qualitative research be generalized? I've heard they can be transferable, but I don't know the differences between these terms. Question #44: How do I ensure that my study will have an impact on other scholars or practitioners? Question #45: What are useful and practical approaches to ensure that I am gathering good data? Part 5: Methodologies and Methods Question #46: What are the differences between qualitative 'design,' 'methodology' and 'method'? Question #47: All the studies I've read seem to use interviews. What other methods can I use to make my study more interesting? Question #48: I don't understand the differences between grounded theory, phenomenology, case study, ethnography, narrative inquiry, etc. Can I combine these - or choose not to use one of these approaches, at all? Question #49: What kinds of research methods are appropriate for talking with people? Question #50: What are the pros and cons of conducting individual vs. group interviews? Question #51: I want to observe what people are doing, but I don't want them to know that I'm watching. Can I do that? Question #52: How can I use documents in my qualitative study? Question #53: I've heard that there are some interesting visual methods that I can use - what are they? Question #54: In my discipline we conduct a lot of systematic reviews of the literature. Is it possible to do a qualitative systematic review? Part 6: Mixed Methods Research Involving Qualitative Approaches Question #55: I've heard that qualitative research is only useful as a first, exploratory step to designing a quantitative project - is that true? Question #56: How can qualitative research complement a quantitative study? Question #57: Which do I do first - the qualitative component of the study, or the quantitative component? Question #58: I have included some open-ended questions alongside the closed-response items on my survey/questionnaire. Am I conducting qualitative research? Question #59: Is it better to bring a qualitative researcher onto my team, or should I try to do the qualitative research myself? Question #60: I've only ever used quantitative designs but I want to use qualitative approaches now - what are the key issues I need to consider and how can I learn more about them? Part 7: Collecting Qualitative Data Question #61: How do I conduct a pilot study for my qualitative research project? Question #62 - My colleague says that we need to be unobtrusive when gathering data - what does that mean? Question #63: Can I hire someone to do all of the data collection? Question #64: What does it mean to be 'neutral' when I'm gathering my data? Question #65: What does 'fieldwork' involve in a qualitative project? Question #66: What does it mean to gather 'rich data'? Question #67: Do I have to transcribe all of my interview data or can I simply transcribe a few quotes when I need them? Question #68: What are the pros and cons of audio or video recording my participants? Question #69: Qualitative research seems to involve a lot of talking to people. Sounds easy - so what issues should I expect if I'm doing formal or informal interviews, with individuals or groups? Question #70: Do I have to work with my participants in person, or can I use the Internet (or other tools) to gather data at a distance? Question #71: There are many interviews and other potential sources of data online, including peoples' quotes posted to social media and websites. Can I use these in my qualitative study? Question #72: I see that some qualitative studies use participant-generated photographs, drawings, and other arts-based approaches. When is it appropriate to use these kinds of methods for gathering data? Question #73: I have a lot of data - dozens of digital data files, hundreds of pages of printed transcripts, and hours of video-recordings. How can I manage all of this material? Question #74: How do I know when I've reached saturation of themes in my data? Question #75: My colleague says that there are many 'lost opportunities' in his dataset. What does that mean? Question #76: I'm trying to select the best site for conducting individual interviews, so how do I choose? Part 8: Conducting Qualitative Analysis Question #77: Do I have to wait until my data collection is done before I can start analyzing my data? Question #78: My supervisor says I should use an interpretive lens for my analysis - what does this mean? Question #79: What is the process for 'coding' my dataset? Can I borrow someone else's codebook to get me started? Question #80: What is the difference between 'themes,' 'codes' and 'categories'? Question #81: Does the person who gathered the data have to be the person who codes and analyzes those data? Question #82: I've heard data analysis described as an iterative process of coding. What does that mean? Question #83: How can I use a team to code data? Question #84: Do qualitative researchers count things in their data, or is this only done in quantitative research? Question #85: Will using a qualitative data analysis software package improve the quality of my results? Question #86: What is the best software package to use for qualitative data analysis? Question #87: Does it matter if someone else interprets my results in a different way? Question #88: I have anomalous data. Is this a problem? Question #89: I've heard that I need to immerse myself in the data during analysis, but I have a full-time job. How much time do I need to devote to this process? Question #90: My analysis seems to raise more questions than answers, so what do I do about this? Part 9: Writing Qualitative Research Question #91: How do I present my findings so that they reflect both my analysis and the participants' voices? Question #92 - I've assigned my participants numbers (to anonymize them in the writing) but now my supervisor says I should give them pseudonyms, instead. Which approach is best? Question #93 - My supervisor says I should 'give voice' to my research participants in my writing - what does that mean? Question #94: I have some pictures, audio-recordings and other multimedia data, so how can I include these in publications? Question #95: Journal articles in my discipline are limited in length, so how can I present my results in a succinct way while providing enough detail to support my arguments? Question #96: I have a lot of data and I'm struggling to fit everything into one paper! How can I write up my results in a single research report? Question #97: Qualitative research reports are published in many formats and styles, ranging from traditional (i.e., with results, discussion and conclusions) to progressive (e.g., narrative short stories, poetry, plays). Which approach should I choose f Question #98: What kind of audience reads qualitative research reports, typically? Question #99: My data are just interview transcripts and other texts, so how can I present my findings in a visual poster presentation? Question #100: Should I send copies of my publications to my participants?
