Research essentials: An introduction to qualitative research for the novice children’s nurse

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH is ‘a form of social inquiry that focuses on the way people make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live’ (Holloway 2013). Qualitative methods can explore complex issues where little is known, gaining new insights and a deep understanding of the individual perspective, and are invaluable when exploring the complexities of nursing and care delivery. Read More: http://journals.rcni.com/doi/abs/10.7748/ncyp.27.2.14.s1

Qualitative archives and biographical research methods. An introduction to the FQS special issue

The use of archival materials as a point of departure when designing and launching social research takes for granted that a culture of archiving (for sharing and re-use) has rooted time ago in our complex societies. This mentality and research practice first flourished and is fairly well installed in the case of statistics, surveys and certain other primary or secondary documents. On the contrary, it is less frequent and certainly not a routine activity for qualitative data. Only some of the raw and elaborated materials gathered during qualitative research become part of an archive for further reanalysis. These can include the backstage practices and experiences of a project, raw materials such as field notes, audio and visual recordings, and other documents produced during the research process. This issue presents a colorful range of articles that deal with experiences, challenges and opportunities of archiving and re-using qualitative material, particularly under the umbrella of biographical and narrative research. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of archiving in qualitative social research and highlights some of the new methodological reflections and approaches that have been and that are being developed within the European landscape. We hope that the articles in this issue will help promote further communication and exchange among qualitative archival practitioners from different countries and with different sensitivities and conceptual horizons. © 2011 FQS

Orientation among multiple truths: An introduction to qualitative research

AbstractIn order to provide some guidance for the researcher unfamiliar with qualitative research, this article compares quantitative and qualitative research, and introduces a number of qualitative methods. Aspects of methodological rigor are also presented as well as an example of qualitative data analysis using content analysis. Qualitative research methods explore, in a holistic fashion, the complex reality constructed by individuals in the context of their everyday worlds. Qualitative research is based on the subjective, looking at human realities instead of concrete realities of objects. When conducting a qualitative study the researcher is part of the study and is, in fact, the research instrument. The qualitative researcher embraces the ontological assumption of multiple truths, multiple realities, i.e., persons understand reality in different ways that reflect individual perspectives

Qualitative Inquiry in an Age of Educationalese

In this introduction we reflect on two key questions that initiated this special issue on qualitative inquiry: What can qualitative researchers do to regain their post-paradigm-wars cache? How do we avoid distracting “science wars” in the future? We suggest that the strong tendency to narrow the research methods accepted as “scientific” – because they adopt quantitative perspectives and are presumed a priori to be more rigorous – has created an educationalese, a narrative of rigid categories that has not necessarily contributed to more effective or persuasive educational research. The article ends by suggesting that the use of “knowledge mobilization” strategies would help to strengthen qualitative research and educational research in general

Qualitative Research for Educational Science Researchers: A Review of An Introduction to Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a type of scientific research which includes document analysis, observation or interview. Qualitative research process describes the events in the natural environment realistically and holistically. Although quantitative research methods are mostly used in educational sciences, qualitative research methods are also used by the educational science researchers. An Introduction to Qualitative Research by Uwe Flick (2014) is an ideal guide for educational science researchers in regard to qualitative research methods and techniques

Research Paradigms and Meaning Making: A Primer

An introduction and explanation of the epistemological differences of quantitative and qualitative research paradigms is first provided, followed by an overview of the realist philosophical paradigm, which attempts to accommodate the two. From this foundational discussion, the paper then introduces the concept of meaning ma king in research methods and looks at how meaning is generated from qualitative data analysis specifically. Finally, some examples from the literature of how meaning can be constructed and organized using a qualitative data analysis approach are provided. The paper aims to provide an introduction to research methodologies, coupled with a discussion on how meaning making actually occurs through qualitative data analysis

Grumpy Old Ethnographers: A Review of David Silverman ’s A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research

Renowned scholar of qualitative research methods David Silverman delivers an indictment of contemporary qualitative research methods. The book is meant to be an introduction (or “pre - textbook”) to the subject of qualitative research and definitely not a “how - to” manual. In evaluating contemporary qualitative research methods, Silverman’s book primarily focuses on ethnography and conversation analysis. Intentionally personal and biased, Silverman’s plainly - stated goal for this book is to “debunk the accepted understandings” of qualitative research and elicit an interest in the arguments within the field of qualitative inquiry , and he succeeds on both accounts