Applied Qualitative Research

Our motivating goal is to provide an interactive and engaging experience as we journey through the world of qualitative research, from the design stage to writing up results. We strive to strike a balance between core concepts behind the data collection and analytic techniques covered and with their practical application in applied research contexts. Our workshop is designed to provide participants with the materials and instruction needed to design and implement a qualitative research study and to apply what they’ve learned to their own projects.

Note: To make the most of the instruction - although not required - we highly encourage participants to bring a research idea of their own to the workshop. Research ideas will be incrementally developed and refined throughout the workshop with the goal of having an actionable research plan at the end of the five days.

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define what qualitative research is (and is not)
• Craft effective research questions for applied qualitative studies
• Identify appropriate data collection and sampling strategies for qualitative research
• Use and apply the two primary qualitative data collection methods - in-depth interviews and focus groups
• Describe a range of supplemental qualitative data collection methods
• Conduct an inductive thematic analysis
• Know when and how to carry out inter-coder agreement checks
• Connect themes to tell a compelling story
• Structure a cogent qualitative report/article

Applied Qualitative Research is designed for researchers at all levels who wish to gain an understanding of how to design, implement, analyze, and write up qualitative research in applied contexts.

Chapter 1. Defining and Designing Qualitative Research
1.1 Defining “qualitative research”
1.2 Qualitative research and IRBs
1.3 Designing a qualitative study
1.4 Sampling and recruiting participants

Chapter 2. In-Depth Interviews
2.1 Preparing for an interview
2.2 Developing an effective instrument
2.3 Conducting in-depth interviews
2.4 Documenting the interview 

Chapter 3. Focus Groups
3.1 Practical dimensions of conducting focus groups
3.2 Developing an effective focus group
3.3 Conducting and documenting focus groups 

Chapter 4. Additional Qualitative Data Collection Methods
4.1 Projective techniques
4.2 Visual techniques
4.3 Pre- and post-event activities
4.4 Examining decisions and values

Chapter 5. Planning and Preparing a Qualitative Analysis
5.1 Overview of the qualitative analysis process
5.2 Establishing analytic objectives
5.3 Writing an analysis plan

Chapter 6. Identifying Themes and Coding Data
6.1 Discovering themes
6.2 Creating codes and an effective codebook
6.3 Enhancing validity and reliability 

Chapter 7. Interpreting Data
7.1 Layering and connecting themes
7.2 Comparing groups

Chapter 8. Writing Up Qualitative Analyses
8.1 Understanding your audience
8.2 Finding your ‘hook”
8.3 Guidelines for presenting qualitative research
8.4 Writing the “Methods” and “Results sections 

Appendix. Tips and Tricks to Publishing

The workshop will begin at 10:00 a.m. and finish at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (US) each day with 10-minute morning and afternoon breaks and a one-hour lunch break, the exact times of which will be determined during lecture. Local time zones within which the participant is connected must be adjusted to correspond to Eastern Standard Time.

Qualitative data analysis software demonstrations are presented with NVivo and Excel.  Note that the lectures and exercises in the workshop are software independent: participants are not expected to have access to any specialized software.

Greg Guest and Emily Namey co-teach the workshop via Zoom and will alternate lecturing throughout the day. Participants will receive complete PDF copies of the course notes. The PDFs are not time-limited and may be retained indefinitely but should not be distributed to others without obtaining prior permission.