Why Twitter matters for qualitative researchers

I love Kumeugirl’s blog post on why Twitter matters for qualitative researchers. Her marketing based qualitative approach is a valuable resource.  Read More

Writing Fieldnotes

In chapter 4 of Emerson, Robert M., Fretz, Rachel I., & Shaw, Linda L. (1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, entitled writing up fieldnotes II: creating scenes on a page, we are reminded: To view writing fieldnotes simply as a  matter of putting on paper what a field researcher has heard and seen suggest that it is a transparent process; in this view field researchers “mirror” observed reality in their notes. They... Read More

What are practices of sharing resources?

Recently, I grapple with models of sharing resources. A university culture is unique in its particular practices for sharing. Questions that keep surfacing in my mind include: What would count as a social best in the practices of sharing? How would it be defined? By whom? What conditions would sustain the model constructed? It seems easier to define what does not constitute as sharing of resources. I return to the original mission of constructing a Center that serves as a sort... Read More

The lived experience of the ethnographer

Try writing an ethnography of something very close to you. A story from the beginning of your life that takes you to the present moment. A family, silence and secrets, a few spoken words, a death, memory and love. An intimate culture to be certain. This will take you beyond questions of participant-observation, unstructured data, case size, and interpretation. It will encompass your emotional and spiritual life, your very being. This is ethnography as the lived experience of the... Read More

Entering conversations / the road to now

When I teach qualitative research classes my students wonder why I include “older” texts in our list of readings. They have been socialized to believe that current conversations in research are the most relevant. When it comes to understanding research methods it is important to go back further – we can always find our way to the present. When students only read current work they may miss the underlying conversations – the back and forth interchanges between... Read More

“Brown Bagging It” for Qualitative Research Sessions

Last fall semester we began offering informational presentations to assist faculty and graduate students with “hands-on” experiences in using software. My graduate assistants and I work together in identifying the topics and content. They have taken on the major part of the presentations and now excel at developing and delivering hands-on activities and eye-catching slides. A key to their success is in working together to observe participants as they navigate the software... Read More

Voice Recognition Software

Visitors to our Center for Qualitative Inquiry often ask about voice recognition software. We currently provide users with access to MacSpeech and Dragon Speaking Naturally software. Voice recognition software has improved dramatically over the past few years. While you still need to train the software to recognize your voice by reading passages, this now only takes minutes rather than hours. The software is much more accurate and requires less time to learn the commands for inserting... Read More

QSR launches NVivo 8 video

QSR International has ramped up user support for NVivo version 8 by adding video clips in addition to the screen shot web based tutorials.  Read More