Foundations of
Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research
Before This Class
How did you understand qualitative research, and what did you think it was for? How has that changed?
Describe
Describe a specific moment this semester when you caught yourself bringing your own assumptions into how you were interpreting something. What was happening and what did you do with that awareness?
Walk Us
Walk us through the difference between methodology and method as you understand it now. Why does that distinction matter for how you design a study?
Define ontology
Ontology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of reality and what it means for something to exist.
What was
What was the hardest concept or moment for you this semester? How did you work through it?
What Do You See
What do you see as the two or three most essential characteristics of qualitative research? What did you come to genuinely believe this semester?
How
How do your identities as a counselor, as a person with a particular cultural background, and as a student shape the questions you are drawn to as a researcher?
If You Were
If you were to design a qualitative study on a topic that genuinely matters to you, which approach would you choose and why? How does it fit the way you see the world?
Before
Before this class, did you think about how your beliefs about reality shape your research? Describe your ontological stance now
Looking back
Looking back from your first week of class to today, what is the single most meaningful shift in how you understand qualitative research, and what caused it?
Why
Why does the history of qualitative research matter to you as a developing researcher? What in that history felt most relevant to your work?
What
What is something you believed about yourself as a researcher at the start of the semester that you now see differently? What shifted and why?
Think About
Think about a research question relevant to your clinical or professional context. How would you decide which qualitative approach to use and what would you need to know about the phenomenon first?
A Colleague Says:
A colleague says: 'Qualitative research is just stories, it's not real science.' How do you respond? What does your answer reveal about what you now believe about ways of knowing?
How
How has this course changed how you think about your own role and identity in the research process?