Learning through Doing

Abstract

In this article, we discuss our experiences learning how to do Foucauldian discourse analysis as doctoral students situated in a school of public health. We mobilize language of “learning through doing” as we reflect on the struggles of conducting doctoral dissertation research. While challenging, these struggles have been productive because they have resulted in epistemological shifts. We explore the following pivotal learning moments that have been central to producing changes in our epistemological positions: (1) realizing there are no predetermined methodological templates, (2) letting go of positivist notions of bias and representativeness, (3) recognizing the iterative nature of the qualitative research process, and (4) experiencing the centrality of writing to qualitative inquiry. Our article recognizes the profound relevance of “doing” within the process of learning critical and interpretive approaches to qualitative research and in unlearning positivist ideas about the production of knowledge that dominate the field of public health.

Multi-Method Qualitative Text and Discourse Analysis: A Methodological Framework

“…Opinions differ as to whether FDA is a method of analysis or a methodology (see Dias & Janjua, 2018;Hook, 2001 for an illustration of the different positions). While we agree this tradition has been less formalized as a method than the others mentioned (see Dias & Janjua, 2018;Kendall & Wickham, 1999 as examples of methodological literature attempting to address this gap), we chose to include it as one of the four QTDA families introduced in this article nonetheless as it offers interesting research design opportunities when used in combination. Despite sharing a similar focus on discourse, we separate FDA from DA as it follows a different logic than the DA family at large.…”