Teaching qualitative research in adverse times

Abstract

This article discusses how the teaching of qualitative research in higher education is threatened by the effects of new public management, by academic culture wars and by a growing belief in big data. The controversy over Alice Goffman’s book On the Run presents one recent example of this. In an effort to counterbalance these developments, this article stresses the importance in social science curricula of ‘naturalistic inquiry’ – the artisanal core of qualitative research. Explicitly acknowledging emic viewpoints, naturalistic inquiry upholds the emancipatory ideal of making society transparent to its members. Teaching naturalistic inquiry as a craft may be the best way to assure ‘qualitative literacy’ among graduates in their various careers as socially responsible professionals.

Methods Despite or Without Content? Reflections on Teaching Qualitative Research

“…There is an abundance of scholarship on teaching qualitative research in higher education within diverse contexts and a variety of fields. As examples, published works offer teachers of qualitative research advice on best practice (Swaminathan & Mulvihill, 2018; Wagner et al, 2019) often specifically within online learning environments (Bender & Hill, 2016; Phillips et al, 2021), narratives with pedagogical guidance on qualitative inquiry from experienced researchers (Castell et al, 2022; Roulston et al, 2018; Ulmer et al, 2019), and encouragement for instructors to expand their pedagogical thinking outside of the “typical” to encourage diverse ways of thinking in both themselves and their students (Beuving & DeVries, 2020; Guyotte & Kuntz, 2018; Roulston & Bhattacharya, 2018). There also exists robust literature involving the theorizing of qualitative inquiry as a series of practices and processes extending from philosophical assumptions and values (Freeman, 2017; Jackson & Mazzei, 2012; Preissle & deMarrais, 2015).…”

Interpretive Autoethnography in Medicine: An Accessible Way to Introduce Healthcare Professionals to the Craft of Critical Qualitative Writing

“…As Beuving and de Vries (2020) point out, for someone steeped in the scientific method, writing might simply connote the "writing up" (p. 56) of objective research findings once they have been finalized. This is not what it means in qualitative inquiry, where the act of writing is an essential part of the process of sociocultural interpretation and is allowed to give voice to the subjectivity of both author and subject (Beuving & de Vries, 2020). Interpretive autoethnography exemplifies this vision of writing as an integral element of a research method rather than just a means of communicating findings.…”

How Do Sociologists Know What They Know? An Examination of Sociology Textbooks for Evidence of Sociological and Scientific Thinking

“…Further, developing sociology students' research skills allows students to consume research (Beuving and de Vries 2020;Burgess 1990;Small 2018). Beuving and de Vries (2020) argue that the Western cultural context calls for improved instruction regarding qualitative research (see also Small 2018).…”

“…Further, developing sociology students' research skills allows students to consume research (Beuving and de Vries 2020;Burgess 1990;Small 2018). Beuving and de Vries (2020) argue that the Western cultural context calls for improved instruction regarding qualitative research (see also Small 2018). They point out the supremacy of big data, the publicness of academic discussions (e.g., Twitter, Ted Talks), and the public's declining trust in science more broadly as justification for developing students' qualitative and quantitative research skills.…”