Facilitating Coherence across Qualitative Research Papers

Authors

Ronald J. Chenail, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Maureen DuffyFollow
Sally St. George, University of CalgaryFollow
Dan Wulff, University of CalgaryFollow

Abstract

Bringing the various elements of qualitative research papers into coherent textual patterns presents challenges for authors and editors alike. Although individual sections such as presentation of the problem, review of the literature, methodology, results, and discussion may each be constructed in a sound logical and structural sense, the alignment of these parts into a coherent mosaic may be lacking in many qualitative research manuscripts. In this paper, four editors of The Qualitative Report present how they collaborate with authors to facilitate improvement papers' coherence in such areas as co-relating title, abstract, and the paper proper; coordinating the method presented with method employed; and calibrating the exuberance of implications with the essence of the findings. The editors share exercises, templates, and exemplary articles they use to help mentor authors to create coherent texts.

Keywords

Qualitative Research, Writing, and Coherence

Acknowledgements

This paper was presented May 4, 2007, at the Third International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois USA. The authors would like to thank the members of The Qualitative Report’s Editorial Board and the authors who have submitted their papers to the journal and who have participated in the journal’s review process and to our students who have challenged us to find words of assistance and encouragement in order to help them develop their own voices as qualitative researchers.

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1052

Recommended APA Citation

Chenail, R. J., Duffy, M., St. George, S., & Wulff, D. (2011). Facilitating Coherence across Qualitative Research Papers. The Qualitative Report, 16(1), 263-275. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1052