Transforming Qualitative Research
Insights from qualitative research are having a transformative effect on how we understand and manage our world. Quantitative renderings of what happened are now regularly joined by qualitative descriptions, interpretations, and explanations of not only the what, but also the how, the why, the who, the when, and the where to produce better context-sensitive information on which important decisions can be made. This emerging practice of regularly including qualitative and quantitative perspectives in inquiries has led to changes in how we design, evaluate, access, understand, and change the world around us.
Qualitative research can also have a transformative influence on the persons conducting the inquiry. A qualitative way of knowing the world can change how we hear and see others; and how we reflect on our own participation in the world around ourselves. The skill sets and knowledge base demanded by qualitative research including technology prowess, artistic aplomb, and methodology acumen challenge us to grow continuously in order to meet the changing demands of academia and the marketplace.
This transformational effect is an interactional affair because the world around us has also influenced how we conduct and communicate our qualitative craft and product. Big data with its powerful analytics, ubiquitous technologies with immediate feedback, collaborative demands for design decisions, and mixed-methods for an array of research strategies can be seen as threats to what we understand qualitative research traditionally to be, or be accepted as a natural evolution of ethnographic, phenomenological, narrative, and discursive ways of knowing.
At TQR2015, we will ponder transforming qualitative research by featuring works, of and on qualitative inquiry, that exemplify the agents of change we can be as qualitative researchers and how elements around such as mixed-method designs and big data can also serve as active ingredients modifying the ways in which we practice and conceive qualitative research. To this end we presenters will inspire conference attendees to consider transformative qualitative research and researchers.
We accepted regular submissions from February 1 to April 30, 2014, but we will consider late submissions on a case-by-case basis. Over the next few weeks we will share more details about TQR 2015. As always, please let us know your questions and comments by sending us your emails to , posting to our Facebook page, or tweeting us!