This course is designed for participants who have undertaken a qualitative study in their work or study and would like to build their theoretical knowledge and applied skill base in qualitative research.
*This course will be run over 5 days in three sessions per day:
- 10.00am - 11.30pm - Session 1.
- 12.00pm - 1.30pm - Session 2
- 2.30pm - 4.00pm - Session 3
Individual consultations will be offered after the course, or in the days following.
*Courses will run on Australian Eastern Daylight Time (GMT +11)
(ie Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra daylight savings time. There will be 5 different time zones to consider in Summer)
Dr Delwyn Goodrick is a psychologist who undertakes program evaluation and social research with a wide range of government and private sector clients. She is an experienced trainer having conducted a range of specialist workshops in research and program evaluation in Australia, Singapore, the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand. Most of Delwyn's work relates to health and education contexts. She maintains her own private consultancy practice and is currently working from New Zealand.
The focus of this course is on issues of design and positioning, analysis and representation of qualitative research. This course only provides a generic overview of data collection methods, as it is assumed that participants will have experience with methods.
Many of the examples will make reference to research in business, psychology and health.
The target audience for this course are researchers, practitioners and academics who have conducted at least one qualitative study, and are familiar with the process and context of qualitative research.
Day 1: Design – Philosphies of Qualitative Research
- Introductions to the course and to each other/ ways to manage online interface.
- Definitions and approaches to Qualitative Research.
- Philosophies that influence the conduct of research.
- Illustrative article for review.
- End of the day Q & A.
Day 2: Design Frameworks and Design Issues
- Design Frameworks (What are they? How do I select one?).
- Grounded Theory, Case Study, Ethnography.
- Illustrative study for review / discussion.
- Phenomenology, Narrative Inquiry.
- Sampling issues in Qualitative Research.
Day 3: The Management and Analysis of qualitative data
- Methods of data collection (in brief).
- Transcription, notes, memos and journalling.
- Methods of analysis for use in manual analysis or computer-assisted analysis.
- Coding and categorisation processes.
- Content Analysis with example for review.
- End of session Q & A.
Day 4: Analysis Options (continued)
- Thematic Analysis with example for review.
- Framework Analysis and Matrix displays.
- Doing narrative analysis with example for review.
- Theory led or conceptually led analysis.
- Planning (or revising) your analytic strategy.
Day 5: Representation: Textual and non-textual strategies
- Representational issues – in publishing / theses
- Validity, trustworthiness, and authenticity.
- The methodology chapter: what does it need to include?
- Summary of the course / further reading / scheduling of individual (follow up) consultations.
NB: There will be pre-reading and expectations for reading / activities in breaks
This course will take place via Zoom. No particular software is required other than the Zoom download. Participants will be asked to complete exercises in word and send to the instructor for review. Pre-reading is required before each session block. Participants can expect to be required to read/review three to four articles for each day.
Participants will be expected to have experience with at least one qualitative research project or have undertaken an introductory level course in qualitative research methods. While some discussion of the technical elements of methods is presented during the course of the workshop, participants should have a basic familiarity with data collection methods such as interviews, observation and document analysis.
The instructor's bound, book length course notes will serve as the course text. These will be sent to you in advance.
Other reading that may be useful:
- Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: Practical Strategies. London: Sage
- Miles, M. Huberman, M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. (3rd ed). Los Angeles: Sage.
- Patton, MQ. (2017). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. 5th ed, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Q: Do I have to have had any qualitative research experience to do this course?
A: Yes, you will have been expected to have experience with at least one qualitative research project or have undertaken an introductory level course in qualitative research methods.
Covered a huge range of material, most of which was relevant to my needs. Loads of resources in the course and suggested reading and resources to follow up post course. (Summer 2020)
Extremely useful for gaining further clarity regarding Qual methods/design & applying this to my own research project. (Summer 19)
Broad & detailed knowledge clearly explained with relevant examples. Draw upon professional experience well. (Summer 19)
Information rich, deep expertise of facilitator. (Spring 18)
I found the course had a very practical element to it. The way it was taught provided a good sense of how the theories/methodologies could be implemented in practice in a number of content. (Winter 2018)
Delwyn is an excellent presenter. Very useful for me to get a theoretical grounding in qualitative research design at this point in my PhD. (Summer 2018)
Del has an amazing wealth of knowledge can explain complex concepts in a straight forward way, and is highly engaging - one of the best instructors I’ve had. (Winter 2017)
The course was a great mix of theory, practice and practical, It was also well facilitated and participatory & engaging all students and tailoring research to our individual experiences. (Winter 2017)
Del helped me situate myself in the compendium of ontological and epistemological traditions. (Spring 2016)
It provided me with different choices of Qualitative research methods and useful examples were used throughout the course. (Winter 2016)
Good mix of presentation with many opportunities for discussion. The reading materials and in-class analysis & discussion of these were excellent. Clarified + explained these well. (Spring 2015)
The instructor's bound, book length course notes will serve as the course text.