New Tools and Techniques for Qualitative Research: Exploring the Challenges and Pitfalls
Organisers
Dr Mike Fraser, University of Bristol, UK
Dr Jon Hindmarsh, Kings College London, UK
Andy Crabtree & Dr Chris Greenhalgh, University of Nottingham, UK
Dr Marina Jirotka, University of Oxford, UK
Dr Matthew Chalmers, University of Glasgow, UK
Summary
This workshop aims to highlight the distinctive opportunities for, and requirements of, qualitative research in e-Social Science initiatives. It is sparked by the fact that debates about the principal contributions of emerging tools and technologies can often be drawn towards discussions of new opportunities in sampling, counting, coding, correlating, modelling, and maybe even automating in the research process. Whilst these ‘affordances' have strong appeal for many, they do not necessarily resonate so well with contemporary qualitative research approaches and practices. Nevertheless there are clear areas in which qualitative researchers can benefit from developments in e-Social Science.
Therefore this workshop aims to highlight new research opportunities distinctive to qualitative researchers in the field of e-Social Science and also explore the particular challenges raised when designing tools and technologies for qualitative researchers. These debates will cluster around issues such as:
- new tools and techniques that are in development for qualitative researchers;
- new opportunities for sharing qualitative data;
- distinctive legal and ethical challenges for eResearch posed by qualitative research;
- new opportunities for, and challenges in, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods;
- new forms of data generated by advanced technologies;
- new opportunities to support research collaborations in qualitative studies;
- distinctive problems in developing eResearch tools to support the analytic orientations of different groups of qualitative researchers.
The workshop will be organised around a series of short presentations on key issues and developments with an eye to generating broader discussions amongst participants in the final session.