The Centre for Qualitative Research (CQR) at the University of Bath is hosting its annual workshop series on Tuesday 31st January 2023.
The workshops will precede QRS (symposium) and will focus on a range of issues related to qualitative research and will be delivered in-person by researchers and teachers with expertise in session areas.
Workshops
Workshops will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners.
A total of seven workshops are offered; participants can select whether to attend one (half a day) or two (full day) of the seven.
No prior knowledge of the subjects is required given the workshops are designed to be of an introductory level.
Each session lasts 2.5 hours and has a maximum capacity of 25 attendees.
Morning Sessions (9:30am to 12pm)
Select one of the four workshops
Workshop 1: Conducting Research in the 'Messy World of Reality'
In this session, we will discuss the thrills and spills of conducting research in the ‘real world’. For many of us there is a deep conviction to making sure our research is informed by an understanding of phenomenon in context and to ensuring we engage with different voices – particularly those who are marginalised. But it is daunting. Communities (and perspectives) are multiple, divided, contested, political – just downright messy. In this workshop we will talk about what this means in practice and some of the practical, political, and ethical challenges.
Workshop 2: An Introduction to Grounded Theory and Grounded Methodology
This workshop will introduce you to grounded theory and grounded methodology and how you can use them to develop and evaluate research and public engagement projects. The workshop will discuss covering data collection techniques, and the practical realities of researching in different institutional contexts.
Workshop 3: Methods of Discourse Analysis
Participants will be introduced to different approaches to discourse analysis: critical discourse analysis (CDA), post-structuralist discourse analysis (PDA) and rhetorical analysis (RA). By the end of the session you will have a nuanced understanding of the different approaches to discourse analysis, allowing you to identify the most suitable method for your own research project.
Workshop 4: Researcher Wellbeing and Secondary Trauma
Researcher wellbeing is often overlooked. This is particularly concerning with researching topics that may cause secondary trauma for the researcher. The first half on this workshop will discuss what secondary trauma in research may look like and touches on our own experiences as researchers and supervisors. I will outline how to move forward and maintain researcher well-being. In the second half of the workshop you will participate in group discussions and try out tools to help you think about secondary trauma in research and how to mitigate it.
Afternoon Sessions (1pm to 3:30pm)
Select one of the three workshops
Workshop 5: Analysing Interview and Focus Group Data using Thematic Analysis
This session will discuss some of the challenges to conducting qualitative data analysis before focusing on Thematic Analysis. We will go through Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase approach to Thematic Analysis and work in small groups, applying the method to analyse interview transcripts in relation to a research question. By the end of the session the whole group will combine their analysis to identify broad themes which capture the data set.
Workshop 6: Messy Research: Uncertainty, the Unknowable & the Unthinkable
Researching thoughts and emotions can be a ‘messy’ subjective process – are there existing methodologies that can help us navigate this, or do we need some new approaches? We will use researching emotional responses to the climate and ecological crisis as a way to explore these issues, however this workshop is just as relevant to anyone researching thoughts and feelings in any context.
Workshop 7: Being an Ethical Qualitative Researcher: Tending to What Matters
Whilst ethical realism and procedural ethics are important, this workshop will instead centre the broader ways in which ethics are lived and experienced. We will engage in learning how to think critically about ethical issues in practice, and how this relates to procedural ethics.
Registration
You can register for the workshops here. The deadline for registration is 30 January 2023.
Partial refunds are possible for participants who withdraw their booking before 16 January 2023. No refunds will be provided thereafter.