Qualitative Research CAN Make A Difference
You’ve worked hard to design your qualitative research project and answer meaningful questions, but you find yourself unsure about the next steps.
You might be second guessing your decisions and, as a result, doubting your ability to write and publish your qualitative research in a timely way.
You’re left feeling insecure about your ability to lead your qualitative project (and questioning whether or not you even understand qualitative methodologies).
That overwhelm and frustration is made worse when you find yourself fighting to defend your qualitative work and prove its worth.
Because you KNOW your qualitative research has transformed you personally, and it has the potential to bring positive changes to your participants and communities.
Often The Answer Isn’t In What You Don’t Know About Qualitative Research...
When your doubts about the rigor, usefulness and impact of your research settle in, you start reading more books and looking for more papers.
While more information and new readings are helpful, they don’t always bring the clarity you need.
This process takes so much time, yet still leads to a feeling of not knowing enough. It’s hard to feel grounded in your qualitative data when a sea of negative thoughts swirl around in your head. You find yourself thinking, “I bet this doesn’t happen to other qualitative researchers…”
This Is A Recipe For Delayed Data Analysis & Writing...
Which Also Means Missed Opportunities To Present Your Findings & Make The Impact You Wanted To Make With Your Research.
As a researcher, academic and/or practitioner, you know that you could fill every minute of your free time with readings/learning about specific topics if you wanted to.
You also know that more often than not you are using this continued reading and fine-tuning of your manuscript to procrastinate from submitting your work and enduring the comments from the dreaded “reviewer #2”.
As vulnerable as the process of engaging others in the review of your qualitative health research can be, it’s often what moves the work forward. When you do everything solo, it’s hard to reflect on what you did in your research process (especially about what made it unique).
Without publishable, shareable results, your qualitative research isn’t going to make a difference in practice, society or culture. That impact is only possible when your qualitative work is shared with others and your writing is made a priority.
I'm Ready To Take Action!
Know What It Feels Like To Have Your Qualitative Research Truly Make A Difference In The World
When you clarify your purpose and direction as a qualitative researcher, you’re going to feel empowered to confidently move your qualitative research forward.
Having this clarity and direction will allow your knowledge about qualitative methods and your commitment to creating positive change in the communities you serve to shine through.
This might mean writing an outstanding proposal for your next funding competition, finishing a dissertation chapter that’s been dragging on too long, or submitting a manuscript that you know needs to be published!
Knowing you’re reaching your full potential as a researcher (while making a meaningful contribution to the world) will no longer be an impossible dream... it’ll be a goal within reach!
I Want To Make A Difference!
Your Big Vision For Your Qualitative Research Can Be Realized
You reflect on your qualitative work and feel uneasy. You don’t know if you’re on the right track and often find yourself asking “Where am I going with this?”
Your qualitative research feels like a 5000-piece puzzle in your head that you don’t have the motivation to put together by yourself.
The 5000 pieces (aka nodes) need to be synthesized and described in detail, but you can’t decide which pieces to keep and which ones to let go.
This delays your writing, which delays your publishing, which robs you of the opportunity to make the impact you want to make!
Conducting impactful qualitative health research begins and ends with the writing component. As a qualitative researcher, you’re constructing something without a clear end in sight.
However, There Is A Blueprint You Can Follow That Will Help You Succeed As A Writer.
STEP 1
It begins with an idea that becomes a research question and the researcher’s recognition of their “why” (aka their positionality in research).
STEP 2
Next comes your methodology, your methods of data collection, and your approach to data analysis.
STEP 3
Finally, you need to address your way/voice of presenting it all to the right audience. Building out all of these components is no small feat!
“Maira’s QRB course helped me so much as I designed my own research methods in preparation for ethics approval. I feel my confidence to conduct qualitative research has grown immensely!”
~ Kasia Babyn, MSc Student, University of Alberta
Qualitative Research Blueprint
Use this blueprint as a guide to move you from a place of doubt to a position of confidence so you can design and write qualitative health research that will truly make an impact!
Join QRB Today!I’ve Been Where You Are Now…
I’ve been a qualitative researcher for more than a decade now, but the confidence I have that we can be impactful and successful as qualitative researchers didn’t develop overnight.
In all honesty, the process of publishing my 100% qualitative Masters’ research was crushing and discouraging.
I had failed to do some things that were important for my qualitative project, and as a result I encountered problems when responding to reviewer’s comments and questions.
Maybe you can relate. Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of writing your qualitative research at all, never mind writing it well.
Obviously I Didn’t Quit And I Did End Up Publishing My Master’s Research
Not only that, I was awarded the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (a prestigious doctoral award) with a graduate project that was 100% qualitative!
And since then I’ve authored and co-authored various publications and presented my work at dozens of local, national and international conferences.
My PhD program was a completely different experience (for the better)! This is what I want you to find inside QRB.
I created Qualitative Research Blueprint (QRB) so that I could help qualitative researchers like you avoid making the mistakes I did when I conducted my Masters’ research.
Together, we’ll strive to transform your strong qualitative research into something superb and that will make a meaningful contribution to your field!
“QRB was what I had been missing in my doctoral program with the guidance and support that I needed to pursue my interests in qualitative health research. Maira is an amazing instructor! She is knowledgeable, very approachable and has the ability to make complex content feel easy to digest and doable."
~ Mari-Anna Bergeron, PhD Candidate, Smith College School for Social Work
Gain A True Understanding of Rigor & What It Takes to Excel At Qualitative Health Research In Qualitative Research Blueprint!
Qualitative Research Blueprint is a self-study course designed to allow you to work at your own pace. Complete the worksheets, review the resources, and watch the recorded video lessons as your schedule allows - you've got lifetime access!
In module 1 we'll be talking about the researcher's worldview, starting with an introduction to qualitative foundations and why these matter for rigor in qualitative research.
- Build confidence in your knowledge of qualitative foundations.
- Discuss worldviews, ways of knowing and research paradigms → Postpositivist, Constructivist, Transformative, and Pragmatic.
- Conceptualize ontology, epistomology, and axiology within different research paradigms
This module answers the questions- What is rigor? How do qualitative scholars approach rigor? What does embracing rigor mean in qualitative research? How are standards such as validity, reliability, and generalizability redefined within qualitative inquiry?
- Learn separate terms for rigor, the assumption behind them, and their definition.
- Discuss ethical validity and what you can learn from Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR).
- Embrace rigor as THE thing that makes publishable, impactful and useful qualitative research possible.
Inside Module 3 you will learn about being rigorous. We discuss verification strategies that are linked to the researchers’, participants’ and reviewers’ lens, and how they can be operationalized.
- Discuss reflexivity in writing and researcher’s responsiveness.
- Learn about participant feedback (aka member checking), prolonged engagement, and collaboration with participants as participant-focused rigor strategies.
- Learn about external audit, peer review, and rich, thick description (i.e., final written results) as reader/reviewer-focused rigor strategies.
The content in module 4 is an introduction to various but not all qualitative methodologies. I go more in-depth into the ones that are more commonly used in qualitative health research.
- Ethnography
- Mixed-methods research
- Qualitative description
- Phenomenology, Grounded Theory, and Photovoice
- Community-Based & Patient-Engaged Research
In module 5, we cover the process of conducting interviews and focus groups in qualitative research as well as the many types, kinds and approaches that exist.
- Interviewer types, interview approaches and planning
How to become a more prolific interviewer - Understand the definition of focus groups, possibilities & misconceptions, setting focus groups and capturing interaction
Sampling & recruitment (what's what?) - Ethical considerations in sampling
Module 6 of QRB is all about analyzing and writing data. We cover the purpose of qualitative data analysis; inductive, deductive and abductive approaches to data analysis; and coding, theming and interpreting.
- Key steps when planning your qualitative data analysis (no matter the approach)
- Three methods of qualitative data analysis, including content analysis, thematic analysis and constant comparison
- What "usable" qualitative health research means
- Three strategies to move forward with your qualitative writing and the “writing mindset”
“Consultation and looking up all this information would have been much more in terms of time and cost. QRB is a great investment because it provides a one-stop place to get lots of information about qualitative methods and research. Invest in yourself!”
~ Carolyn Mak
Money Back Guarantee
QRB is more than just a course, it’s an opportunity.
An opportunity to strengthen your knowledge of qualitative foundations.
An opportunity to ask questions and feel supported as you move through your research project.
We want you to feel comfortable saying YES to this opportunity, and that’s why we offer a money-back guarantee.
If you don’t feel totally confident and motivated by what you learn inside this course, simply reach out within the first 7 days and we will refund your full investment.
My funding won’t cover a course like this and I don’t feel ready to pay for it out of my own pocket.
My department provides funding for these types of courses. Will you provide the information they require in order for me to be reimbursed?
How much time should I expect to spend on course work each week during QRB?
" My only regret is that I didn't have access to taking this course sooner.”
~ Mari-Anna Bergeron, PhD Candidate, Smith College School for Social Work
