Qualitative methods

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This workshop is aimed at coaching thesis supervisors in higher education. Every student in higher education graduates upon passing their final project or professional product. The latter consists of a great deal of applied research. Supervisors often experience similar challenges with supervising students, such as time pressure, keeping appointments, procrastination, poor quality or communication with the internship organization. During this workshop we will not only share our common experiences but also exchange tips & tricks for effective and efficient supervision.

Interviews as a method of data collection become increasingly popular. This is partly because societal questions become more complex. Answering these questions with a simple questionnaire does not cover the depth and breadth of research questions. During this course, I will show you how to set up and carry out interviews and when and how to use interview techniques. As a result you will be able to do interviews effectively and efficiently.

This workshop can be combined e.g with a workshop on thematic analysis.

Nowadays, Thematic analysis is frequently used when analyzing qualitative material. It is a stepwise approach to uncovering interview data, audio- and video material. During this workshop I will show you how you can use the six-step-method to create fragments, codes and themes in your material and how to present the results. We do not use any expensive software during this workshop: for the analysis we will work with Word, Excel and (freeware) Taguette. A combination with other workshops is possible, e.g interviewtechnique and analysis.

When doing qualitative analysis, there are a lot of software packages to choose from, some very expensive and complete, others a lot cheaper but simpler. During this workshop you will get acquainted with ATLASti, a package for qualitative analysis that’s being used in many research organizations and institutes of higher education. You will learn how to upload your data into the program, how to assign codes, create themes and visualize your diagrams. Combinations with other workshops are optional, e.g interview technique and analysis.

Many research results are used in policy development, for instance with local or regional governments. This workshop is suitable for applied researchers who want to know more about bridging research and policy development. How can research help develop or support policymaking? How does research fit into the policy cycle; how do you convince policymakers to use research results when developing policies.

Key in high quality research results is the extent to which the ‘right’ questions are asked. So, you need to listen carefully to your contractor and make the right research choices during your study. Asking good quality questions plays a major role during every phase of your research project. During the workshop we discuss which questions to ask during every phase and how you can monitor the ‘question quality’. It goes without saying that your questions and challenges will be addressed.

During this workshop we discuss aspects of research-quality such as reliability, validity, and usability. The impact of research quality can differ dependent on the choices you make as a researcher: qualitative of quantitative approach, expected width and breadth. Besides standards in research-quality we discuss the use of a multiperspective as a criterium for quality. And of course, your challenges and puzzles will be discussed.

Although you’ve been working as a researcher for many years, a refresher course can be very helpful. With this workshop qualitative methods, we deal with interviews, deskresearch, observation etc. We discuss research options and – criteria. The workshop contains a presentation and a Q&A-session, so all your questions will be answered.