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This week I’m going to dive into the topic of leading qualitative data analysis. Sometimes, you will be the academic or researcher who needs healthcare providers to learn how to collect and analyze qualitative data in order to eventually move from data to paragraphs. Unfortunately, in qualitative health research it isn’t uncommon to find healthcare providers assisting with qualitative research, including data analysis, who are doing it off the side of their desks (i.e., they committed to doing the work but don't have scheduled time to do it). It’s not an easy or ideal situation to be in, but it happens. We’ve got to find strategies to move forward with the available resources…

“Teamwork makes the dream work” is a famous saying attributed to John Maxwell. If you’re a qualitative researcher and academic navigating teamwork, you might have second thoughts about the saying and your thinking might fall more along the lines of “Teamwork makes more work for me!”. This blog post was written after a reader shared with me that working in teams to accomplish qualitative research goals was challenging for them.

Why do we care so much about writing in qualitative health research? You might be thinking it’s related to the pressure to publish within academia but, in my opinion, it goes beyond that. Writing qualitative findings can be intimidating because it comes with a lot of responsibility. As qualitative researchers, we’re naming things and making choices that are related to what people shared with us. We’re responsible for honoring our participants and their perspectives, for being ethical, and for communicating strengths where many stereotypes exist with deep roots. It's no wonder, then, that we feel somewhat intimidated by writing qualitative data!