What Type of Qualitative Researcher Do You Want to Be in 2021?
Hello Qualitative Mind,
When we envisioned and designed The Realize Path©, we knew it would become a prominent component of Qualitative Research Blueprint (QRB) so we included in the program for the first 2021 cohort.
REALIZE Path© is a product of Quali Q. All Rights Reserved.
The Realize Path© is presented to QRB students on the first week of the program during a live training entitled “Maximizing QRB.” During the 90-minute training, we discuss the Realize Path© and strategies to set each QRB member up for success in the course and career as a qualitative researcher. Working in breakout rooms, each member sets goals and implementation strategies for the duration of QRB. This is one of many things we do to foster community inside QRB.
I’m proud to say we’ve been very successful at making QRB a community of practice where diverse members feel safe and encouraged to work through their most complex questions related to qualitative research. The March 2021 cohort emphasized to us that the relationships fostered within the QRB community, especially through the weekly CommuniQ chats, were the highlight of the program.
We paid close attention to those comments and implemented changes for the summer cohort (QRB is currently open for enrolment and the summer cohort starts on July 6th, 2021!!). The summer cohort will be delivered in an intensive manner (with two modules released weekly), and IN ADDITION to our weekly CommuniQ chats, we’ll have QRB Implementation Lab where we’ll come together over Zoom to work on the part(s) of your qualitative research (or Realize Path© Pillar) that currently needs the most attention from you.
How will QRB Implementation Labs work? You’ll be in breakout rooms with other people with common goals/areas of work while I stay available to those who need one-on-one help and move through breakout rooms to answer questions. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry! We’ll make QRB Implementation Labs organized and give everyone a chance to have a hot seat! 😉
As we did in our March class, we will be kicking off QRB Summer 2021 with a live training session called “Maximizing QRB: The Realize Path”.
In this live training, we will discuss the Realize Path© and how you can apply it to your time in QRB in order to maximize the benefit you get from the course. I have outlined the four pillars of this path for you below…
Pillar One represents Yourself – the Qualitative Mind and Body. Qualitative research is highly relational and personable, and it’s unlikely you’ll show up for your research team and participants in a way that enables impactful, useful qualitative research if you’re burnt out, deflated, and filled with imposter syndrome thoughts and/or limiting beliefs about your capabilities. Cathy Mazak’s podcast Episode 59 – Planning Re-entry Into Writing is a must if you’re unconvinced about the importance of Pillar One.
Pillar Two represents Community of Practice (i.e., Relationships) – Does it take a village to design, conduct and publish qualitative research, especially qualitative health research? Almost always, yes {unless you’re working with textual data and don’t need to recruit participants and engage with community or research partners}. I’d argue that even if you’re doing research with books and texts, you still need a community of practice. By definition a community of practice “is a group of people who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic and who come together to fulfill both individual and group goals” (www.communityofpractice.ca), and in order to grow as a qualitative researcher you need people who can listen to your thoughts, who can share their own perspectives and who can challenge your views and paradigms in a respectful way (social media trolls don’t count here). The first class of students to move through QRB made it clear in the course evaluation how much they enjoyed our live weekly Q&A sessions, and also commented on the fact that the name didn’t do justice to the community building aspect of the meetings. Because of that, in 2021, the members of QRB have had the opportunity to interact with others and build a strong community of practice in our weekly {live} CommuniQ Chats. I have so much fun with these sessions, and I can’t wait to facilitate more incredible discussions moving forward.
Pillar Three represents Reading. This is a pretty straight forward one. It refers to the readings you choose for your learning and growth as a qualitative researcher. I think readings are closely related to where you’re at in your qualitative research and career. If you’re designing your research and writing a proposal, you might be reading papers related to your topic in order to craft a strong literature review or general books on qualitative methods in an effort to decide what and how you’ll be doing your qualitative research. I want you to read these past blog posts if you feel you’re lost in the sea of qualitative titles and readings:
Choose Your Readings Wisely and Avoid the Circus - https://www.qualiq.ca/blog/choose-your-readings-wisely-and-avoid-the-circus
Starting Strong With An Amazing Literature Review - https://www.qualiq.ca/blog/starting-strong-with-an-effective-literature-review
Writing Your Qualitative Methods in a Proposal - https://www.qualiq.ca/blog/writing-your-qualitative-methods-in-a-proposal
Before I move to pillar four, I want to share my favorite qualitative reading of 2020. It was Qualitative Research: Analyzing Life by Johnny Saldaña and Matt Omasta. I enjoy Saldaña’s books on data analysis, and this one was fun and interesting to read while also being super instructional. It’s one of the key references I used to develop some lessons of QRB, and I highly recommend it!
Pillar Four is about Writing. I think I might sound like a broken record by saying this, but writing is ESSENTIAL to qualitative research. We must write {I know the “must” might make you uncomfortable, so if needed let’s sit and move through that discomfort. Shall we?}. We must write to secure qualitative research funding, to enhance qualitative data collection, to organize our thoughts during qualitative data analysis, to enable the dissemination of our impactful qualitative findings!
The four pillars of the Realize Path© are, in my opinion, equally important. However, our programs are going to be focusing on community of practice/relationships as the gateway to all other pillars. We’re thankful that our QRB community is on board with that!
Are you joining us inside QRB this summer? I hope so! It’s going to be SO much fun.
Talk soon,
Maira
**This post was originally published on January 5, 2021. It was updated and reposted on June 29, 2021.