Scientific Basis of Qualitative Research, Workshop, Washington, DC, July 2003

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports a two-day workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Qualitative Research" to be held in Washington, D.C. in July 2003. The workshop brings together a group of experts on qualitative methodologies and their relation to more established and better funded approaches. Workshop participants will address the place of qualitative methods in the social sciences and their role in advancing scientific knowledge. The workshop will develop a research agenda that includes strategies for more effectively integrating qualitative approaches in the basic social science research enterprise. Key questions to be addressed in the workshop include: (1) What is qualitative methodology? (2) Does qualitative methodology respond to distinctive goals? (3) Does qualitative research have a distinctive relationship to theory? (4) What is different about data analytic techniques specifically designed for qualitative data? (5) Does qualitative research have a definable analytic basis, and if so, how does it differ from that of quantitative approaches? (6) What standards should be used to evaluate the results of qualitative research? (7) What are the most productive, feasible, and innovative ways of combining qualitative and quantitative research methodologies? For the past several decades quantitative methodology has been dominant in sociology and related social sciences. Overall, this dominance has made these disciplines more rigorous and more sensitive to standards of proof. The emphasis on quantitative methods, however, also has highlighted the limitations of this approach and the need for balance within social research. This workshop's research agenda and supporting report will be widely disseminated through disciplinary websites and sessions at relevant professional association meetings.