Learning how to formulate questions that examine the power relations between the researcher and participants is at the heart of critical approaches. This book provides a comprehensive overview and treatment of critical approaches to questions in qualitative research. It also examines questions as tools for strategic thinking and decision making at all stages of the qualitative research process. Written using examples from research and teaching, it situates constructing and formulating questions as a critical aspect of qualitative research that encourages learning to interrogate, and inquire, against the grain. The authors illustrate the ways in which different research questions necessitate different methodological choices, framing questions for research, interviewing, and analysis—suggesting some questions that can guide the writing process. With exercises, sample questions, and outlines for planning research, this book assists qualitative researchers with creating more effective questions, including formulating questions to guide reflexivity meant to confront prevailing assumptions and therefore dismantle and uncover omissions and invisibilities. This book stands out among other qualitative research methods books in its focus on critical approaches to questions as the driver of the research imagination. Utilising a number of examples, there is also a focused discussion of how to arrive at research questions, align interview questions with those research questions, actively construct questions to guide the data analysis process, and use further types of questions to guide the writing process. The examples the authors employ include questions drawn from qualitative approaches to phenomenology, ethnography, life writing, feminist research, and participatory action research.

Learning how to formulate questions that examine the power relations between the researcher and participants is at the heart of critical approaches. This book provides a comprehensive overview and treatment of critical approaches to questions in qualitative research. It also examines questions as tools for strategic thinking and decision making at all stages of the qualitative research process. Written using examples from research and teaching, it situates constructing and formulating questions as a critical aspect of qualitative research that encourages learning to interrogate, and inquire, against the grain. The authors illustrate the ways in which different research questions necessitate different methodological choices, framing questions for research, interviewing, and analysis—suggesting some questions that can guide the writing process. With exercises, sample questions, and outlines for planning research, this book assists qualitative researchers with creating more effective questions, including formulating questions to guide reflexivity meant to confront prevailing assumptions and therefore dismantle and uncover omissions and invisibilities. This book stands out among other qualitative research methods books in its focus on critical approaches to questions as the driver of the research imagination. Utilising a number of examples, there is also a focused discussion of how to arrive at research questions, align interview questions with those research questions, actively construct questions to guide the data analysis process, and use further types of questions to guide the writing process. The examples the authors employ include questions drawn from qualitative approaches to phenomenology, ethnography, life writing, feminist research, and participatory action research.

Life writing projects have become part of the expanding field of qualitative research methods in recent years and advances in critical approaches are reshaping methodological pathways. Critical Approaches to Life Writing Methods in Qualitative Research gives researchers and students looking for a brief compendium to guide their methodological thinking a concise and working overview of how to approach and carry out different forms of life writing. This practical book re-invigorates the conversation about the possibilities and innovative directions qualitative researchers can take when engaged in various forms of life writing, such as biography, autobiography, autoethnography, life history, and oral history. It equips the reader with the tools to carry out life writing projects from start to finish, including choosing a topic or subject, examining lives as living data, understanding the role of documents and artifacts, learning to tell the story, and finally writing/performing/displaying through the voice of the life writer. The authors also address the ways a researcher can begin a project, work through the issues they might face along the journey, and arrive at a shareable product. With its focus on the plurality of life writing methodologies, Critical Approaches to Life Writing Methods in Qualitative Research occupies a distinct place in qualitative research scholarship and offers practical exercises to guide the researcher. Examples include exploring authorial voice, practical applications of reflexivity exercises, the relationship between the narrator and participants, navigating the use of public and private archives, understanding the processes of collaborative inquiry and collaborative writing, and writing for various audiences.

An essential guide to incorporating critical research into higher education scholarship. Winner of the Outstanding Publication Award of the Post-secondary Education Division of the American Educational Research Association Critical theory has much to teach us about higher education. By linking critical models, methods, and research tools with an advocacy-driven vision of the central challenges facing postsecondary researchers and staff, Critical Approaches to the Study of Higher Education makes a significant—and long overdue—contribution to the development of the field. The contributors argue that, far from being overly abstract, critical tools and methods are central to contemporary scholarship and can have practical policy implications when brought to the study of higher education. They argue that critical research design and critical theories help scholars see beyond the normative models and frameworks that have long limited our understanding of students, faculty, institutions, the organization and governance of higher education, and the policies that shape the postsecondary arena. A rigorous and invaluable guide for researchers seeking innovative approaches to higher education and the morass of traditionally functionalist, rational, and neoliberal thinking that mars the field, this book is also essential for instructors who wish to incorporate the lessons of critical scholarship into their course development, curriculum, and pedagogy.

Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation offers comprehensive step-by-step guidance and practical tools for navigating the personal and professional challenges that can arise during the qualitative dissertation journey. Authors Linda Dale Bloomberg and Maria Volpe skillfully blend the conceptual, theoretical, and practical, empowering readers to successfully master both the content and the process of their qualitative dissertations. The Fourth Edition has been thoroughly updated to respond to developments in the field, allowing the book to have wider application for dissertation work within the evolving world of qualitative inquiry. Included in this edition is a new chapter titled "Achieving Alignment Throughout Your Dissertation," a greater focus on how all qualitative traditions can encompass activist research and social justice inquiry, and enhanced coverage on the role of the researcher, emphasizing the importance of reflexivity and approaching research critically.

The Elements of Inquiry covers the basic guidelines for graduate students doing an investigation or inquiry project. It distils the rubrics necessary for teaching research methods and completing research projects, and gives the student researcher a list of steps to follow to complete any type of inquiry project – including formal research projects such as doctoral dissertations. It was written to support the work of students in an educational leadership doctoral program, but it will also assist the research efforts of college students at any level in any discipline. The book begins by establishing the underlying philosophical concepts upon which all good research is based, preparing students to get down to the "nuts and bolts" of conducting their own research and evaluating the research of others. Fundamental concepts and rules of research are explained both for producers and consumers of social science and educational research. Numerous practical examples illustrate the steps in the research process presented in the text. There are end-of-chapter exercises for students to apply the concepts discussed in the chapter. Templates for organizing and presenting research provide students with a game plan for success with their research. The book ends with an up-to-date annotated bibliography of beginning and advanced research texts allowing students easy access to books that detail the more specialized research topics. While most research books detail one or more method in depth, this text provides a broad introduction to many techniques and models used in doctoral dissertations, and will be of particular value to those who are consumers of inquiry studies and research reports. Key to the overview provided is the annotated bibliography that leads the reader to the next stage of understanding or doing research.

This volume informs the growing number of educational policy scholars on the use of critical theoretical frameworks in their analyses. It offers insights on which theories are appropriate within the area of critical educational policy research and how theory and method interact and are applied in critical policy analyses. Highlighting how different critical theoretical frameworks are used in educational policy research to reshape and redefine the way scholars approach the field, the volume offers work by emerging and senior scholars in the field of educational policy who apply critical frameworks to their research. The chapters examine a wide range of current educational policy topics through different critical theoretical lenses, including critical race theory, critical discourse analysis, postmodernism, feminist poststructuralism, critical theories related to LGBTQ issues, and advocacy approaches.

An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums is a practice-based guide that is designed to introduce qualitative research to established and upcoming museum professionals and increase their confidence to conduct this type of research. Highlighting the work of researchers who are studying museums around the world, the book begins by explaining why there is a need for qualitative research in museums. Rowson Love and Randolph then go on to provide guidance, including theories and frameworks, on how to envision a qualitative research project that facilitates meaningful interpretation of visitor experiences. Chapters in the methodology section begin with descriptions of featured qualitative methodologies and will assist readers as they determine which are most appropriate for their projects and as they advocate for their research. The final section will prepare readers still further by demonstrating data analysis and reporting using the examples in the book. An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums will help museum professionals and students engaged in the study of museums expand their repertoire to include qualitative methodologies and explain the methods needed to conduct, analyze, and report their qualitative research. It will be particularly useful to those with an interest in museum education, visitor studies and audience research, exhibition development, leadership, and management.

Meeting a key need for qualitative researchers, this practical book presents tools for creating productive partnerships and managing each phase of a collaborative project. The authors provide guidelines for working across disciplines, status differentials (such as professor and student), and geographical locations. Collaboration within particular qualitative traditions--cross-cultural research, duoethnography, participatory action research, arts-based collaborations, and others--is described and illustrated with exemplars of published studies. Readers learn how to build research teams, formulate research questions, gather and analyze data, and assess how collaborations are working. Ethical questions are highlighted throughout: Who owns collaborative research? Who decides what aspects of the findings should be disseminated? How can inequitable power relations be redressed? Within-chapter "Pedagogical Pathways" sections provide practice exercises and opportunities for reflection.

This handbook offers a contemporary and comprehensive review of critical research theory and methodology. Showcasing the work of contemporary critical researchers who are harnessing and building on a variety of methodological tools, this volume extends beyond qualitative methodology to also include critical quantitative and mixed-methods approaches to research. The critical scholars contributing to this volume are influenced by a diverse range of education disciplines, and represent multiple countries and methodological backgrounds, making the handbook an essential resource for anyone doing critical scholarship. The book moves from the theoretical to the specific, examining various paradigms for engaging in critical scholarship, various methodologies for doing critical research, and the political, ethical, and practical issues that arise when working as a critical scholar. In addition to mapping the field, contributions synthesize literature, offer concrete examples, and explore relevant contexts, histories, assumptions, and current practices, ultimately fostering generative thinking that contributes to future methodological and theoretical breakthroughs. New as well as seasoned critical scholars will find within these pages exciting new ideas, challenging questions, and insights that spur the continuous evolution and grow the influence of critical research methods and theories in the education and human disciplines.