Qualitative secondary analysis has generated heated debate regarding the epistemology of qualitative research. We argue that shifting to an abductive approach provides a fruitful avenue for qualitative secondary analysts who are oriented towards theory-building. However, the concrete implementation of abduction remains underdeveloped--especially…

Post qualitative inquiry has called for method-less research and warned against the incommensurability of the use of systematic research methods with poststructural and new materialist theories. This essay offers a counterpoint to the incommensurability argument by presenting four examples of studies informed by poststructural and new materialist…

Constructivist grounded theory has earned a place in research worldwide and been applied in diverse fields. However, in educational research of teachers' work in the classroom from the perspective of the teacher, it has had a lesser impact on research methodology. We argue for the benefits to educational research when using a constructivist…

This paper aims to critique approaches to qualitative coding that carry a bottom-up or inductive thinking. Despite the wide contributions of this epistemology to the social sciences, this paper contends that contemporary research and methodological debates have inadequately explored different epistemologies for coding. As such, this paper proposes…

Qualitative coding procedures emanating from grounded theory were limited by technologies of the 1960s: colored pens, scissors, and index cards. Today, electronic documents can be flexibly stored, retrieved, and cross-referenced using qualitative data analysis (QDA) software. We argue the oft-cited grounded theory framework poorly fits many…

The use of codebooks to categorise qualitative data and to increase consistency in coding between multiple researchers is a well-established strategy in qualitative research. However, due to the focus on team-based research projects, the possibilities for the use of codebooks by individual researchers are rarely discussed. With the aim of adding…

Coding, the analytic task of assigning codes to nonnumeric data, is foundational to writing research. A rich discussion of methodological pluralism has established the foundational importance of systematicity in the task of coding, but less attention has been paid to the equally important commitment to language complexity. Addressing the interplay…

With the rapid advancements of technology, online communication in both K-12 and post-secondary instruction has been widely implemented. Instructors as well as researchers have used various frameworks to evaluate different aspects of online discussions' quality. The online discussions take place synchronously or asynchronously in chat rooms,…

We question widely accepted practices of publishing articles that present quantified analyses of qualitative data. First, articles are often published that provide only very brief excerpts of the qualitative data themselves to illustrate the coding scheme, tacitly or explicitly treating the coding results as data. Second, articles are often…

This paper discusses two qualitative research methods, phenomenography and grounded theory. We introduce both methods' data collection and analysis processes and the type or results you may get at the end by using examples from computing education research. We highlight some of the similarities and differences between the aim, data collection and…

From the beginnings of qualitative research in the late 19th century to today, researchers have struggled to make sense of the notion of self or subjectivity; in other words, the I in the research. We ask ourselves: Who is the researcher? How is their notion of self present during research? How is research a site for contested notions of self? Who…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates parental involvement during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Several factors including previous IEP experiences, level of ongoing communication between parents and education professionals, or existence of social and cultural capital resources can impact…

With passage of the Welfare Reform Law of 1996, various national, state, and local programs were created to encourage marriage, particularly among low-income African American cohabiting couples with children. However, policy makers know little about the deterrents to marriage for members of this group. More specifically, there is a lack of data…

The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) provided Early Childhood Educator Preparation Program Innovation (EPPI) grants to 20 partnerships comprised of two- and four-year institutions to further develop models for early childhood educator preparation and build capacity in key areas of need. Recipients used grant funds to design and implement…

Studies of when youth classify academic achievement in racial terms have focused on the racial classification of behaviors and individuals. However, institutions--including schools--may also be racially classified. Drawing on a comparative interview study, we examine the school contexts that prompt urban black students to classify schools in…