Thinking Qualitatively Workshop Conference

Thinking Qualitatively is an annual event consisting of a series of workshops in conference format. Participants can mix- and-match workshops, creating their program from approximately 20 half-day or full-day workshops offered in six concurrent sessions.

Organized by the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (IIQM), University of Alberta, Canada, the series is offered over a one-week period every summer. Participants are generally those who are new to qualitative inquiry, including many graduate students. Because of its flexibility, programs can be tailored to meet participants' own research interests and individual needs. Faculty consist of scholars affiliated with the IIQM, assisted by international guests. Previous keynote speakers have included Juliet Corbin, Phyllis Stern, and Arthur Frank.

The sessions are primarily at the introductory level, providing an excellent overview of the principles of qualitative inquiry (e.g., previous conferences have included sessions such as “Preparing Your Proposal,” “Sampling,” “Interviewing Techniques,” and “Coding.”) Qualitative methods are explicated with sessions on narrative inquiry, phenomenology, ethnography, interpretive inquiry, using videos, observational research, and grounded theory. The conference concludes with a one-day workshop on textual data analysis using a computer program, such as NVivo.

The weeklong series also includes a special session each day: a poster session is offered, so that registrants can circulate and discuss their own work, keynote presentations bookend the event, and panel discussions (such as “Doing a Qualitative Dissertation”) are offered. Networking lunches provide opportunity for informal discussions with the faculty and for meeting new colleagues.

Participants agree that, while intense, Thinking Qualitatively is an excellent way to be mentored into qualitative research. The goal of the workshop series is to bring participants to the level that by the end of the conference they will feel confident enough to commence an actual qualitative project.

Information about Thinking Qualitatively may be found on the website for the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology or by searching the internet using the series title Thinking Qualitatively.