Qualitative Research Symposium 2022

Posted in: QRS2022

Now a month ago, the Centre for Qualitative Research hosted the 8th annual QRS event. Around 50 presenters and 150 total attendees joined us to explore the central theme ‘Researcher Vulnerability’.

Our theme attracted presenters from a huge range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, education, nursing, health, and management to name a few. With the help of the presenters and their high quality papers, we investigated (1) the formation and conceptualisation of vulnerability, (2) effects of vulnerability and (3) methods of and for vulnerability.

This year, through our screens, we shared stories surrounding vulnerability, exchanging our own narratives and experiences as researchers, and discussing how vulnerability can be taken forward as a framework in future research. Initially, we were hesitant to shift the symposium to an online format, however now reflecting ‘post-QRS’ and having had discussions at QRS with people from around the globe in real time, we've realised how accessible the event became. One attendee mentioned “the online format was great for non-Bath residents with little doctorate funding. Please continue in future years!”. Perhaps a hybrid-event is something to consider for the 9th annual symposium.

Pre-Symposium Workshops

This year we kicked QRS off with 7 pre-symposium workshops. These workshops were interactive, informative, and left room for reflective and critical thinking. The topics covered were as follows:

  • Visual methods in teaching and research
  • Researching thoughts and feelings
  • Discourse analysis
  • Thematic analysis
  • Grounded methodology
  • Causal mapping
  • Making inequalities visible

Whilst in and out of running the event, I managed to peek into the majority of ‘Researching Thoughts and Feelings’. This workshop, alongside the others, gave students, staff, and researchers space to critically reflect on the ways in which they research and hear what attendees have to share and learn from one another. Each workshop was run by a different leader, and so although all of the same quality, each workshop was unique in how it was run, with the attendees in ‘Making Inequalities Visible’ even practising their artistic skills with arts-based methods!

"It [the workshop] was really interesting and helped me to think differently about my research"

The Symposium

So now we had warmed up our technical ability to host workshops online, the symposium was the big test. The workshops saw around 20 attendees per session, but the following day saw numbers near 150 attendees!

Not only did we have a great range of topics the day prior, but the symposium saw over 45 titles spanning across 15 groups. Here are 3 random titles to give you an idea of some of the papers presented:

  • “Attending to researcher vulnerability using Trauma and Resilience Informed Research Principles and Practice”
  • “Femme Praxis: Using Femme Theory to foster vulnerability within research design and institutions”,
  • “Challenging issues of integrity and identity of participants in nonsynchronous online qualitative methods”.

Amongst these sessions we also had the keynote session held by Milli Lake and a plenary session held by Nicole Brown. After a day of admitting people into different waiting rooms I managed to catch some of Nicole Brown’s plenary session. I was welcomed with some jazz music upon entering, which set the ambience as attendees entered the room. Nicole proceeded to take us through the ways in which researchers can make the most of their journal in research. Having attended the workshop on ‘Researching Thoughts and Feelings’ 24 hours before, I felt the two sessions had complimented each other immensely. Both session leaders discussed bringing your subconscious feelings and passing thoughts or reflections into the conscious, with Nicole then developing on how to record these thoughts in a journal and why.

My Takeaway

Personally, what I enjoyed most about QRS 2022 was that it provided a space to meet people from different disciplinary backgrounds and all levels of experience, all united by the same appreciation for qualitative research (even online there was a sense of community amongst all those that I spoke to).

The symposium encourages open, honest, and this year, vulnerable conversations about qualitative research. I think the open environment that is fostered by QRS is crucial to the event and is responsible for why everybody is so welcoming to one another.

What Next?

In terms of the timeline from now until QRS 2023, the CQR team will of course be thinking of new themes for the next symposium (we have already had some help from this years attendees!).

Additionally, the centre is now working on producing a book from QRS 2022, so keep a look out for any updates on that on our social media!

Posted in: QRS2022

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