In Rojava region, the interplay between sociopolitical factors and educational infrastructures complicates the landscape of English language speaking skills development among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. This qualitative study explores the factors that hinder EFL students from developing their English-speaking skills. It primarily aimed at reporting teachers' voices on the challenges in the context of Northeast Syria (NES) known as Rojava. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven EFL teachers and two English educational supervisors (EES) to explore the challenges facing students in the context of this study. Using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase thematic analysis, the results identified obstacles to speaking skills and the strategies employed to address these challenges in upper-secondary schools. The findings underscored several challenges EFL learners faced, including insufficient linguistic competence and psychological factors, as well as other influential elements such as environmental support, curriculum limitations and EFL teacher lack proficiency in the improvement of speaking skills. Additionally, the study identified key strategies to mitigate these challenges, such as professional development for teachers, offering constructive feedback, addressing instructional constraints, and employing pedagogical approaches tailored to varying levels of fluency. Future research can take a closer look at school students' speaking skills by incorporating mixed methods research approaches to include a more comprehensive picture of the issue.
Authors and researchers have many alternatives to consider when seeking reporting guidance or assessing the thoroughness of reporting in published qualitative research articles. However, widely used reporting guidance and checklist processes such as CASP, COREQ, SRQR, and the American Psychological Association JARS-Qual have few prompts related to researcher use of Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS) for data preparation, processing, or analysis. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the Qualitative Software Article Data Analysis Checklist (QS-ADAC), a tool developed to provide authors with reporting guidance and to provide students with a consistent process for examining details provided in published research with respect to software-facilitated data analysis. The QS-ADAC also includes sections to guide users to describe processes and outcomes of the use of data analysis software, regardless of the qualitative approach and the nature of the data. In this paper, I compare QS-ADAC with existing checklists, describe the published resources used to inform components of the QS-ADAC, and identify strengths and limitations of the QS-ADAC. The QS-ADAC, now in its second version, is provided as an Appendix for interested readers to use in their research or research instruction.
Exploration of imagined identities and communities has been recognized as critical aspects in learning English as a foreign language. These two aspects perspectives differ as to how learners view themselves with respect to others through narratives and how they practise the language not only face to face but also in virtual interactions. This study aimed to explore how being a participant in virtual communities of practice affect the identity construction among English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) learners coming from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Jenkins, 2006). Specifically, we tried to find out how three Turkish ELF learners positioned themselves in their virtual communities of practice through their own retold stories. Based on Wenger's (1998) classification on identity emergence in practice five deductive themes were derived using a constant comparative method. The narratives showed the learner's participation in virtual imagined communities give rise to an imagined identity which highlights the effect of learner's investment in the target language as well as the sense of belonging acquired through an ELF identity.
Diana Garcia Quevedo and Josue Kuri's AI for Qualitative Research: A Hands-On Guide for Management Scholars (2026) offers a timely and accessible introduction to leveraging large language models (LLMs) for qualitative analysis in management research. Organized into two parts-theoretical foundations and hands-on applications-the book equips researchers with both conceptual understanding and practical programming skills to integrate AI tools responsibly into their analytical workflows. Garcia Quevedo, whose research at ESCP Business School centres on gender, entrepreneurship, and AI-driven qualitative methods, and Kuri, a principal scientist with extensive expertise in AI and network systems, provide a unique interdisciplinary perspective. This review examines the book's structure, key contributions, and implications for the future of qualitative inquiry, highlighting its potential to transform how management scholars approach large-scale textual data while preserving the interpretive depth that defines qualitative research.
Many graduate programs in student affairs-related subfields employ just one full-time faculty member, who then also functions as the program coordinator. Program coordinator duties and compensation vary widely, but they are generally the person who ensures all aspects of the program function. Research shows that fulfilling these responsibilities in addition to teaching, research, and service is difficult; however, this study sought to expand on that literature to understand what it was like to coordinate a HESA program as the only full-time faculty member isolated in that subfield at the institution. We utilized the hybrid qualitative methodology of phenomenological polyethnography, wherein each of the authors fills the dual role of researcher-participant and investigates a shared experience through dialogue. We found that our role was best understood in the duality of autonomy and isolation, through a complex professional interface with the institution, and in the context of the challenges created by this administrative model for the students and program itself. We recommend that further research be done in defining the program coordinator/director role and supporting those who fulfill it, especially the only full-time faculty member in that program.
Teachers play a pivotal role in delivering quality education and shaping students' future lives. The growing demands and responsibilities on teachers can lead to physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, which threatens their well-being-a condition commonly referred to as work stress. Our study aimed to explore the strategies used by elementary school teachers in Bali Province to cope with work-related stress. This study adopts a qualitative research approach with elementary schools in Bali Province, Indonesia, serving as the research setting. A phenomenological research design was employed, involving 25 purposively selected teachers as participants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of data analysis showed that elementary school teachers in Bali employ a variety of strategies to manage the work-related stress they experience. Among the coping strategies identified by participants, deepening spiritual life emerged as the most frequently mentioned approach for managing work-related stress, followed by finding joy in teaching, striving to balance professional responsibility with recreational pursuits, and reframing stress as an opportunity for personal and professional growth. These strategies highlight the adaptive responses of teachers in managing occupational stress within the educational context.
This article explores writing as a process of inquiry and meaning-making in the autoethnographic tradition, offering reflections on the recursive, emergent, and dialogical/dialectical nature of writing, along with some points for consideration. Drawing on perspectives from qualitative research and narrative inquiry (Riessman, 2008), I argue that autoethnographic writing serves as a method of inquiry and/or discovery, generating ontological, epistemological, and axiological-driven cultural meaning that functions as a site of reflection, interrogation, and re-storying of lived experiences. This recursive, often messy, and reflexive act allows researchers to excavate, analyze, and interpret their lived experiences. Rather than viewing writing as a final-stage product for reporting insights, this article explores how composing text can generate new questions, reveal hidden emotions, and create connections between the individual and the broader cultural context. Drawing on personal reflections from my own autoethnographic writing, I explore the transformative potential of writing as a form of inquiry. I provide space for reflection from my master's and Ph.D. inquiries on how the writing process, grounded in autoethnography, enhances the rigor of qualitative reports. I offer key points for autoethnographers who wish to engage more consciously and productively with writing as a core epistemological process, including strategies for embracing vulnerability; navigating narrative truth and addressing its threats, such as narcissism, solipsism, and aestheticism; and practicing rigorous reflexivity. I conclude that treating writing as inquiry allows autoethnographers to foreground uncertainty, complexity, and the transformative potential of meaning-making.
Three decades of professional research suggest several explicit concepts of happiness; however, exploring the lay theories of happiness has largely been overlooked. Addressing this gap, our paper attempts to explore lay concepts of happiness in the contemporary Indian context. Given the inherently subjective nature of happiness, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the impact of beliefs and lived experiences on happiness. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews, and transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Meanings, causes, and actions to maintain happiness evolved into seven significant themes: contentment, achievement and hope, collectivist orientation, autonomy, materialism, pragmatic orientation, and spirituality. The study offers a contemporary perspective on the lay theories of happiness in the Indian cultural context, highlighting the heterogeneities in belief involving values of both hedonic and eudaimonic. The insights generated may help mental health professionals create therapeutic practices and wellbeing programs that align with the Indian cultural context.
While previous research has probed into the experiences of COVID-19 patients during isolation in hospitals, little is known about their psychological experiences and the meaning of such experiences. To address the gap,this study was designed to explore the psychological experiences of patients who were confirmed positive for COVID-19 while undergoing isolation in hospitals. Using a phenomenological approach, we recruited 19 COVID-19 survivors who were confirmed positive for COVID-19 in the first six months of the pandemic entering Indonesia, located in Madiun Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with health protocols and analysed the data using the 6-step Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method. Findings suggest that the participants encountered negative emotion expression (e.g., frustrated, shaken and lost the meaning of routine), protective factors that present positive emotions (e.g., adequacy of material assets in the isolation room, attention and empathy of health workers and family support), and to cultivate positive emotions through distinct strategies, including strengthening self-belief and spirituality, engaging in enjoyable self-directed activities, deepening a sense of connection with God, and sharing burdens with others to fill spare time and reduce distress. Exploring the experiences of patients with confirmed COVID-19 while undergoing isolation can provide opportunities to improve the quality of physical and psychological services for patients to speed up recovery and reduce the burden of treatment costs.
Our aim in this paper is to help scholars better understand theory's purpose in qualitative research, how it is employed in data analysis, and the strengths and limitations of the insights it can reveal. We do this by sharing our practice using multiple theories to make sense of a common data set in an advanced doctoral class focused on theory in qualitative research. For the class final project, students chose different theories to analyze one common data set: A brief historical article on the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots. Student-chosen theories included constructivism, actor-network theory, symbolic interactionism, critical race theory, and LatCrit theory. In the paper, we describe the purpose of theory in qualitative research; give primary attention to students' diverse theoretical analyses of our data set; and explore the benefits of employing multiple theories to make sense of complex phenomena. The interplays and assemblage of researcher, theory, data, and society are emphasized.
This study is a generative inquiry with survivors of trafficking from a social constructionist perspective. Inspired by the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, its focus is collaboration between researchers and trafficking survivors with a view to shaping and understanding their trafficking experiences together, expanding understanding of the topic and co-constructing a relational space in which counter-narratives on victimhood can be generated. It consisted of 10 interviews with women survivors of trafficking at the Italian Anti-Trafficking System. These women were from a range of nations and their experiences of exploitation varied. Taking a constructionist approach to research, we formulated an episodic-generative interview made up of circular and reflexive questions inspired by the Post Traumatic Growth Inventory. The research questions are as follows: How can we collaboratively create counter-narratives that challenge the narrative of victimization? What themes promote the co-construction of transformative narratives in survivors of trafficking? Reflexive thematic analysis was then performed on the textual material gathered, which generated five themes: resources/strengths, relationships, future, helpful aspects, and momentary feelings. Overall, this study suggests that through a generative methodology, it is possible to collaboratively co-generate counter-narratives oriented towards personal strength, dreams, and the future. This approach could represent an important inquiry scenario for both clinical and psychosocial inquiry with survivors of trafficking and refugees in general. Grounded in a social constructionist perspective, this inquiry sheds light on the way a theoretical-methodological framework can amplify voice diversity and offer a more nuanced understanding of what it means to be a survivor of trafficking, thereby opening new opportunities for action.
This study examines sustainability practices in Indonesia's drilling and oil field services (OFS) industry, addressing a critical research gap from a business and management perspective. Using a qualitative case study approach, ten in-depth interviews with industry leaders identified key performance variables and developed a sustainability model specifically designed for the OFS drilling sector. The findings highlight three core dimensions: Internal Variables (e.g., Employee Health and Safety, CSR Initiatives, ESG Performance, Cost Savings, Energy Efficiency, Carbon Footprint Reduction), External Variables (e.g., Green Financing, Stakeholder Engagement, Community Welfare), and Performance. Novel contributions include operationalizing advanced HSE technologies like cyber rigs and tailored cost-saving strategies such as local sourcing. The study underscores the interconnectedness of environmental, social, operational, and financial dimensions, emphasizing the need for a multifaceted sustainability approach to enhance industry resilience and meet global sustainability goals. This framework provides actionable insights for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, advancing sustainability in high-impact industries.
Telehealth increases access to allied healthcare in rural areas. People with Parkinson's disease (PD) need improved access to health care, and from a patient-centered perspective, the coordination of their healthcare should be a priority. Four speech-language pathologists, two physical therapists, two pharmacists, and two study coordinators provided a coordinated allied healthcare intervention for people with PD in rural Wyoming and Nevada. Both the providers of the intervention, as well as the participants who received it, were interviewed about their experiences with the eight-week intervention and asked about aspects that were successful or unsuccessful. Through a naturalistic paradigm using a qualitative description design, we analyzed the opinions and experiences regarding delivering or receiving this eight-week intervention. We analyzed the interview transcripts searching for patterns and categories that emerged when participants described their experiences with either delivering or receiving this eight-week intervention. We analyzed the patient and provider data separately, identifying themes for both groups. We then conducted a qualitative comparison of the two sets of themes. Ultimately, this analysis resulted in four shared themes between the intervention participants and the intervention providers: Technology benefits: Convenience without losing connection; Technology challenges: Internet access and stability; Intervention benefits: Improved outcomes and increased PD knowledge; and Future considerations for the intervention: Asynchronous resources and internet/software enhancements. Despite some technology challenges, healthcare providers and participants found that coordinated telehealth is an effective and successful way to deliver speech-language therapy, physical therapy, and medication management to people with PD in rural locations.
This article reports our experience of exploring the use of ChatGPT to artistically present a segment of qualitative data in a visual form for one of our previous studies. We recounted our engagement with ChatGPT and reflected on our emotions and thoughts throughout the interactive process with this AI-powered tool for image generation. Our narrative analysis highlights the agency of ChatGPT as an active contributor to the creative endeavor and emphasizes our critical role as researchers in interpreting the data and in critically evaluating AI-generated images within the context of our research. The paper suggests that AI-text-to-image function can potentially enhance researchers' engagement with qualitative data and empower the researchers to (re)present data in novel ways. Through a critical reflection of human-AI collaboration and researchers' collaboration with the involvement of AI, we discuss how utilizing AI as an arts-creation tool in arts-based methodology will possibly empower researchers to engage with visualization of qualitative data and add a complex, nuanced layer to the data analysis process.
This qualitative multimodal analytical study draws upon Kress and van Leeuwen's ideas about pictures and problematizes textbooks of English that supposedly teach only English in Pakistan. It aims to understand the identities of an adult female as shown in the images of an English textbook. It uses Foucault's theories of discourse and discursive formation, and a Vygotskian sociocultural view of the development of consciousness. By following Braun and Clarke (2006, 2019), all the pictures of the My English Book 4 are first analyzed thematically. Later, O'Toole's (1994) method of analyzing pictures is employed for a detailed examination of a representative image chosen purposively from the leading theme. The study attempts to know how images/illustrations used in the English textbook perpetuate a certain gender ideology. The meticulous multimodal analysis demonstrates that the image of a housewife identity communicates to students beyond English by advocating a certain ideology of female identity pervasive in today's Pakistan. The study implies that the multimodal images of the book are not innocent; they have an embedded prescriptive hidden curriculum of their era and area.
Through an epistolary critical autoethnography and Latina and Chicana feminist framework, I explore the question of how international graduate students of color can overcome cultural, linguistic, ethnoracial, and social class isolation on predominantly white campuses and in college towns. By writing a letter to my mother (one of my methods for survival in academia), I share my challenges as a Guatemalan, first-time mom, first-generation college student, international student, and non-English native speaker in graduate school during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, this writing helps me recognize how I overcame my isolation and regained my joy and purpose in my doctoral program by working in two research-practice partnerships and community engagement, and by utilizing the resources available on campus (e.g., counseling, mentorship, and faculty support).
My article explores the application of grounded theory in educational research, focusing on the literature review process, reflexivity, and conceptual development. I address common misconceptions about grounded theory, especially for novice researchers, and advocate for its use as a comprehensive methodology rather than solely as a data analysis tool. Drawing on my doctoral research experience, I argue that grounded theory offers a valuable framework for fostering theoretical sensitivity and independence, making it particularly suitable for educational research. Through detailed examination, I offer novice researchers practical strategies for navigating the methodological complexities of grounded theory and for contributing conceptually robust and meaningful insights to their fields.
Research contexts pose different challenges during research processes, and these challenges may affect the credibility of study findings. This was especially the case when, as a researcher, I interacted with police participants from different cultural backgrounds from my own. This paper reflects on my experience as a female Sepedi-speaking researcher conducting a Ph.D. qualitative, grounded theory study with male and female South African Police Service (SAPS) officers from the Venda and Tsonga cultural backgrounds. I used a reflexive autoethnographic research design to purposively look at myself as the subject of inquiry and analyze my reflexive journal using reflexive thematic data analysis. The results show a journey of navigating cultural differences and reveal various directed research actions that I adopted during the research process. I recommend a methodological framework for rigorous and ethical research training for postgraduate students and practice by qualitative researchers, which is informed by local knowledge and African relational moral theory, including ubuntu.
This study examines how secondary-school teachers in post-conflict Central Maluku, Indonesia, enact cultural education to advance critical cultural literacy and social cohesion. Using a qualitative design, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 teachers, classroom observations across six schools, curriculum-document review, and field notes from school and community ceremonies (e.g., pela gandong village alliances; sasi resource-management). Data were analysed through abductive thematic coding informed by critical literacy and teacher-agency frameworks. Findings show teachers mobilise local narratives and practices to: (1) open dialogic spaces for discussing conflict and reconciliation; (2) cultivate critical interpretation of historical and media texts; (3) rebuild intergroup trust through collaborative rituals and school-community projects; and (4) resist curricular pressures that marginalise local knowledge. Implementation is uneven due to limited training time, assessment misalignment, and weak institutional support. We conceptualise teachers as cultural agents who bridge formal curriculum and living traditions, and we outline supports-professional development, curriculum revision, and community partnerships-needed to sustain critical cultural literacy. The study offers actionable guidance for policymakers and educators designing culturally responsive peace education in diverse, post-conflict contexts.
For those who are new to qualitative research, it can be easy to become caught up in the procedural steps and lose sight of the interpretive nature of qualitative analysis. As educators, we need to be mindful about how to teach procedural steps but also engage learners in the interpretive process of qualitative analysis. In fact, we would suggest that a rigorous approach to qualitative analysis involves applying methods in ways that create space for interpretive thinking. Theoretical insights and rich understandings of the data are derived from interpretive and creative analytical thinking often grounded in aesthetics in which we feel and see something and to a certain extent be able to experience it. In this article, we reflect upon and discuss arts-based pedagogy as an approach to teaching and learning qualitative analysis at the graduate level. The focus of this article is to present an aesthetic teaching-learning pedagogy that works at fully engaging the learners' senses while promoting interpretive approaches to analysis. We specifically discuss pedagogical approaches, such as dance/music, poetry, and painting, used by the instructor and a student in the context of a doctoral-level course. These sorts of art-based pedagogical approaches promote aesthetic engagement while disrupting hegemonic discourse and challenging the habitual nature of positivism and post-positivism engrained in one's thinking. These arts-based pedagogical approaches benefit graduate students by creating spaces that cultivate interpretive thinking while bringing the fullness of one's being (the researcher) and their senses into the analytic processes.
