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The resources are continuously under development and the list added to.

Enquiry Learning Unit

Qualitative Research Resources

The ELU qualitative research resources are dedicated to promoting critique, discussion and dialogue. To facilitate this process the resources have been organised into issue menus and each article in each menu has been hyperlinked across the menus to create connections between key terms, themes and debates. There is no right place to start.

Use the ELU resources to:

• begin understanding qualitative research methodology and project development by using the Introduction to Qualitative Research
• prompt reflection on your research based assignment, dissertation or thesis by using the checklist
• understand the nature of the project for personal and social purposes
• explore issues to do with methodology - research questions, research perspective, analysis - see ACE methodology
• undertand the nature of critical inquiry
• get a deeper understanding of key qualitative research methods and approaches to collecting and analysing data
  • interviewing, for an introduction.to carrying out interviews and for an approach to analytic interviews
  • observation
  • textual analysis, see also for example, the approach adopted in 'visions and voices' and the approach adopted in Addendum.
  • discourse analysis - begin with the brief definitions of discourse, language and forbidden discourse
  • visual data analysis
  • how philosophy links to research methodology
• explore qualitative research methodologies in order to discuss and critique
  • case study, see in particular the approach adopted in 'visions and voices'.
  • action research, and see the talking and listening project
  • evaluation
  • biographical and narrative methods
• explore qualitative research perspectives and theory
  • symbolic interactionism
  • phenomenology
  • deconstruction
  • hermeneutics
  • critical realism
    • see description of critical realism in ACE methodology
  • intertextuality
  • ontology
• explore debates
  • modernism
  • structuralism and poststructuralism see also discussion of deconstruction and différance
  • postmodernism
  • globalisation
  • feminism
  • post-colonialist
  • critical realism
  • reality and pleasure
  • security and freedom
  • risk, uncertainty and play
  • dialogue
  • issues of reading and writing
• explore contemporary social, global issues
  • education
  • information technology
  • the education/training/professional development of health professionals
• design projects
• get ideas for courses, papers, publications