"Will You Be Our Qualitative Methodologist?" Reflections on Grant Work Responsibilities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Issues of Representation in Qualitative Research

Abstract

Increasingly, government funders encourage team-based projects that incorporate qualitative designs through interdisciplinary mixed methods research. For qualitative methodologists, these opportunities may come at a cost when their expertise is marginalized relative to quantitative designs. Drawing on concepts of truth-telling and care we discuss an ethical analysis of our experiences as qualitative methodologists on interdisciplinary grant funded research teams. Through an exploration of the ethical tensions we faced, we offer advice for qualitative researchers navigating these tensions, focusing on collaboration, education, critique, process-focus, and critical reflexivity. This paper offers a practical and ethical way forward for qualitative methodologists who accept grant work invitations, a way that holds promise for advancing interdisciplinary, collective, and care-based action against educational injustices.

Authors

• Jennifer R. Wolgemuth, University of South Florida

• Lorien S Jordan, University of Arkansas