Workshop on Interdisciplinary Standards for Systematic Qualitative Research; Arlington, VA 2005

SES-0533084米歇尔·拉蒙特哈佛大学本提案描述了将于2005年5月举行的为期两天的系统定性研究跨学科标准研讨会的计划。该研讨会建立在2003年由美国国家科学基金会赞助的一次研讨会的基础上，该研讨会考察了“定性研究的科学基础”。2003年的讲习班汇集了24名社会科学专家组成的方法论小组，他们概述了制定定性研究项目的一般指导方针和加强定性研究的建议。同样，这次研讨会将召集一个由大约25名人类学家、政治学家、社会学家和法律及相关学科的学者组成的多学科小组，目的是(1)阐明文化人类学、政治学、社会学和法律和社会科学在各种方法技术(例如，人种学、历史和比较分析、文本分析、焦点小组、档案和口述历史、观察性研究、图像和文化材料的解释以及非结构化访谈)中保持定性方法严谨的标准；(2)确定不同学科在设计和评估研究提案和促进多学科合作方面可以共享的共同标准；以及(3)制定研究议程，以加强使用定性方法进行研究的工具、培训、数据、研究设计和基础设施。这一研讨会是解决缺乏跨学科的定性研究的共同标准的第一步，将有助于促进研究共享，并有助于更好地欣赏和理解具有不同方法标准的社会科学家所做的研究。广泛影响2005年期间，将在美国社会学协会、美国政治学协会、法律与社会协会和美国人类学协会的2006年年会上汇编、分发一份研讨会报告以征求意见。这次研讨会被设想为一项更广泛倡议的开始，该倡议涉及上述四个学科以外的其他社会科学学科和跨学科项目。几乎所有社会科学和相关学科都将受益于为人种志、历史和比较分析、文本分析、图像和文化材料的解读以及非结构化访谈等领域的定性研究制定严格的共同标准。鉴于在国家科学基金会内外，跨学科研究的重要性与日俱增，制定一种共同的语言和标准，至少就开展和评估定性研究的学科标准达成共识，将提高跨学科研究的严格性、质量和实用性。建立这样的标准可能会对个人研究人员或社会科学家的多学科团队有用，这些团队致力于整合跨学科边界的研究。

SES- 0533084Michele LamontHarvard UniversityThis proposal describes plans for a two-day Workshop on Interdisciplinary Standards for Systematic Qualitative Research to be held in May 2005. The workshop builds on a 2003 NSF-sponsored workshop that examined the "scientific foundations of qualitative research." The 2003 workshop brought together a diverse group of 24 social science experts on methodology, who outlined general guidance for developing qualitative research projects and recommendations for strengthening qualitative research. Similarly, this workshop will convene a multi-disciplinary group of approximately 25 anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, and scholars in law and related disciplines for the broader purpose of (1) articulating the standards used in Cultural Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, and Law and Social Science for maintaining rigor in qualitative methods across the range of methodological techniques (e.g., ethnography, historical and comparative analysis, textual analysis, focus groups, archival and oral history, observational studies, interpretation of images and cultural materials, and unstructured interviews); (2) identifying common criteria the different disciplines can share for designing and evaluating research proposals and fostering multidisciplinary collaborations; and (3) developing a research agenda for strengthening the tools, training, data, research design, and infrastructure for research using qualitative methods. This workshop represents a first step in addressing the lack of shared standards for qualitative research that cross disciplinary boundaries and will help to facilitate the sharing of research and contribute to a greater appreciation and understanding of research conducted by social scientists with different methodological standards of excellence.Broader ImpactsDuring 2005, a workshop report will be assembled, circulated for comments, and disseminated at the 2006 annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, American Political Science Association, Law and Society Association, and American Anthropological Association. This workshop is envisioned as the beginning of a wider initiative involving other social science disciplines and interdisciplinary programs beyond the four identified above. Virtually all social science and related disciplines would benefit from the development of shared standards for rigor in qualitative research in such areas as ethnography, historical and comparative analysis, textual analysis, interpretation of images and cultural materials and unstructured interviews. Given the growing importance, both within and outside of the National Science Foundation, of interdisciplinary research, developing if not a common language and criteria, at least a shared understanding of what disciplinary criteria are with respect to conducting and evaluating qualitative research, will enhance the rigor, quality and utility of interdisciplinary inquiry. Establishing such standards could be useful to individual researchers or multidisciplinary teams of social scientists working to integrate research across disciplinary boundaries.