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

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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.