This course will take place over three mornings (10/13/25, 10/15/25, AND 10/17/25), 2.5 hours per morning, and will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.
This course introduces participants to constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Grounded theory (GT) methods consist of flexible guidelines to fit particular research problems, not to apply mechanically. With these guidelines, you expedite and systematize data collection and analysis. GT methods can assist researchers in making their work more analytic, precise, and compelling.
In this course, following an exploration of the history and development of GT, we examine GT basic guidelines and major strategies, including initial line-by-line and focused coding, the use of gerunds, memoing, diagramming, theoretical sampling, and categorising. Throughout the sessions, there is an emphasis on CGT’s epistemological foundation and resultant adaptations to the research process, including regarding the literature review, researcher positionality/ies and reflexivity, and participant involvement.
The course will include a number of hands-on exercises to exemplify, and give participants an opportunity to practice, the strategies being discussed. For the coding exercise, you may bring and use some of your own qualitative data, or if you do not have data yet, some will be supplied. Clear guidelines and support are provided to course participants with regard to all aspects of CGT.
The sessions will utilise CGT readings and resources from Kathy Charmaz, Robert Thornberg, Adele Clarke, and myself, and will draw on the extensive scholarship of Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. A pack of materials will be shared with participants in advance of the course. This course will be of interest to those doing full CGT studies but also to those who may be interested in learning about and potentially using some of the powerful GT strategies (such as coding) in studies with a different overall methodological approach.
There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to engaging patient, community, or other partners in your research. Rather, there are a variety of engagement methods to suit your study's needs, your research team's capacity, and your partners' interests.
This online training will describe three common approaches for working with patient, community, and other partners in your research: 1) consultative community feedback sessions; 2) advisory boards; and 3) sustained collaboration with partners as members of the research team.
The session will cover considerations for choosing these specific engagement methods, as well as concrete processes and steps for implementing each approach. Participation in our Engagement in Research 101 training is not required to attend this session; however, some knowledge of engagement, whether from prior training(s) or personal experience, may foster deeper understanding of the material in this session.
Presenters:
Alicia Bilheimer, MPH - Director of Engaged Science, NC TraCS
Veronica Carlisle, MPH, CHES - Senior Community Health Educator, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC)
Nisha Datta, MS - Senior Project Manager, NC TraCS
Simone Frank, MPH - Senior Project Manager, NC TraCS
Milenka Jean-Baptiste, MPH - Qualitative Research Specialist, NC TraCS
Jennifer Potter, MPH, CHES - Senior Program Coordinator for Clinical Outreach, LCCC
Please note: This event may be recorded. Materials such as slides or handouts will be shared with documented attendees only. Attendance may be determined through Zoom meeting attendance reports.
Engaging Patient, Community, and Other Partners in Your Research is a multi-part online training series. You may register for the entire series OR any single training session. This training series was developed collaboratively with patient, community, and researcher partners and is co-sponsored by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and NC TraCS Institute.
Accelerate your ideas through customer discovery and market opportunity validation!
KickStart Venture Services is recruiting community startups as well as faculty, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students with innovations and an interest in commercialization to participate in their virtual NSF I-Corps program. They will teach you the principles of customer discovery to help you better understand the market potential of your innovation!
The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps Program (I-Corps) was launched in 2011 and has quickly become one of the world’s largest and most successful technology commercialization accelerators. The I-Corps regional program helps researchers and aspiring innovators determine if they are solving a real-world problem with true market opportunity. NSF’s I-Corps Program not only provides funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help commercialize promising technologies, it is offered at NO COST to the community.
For more information about the I-Corps Program, visit KickStart Venture Services.