This course will take place over three mornings (3/6/23, 3/8/23, 3/10/23), 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.

Register

Integrating memos and codes in qualitative analysis (online)

This 2.5 hour course will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:

This course focuses on what it means to develop codes and how to integrate memo writing into the larger process of coding and analysis. Coding and memo writing function as simultaneous and fluid tasks that occur during actively reviewing interviews, focus groups, and multi-media data. We will discuss the tension between deductive and inductive codes and how codes can emerge and shift unexpectedly during analysis. We will also cover how to identify code connections, possible hierarchies, and higher-level themes.

Instructor: Paul Mihas, MA

Paul Mihas is the Assistant Director of Qualitative Research at the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the former managing editor of Social Forces, a journal of sociology published at the University of North Carolina Press. He has partnered with ResearchTalk Inc. since 2001 as a senior qualitative analysis consultant and has lectured on qualitative methods, software, and strategies for analysis at several universities, including the University of Puerto Rico and Howard University. Since 2013, he has taught at the Global School in Empirical Research Methods at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He has also served as faculty at the annual Qualitative Research Summer Intensive and as a mentor at ResearchTalk’s Qualitative Data Analysis Camps. Mihas is a co-author with Ray Maietta on Sort and Sift, Think and Shift (forthcoming, Routledge). His interests include mixed methods and incorporating memo writing in analysis; his current research focuses on cancer survivors and identities of survivorship.

Register

This course will be offered over two afternoons (3/7 and 3/9) from 12pm – 4pm via Zoom only. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Cognitive interviewing in survey research is a methodology researchers use to gain a better understanding of how respondents think when answering specific survey items. Data gathered using the cognitive interview approach help researchers identify and remedy issues with their questionnaires. This short course is designed to provide participants with fundamentals on how to design, conduct, and analyze cognitive interviews. Participants will have the opportunity to practice specific cognitive interviewing techniques, including think-alouds, probing, and observation. Participants will also learn about revising survey questions based on interpreting cognitive interview results.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Recognize components of the survey response process
- Describe elements of the cognitive interview process and techniques
- Understand how to use cognitive interviews across various survey modes
- Complete recruitment and facilitate cognitive interview logistics
- Design and implement a cognitive interview protocol
- Identify ways to improve survey questionnaires and items based on cognitive interview data

Register

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek feedback on their qualitative analysis from facilitators and other attendees. This session serves as a workshop in which participants get a chance to discuss and review qualitative analysis techniques while also learning from others.

To attend, participants must be working on a qualitative data analysis project and can seek feedback on any step in the process (e.g., coding, creating matrices/diagrams/other products, developing categories or themes, summarizing data). One does not need to have attended previous qualitative analysis training sessions administered by NC TraCS. However, participants should come with some knowledge of qualitative data analysis techniques.

Please note: We will not be presenting information about qualitative analysis in this session; instead, we will ask participants to share where they are in their analysis process, ask questions about their analyses, and collectively discuss strategies for moving our analyses forward.

Facilitators:
MaryBeth Grewe, MPH, Engagement and Qualitative Research Specialist
Simone Frank, MPH, Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist
Milenka Jean-Baptiste, MPH, Qualitative Research Specialist
Courtney Canter, MA, Qualitative Research Specialist

Eligibility Screener

This course will take place over three mornings (3/6/23, 3/8/23, 3/10/23), 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.

Register

The NIH is hosting a series of listening sessions to hear from the community about their experiences with and perspectives on current infrastructure and share input on potential promising solutions to the fundamental challenges faced by the postdoctoral trainee community.

Listening sessions will take place throughout March 2023, and each session will focus on a specific theme:

Register

The NIH also announced a Request for Information (RFI) inviting the research community to give input on the state of postdoctoral research training and career progression infrastructure in biomedical science. The RFI is open through April 14, 2023.

The insights from the listening sessions and RFI will assist NIH in hearing the voices of postdoctoral trainees along with others impacted by this unique and skilled training position, and in exploring ways to address some of the fundamental challenges faced by the postdoctoral trainee community.

This course will be offered over two afternoons (3/7 and 3/9) from 12pm – 4pm via Zoom only. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Cognitive interviewing in survey research is a methodology researchers use to gain a better understanding of how respondents think when answering specific survey items. Data gathered using the cognitive interview approach help researchers identify and remedy issues with their questionnaires. This short course is designed to provide participants with fundamentals on how to design, conduct, and analyze cognitive interviews. Participants will have the opportunity to practice specific cognitive interviewing techniques, including think-alouds, probing, and observation. Participants will also learn about revising survey questions based on interpreting cognitive interview results.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Recognize components of the survey response process
- Describe elements of the cognitive interview process and techniques
- Understand how to use cognitive interviews across various survey modes
- Complete recruitment and facilitate cognitive interview logistics
- Design and implement a cognitive interview protocol
- Identify ways to improve survey questionnaires and items based on cognitive interview data

Register

This course will take place over three mornings (3/6/23, 3/8/23, 3/10/23), 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.

Register

Estimands in Cluster-Randomized Trials: Choosing Analyses that Answer the Right Question

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Brennan Kahan, PhD
MRC Clinical Trials Unit
University College London (UCL)

Learn More

The NIH is hosting a series of listening sessions to hear from the community about their experiences with and perspectives on current infrastructure and share input on potential promising solutions to the fundamental challenges faced by the postdoctoral trainee community.

Listening sessions will take place throughout March 2023, and each session will focus on a specific theme:

Register

The NIH also announced a Request for Information (RFI) inviting the research community to give input on the state of postdoctoral research training and career progression infrastructure in biomedical science. The RFI is open through April 14, 2023.

The insights from the listening sessions and RFI will assist NIH in hearing the voices of postdoctoral trainees along with others impacted by this unique and skilled training position, and in exploring ways to address some of the fundamental challenges faced by the postdoctoral trainee community.