“Learning to Find Meaning” is a compilation of six articles concerning the importance of and techniques to finding meaning when gathering qualitative data. There are many (many) articles in Research Design Review that discuss various aspects of qualitative data collection; however, the articles selected for this short compilation are narrowly focused on deriving meaning by determining the sense and the context of participants’ lived experiences as defined by participants. To any qualitative researcher, this seems obvious. And yet, as discussed in these articles, finding meaning is often missed due to erroneous assumptions, absence of required skills, or failure to invest the necessary time with participants.

All but one of these articles appeared in Research Design Review in the 2014-2022 time period.

“Learning to Find Meaning: 6 Articles on the Importance of & Techniques to Finding Meaning in Qualitative Research” is available for download here.

Eight other compilations of RDR articles, devoted to particular methods or techniques, are also available:

“Qualitative Content Analysis: 6 Articles on the Definition & Quality Design Considerations” is available for download here.

“Unique Attributes of Qualitative Research: 16 Articles on the 10 Unique Attributes of Qualitative Research” is available for download here.

“Ethnography & the Observation Method: 15 Articles on Design, Implementation, & Uses” is available for download here.

“The Focus Group Method: 18 Articles on Design & Moderating” is available for download here.

“The In-depth Interview Method: 12 Articles on Design & Implementation” is available for download here.

“Reflexivity: 10 Articles on the Role of Reflection in Qualitative Research” is available for download here.

“Qualitative Data Analysis: 16 Articles on Process & Method” is available for download here.

“Qualitative Research: Transparency & Reporting” is available for download here.