In Search of an Inclusive Participatory Research Methodology: The Appeal of Interactive Qualitative Analysis to Novice Qualitative Researchers

Abstract

National policy goals have made doctoral research a priority for academics in South African higher education. For many, the study of their own educational practice has strong appeal, and has led them to “cross over” and become novice educational researchers at doctoral level, pursuing qualitative research that could present ontological and epistemological challenges for those whose home disciplines (and training) are steeped in positivist quantitative methodologies. Concurrently, the need to be responsive to broader national imperatives for the decolonising of universities has underlined the importance of seeking inclusive participatory research methodologies that have potential to elevate participant voice. Interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) is a variant of participatory research that, we argue, offers advantages in view of these transformative shifts in South African higher education. IQA may appeal to cross-over researchers because it provides a structured and rigorous path through qualitative research. Moreover, IQA disrupts power relations that cast the researcher as “expert”; it grants participants control over data generation and preliminary analysis, and foregrounds their voices. We introduce IQA, and outline its key steps and protocols. Drawing on our application of IQA in a study at a South African university, we reflect critically on its affordances, limitations, and possible modifications.