There is a type of running training that used to be popular years ago although more recently gets mixed reviews - Long Slow Distance training. I think part of the appeal in the olden days was the initialism - LSD. I considered a somewhat analogous approach to qualitative inquiry today - Long Slow Research. Harry Wolcott once described how he participated in comparatively few studies across his career due in large part to the nature of in depth ethnographic research. For qualitative researchers, whose processes are notoriously slow to begin with, the idea of taking a Long Slow approach to sample selection, which is an area I think especially benefits from careful deliberation, is probably not attractive. Although I have spoken disparagingly about experimental or survey research processes that have duration guided by the length of an academic semester rather than any criterion related to the study itself, qualitative researchers are often very aware of time, too. I have to admit I have been motivated by the need to expedite, rather than maximize sample quality, especially as regards my first interview study in which I completed nearly all of the interviews during two weeks of an Xmas break. In my defense, I had spent a lot of time thinking about the sample and (mentally) pre-selecting several participants long before I began the research. Today during a brief conversation I realized that a person I had previously (mentally - I do a lot of sampling 'in my head') rejected as a representative participant for a current study was in fact a potentially ideal participant. I had overlooked some of the person's practices because I primarily thought of this individual in a different context.
This made me think about the benefit of having time to look for and find participants one at a time rather than advertising or even using a 'snowball' method to pull in a quick sample. I think concerns about duration of research process likely account for many if not most of the flaws in qualitative or other types of inquiry. But I do not see any signs of a trend moving toward greater appreciation of Long, Slow, Research. The photo of my back was taken during early spring of 2017 during a duathlon race in Kent, OH, and is not from a Long, Slow, Distance run - which I confess I almost never do!
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AuthorI am Sheryl L. Chatfield, Ph.D, C.T.R.S. I am a member of the faculty in the College of Public Health at Kent State University. I also Co-coordinate the Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Research and I am a member of the Design Innovation Team at Kent State. Archives
February 2024
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