Read the instructions carefully, highlighting the major questions being asked and goals of the assignment. This resource provides a list of questions to consider about your assignment. If you have questions, ask your instructor or TA during their office hours, or make an appointment with a writing consultant from the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center.

If you’ve never done this type of research project before or would like a refresher, review the common expectations and features, and/or look at a sample IMRaD template.

Gather together any readings already assigned in your class, your notes from class lectures and discussions, and any other sources you’ve already identified for the project.

(This step should take 5% of your project time.) 

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If you have the option to choose your topic, select one that matters to you!  

• Qualitative research differs from other types of inquiry by focusing on people’s attitudes and perspectives about an event or experience. Is there an event or experience you’d really like to get a specific population’s perspective on? Try doing some brainstorming through the center-of-gravity technique, creating a concept map, or mind-mapping.
• As you brainstorm ideas for your topic, start a list of keywords you can use to search for sources. 

It’s helpful to conduct some initial secondary source research to learn more about the context of your project (and use later on in required components of your assignment, like your literature review). 

• Find secondary sources related to your topic, using books, peer-reviewed articles, newspapers, or other reliable and relevant sources.
• Use OneSearch in the UT Libraries to find sources. Use keywords that are central to your topic. You’re encouraged to ask a librarian for help finding sources. 
• If you’re taking a first-year composition course (English 101, 102, 112, 132, or 298), use the research guide that has been compiled by UT Libraries.
• As you search for relevant articles, read the abstract first–it will help you decide whether the article is a good fit for your project.

As you work, be sure to refer back to your assignment sheet to help guide you. Get guidance from your instructor when needed. 

(This step should take 5% of your project time.) 

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Develop a working research question, making sure to:

• Identify the specific group of people who have direct experience regarding your topic (your population).
• Consider how easily you’ll be able to access/interview prospective participants.
• Identify what attitudes, perspectives, beliefs, or experiences you’d like to hear about from your participants (using any ideas generated from Step 2). 

Develop your research plan and consider how you will code, or analyze, your data for patterns. There are multiple coding methods, but the three most common are: 

• Inductive coding: developing codes based on what you find in your data.
• Deductive coding: using codes based on scholarship and/or your research question.
• A combination of deductive and inductive coding: you begin analyzing your research with deductive coding and then add new inductive codes as you work through your data. 

If you select deductive coding, you’ll want to develop your codes at this stage. 

Make sure you consider the ethics of your research and limit any potential risk to participants.

• Draft an “informed consent form” in which you explain to participants what their participation will involve.
• Anonymize participant data by using pseudonyms.
• Make it clear to participants that they can stop participating in your research at any time. 

(This step should take 10% of your project time.) 

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Draft your interview questions. Answer the following questions, adapted from the Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology’s Tipsheet on Qualitative Interviewing:

• What do you need to know from participants to help answer your research question? 
• Which questions will help you tap into your participants’ experiences and perceptions?   
• What follow-up questions (also known as “probes”) could help your interviewees provide more detailed responses about their perceptions and attitudes? Here are some examples from the AMA’s Interview Topic Guide for Home Health Care Workers.

Next, go back and revise your questions (the DISM’s “Designing and Structuring the Interview” section can help with this). 

• How should you order your questions?
• Have you phrased your questions to make sure you’ll get more than a “yes” or “no” answer?
• Do you avoid leading questions?
• Are any of your questions potentially triggering? If so, have you made that clear to participants ahead of time (in your informed consent form, and verbally before the interview)? 

This is a great time to visit your instructor or TA during their office hours or make an appointment with a writing consultant from the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center for help finalizing your interview questions.

(This step should take 10% of your project time.) 

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Before you recruit participants, draft a recruitment script of what you’ll say when inviting them to take part in your research. You’ll want to include:

• A description of your research, your research purpose, and what participation in your research will look like for participants.
• A list of dates and times to meet, the meeting location, and your contact info. 

Prepare for and conduct your interview, keeping the following tips in mind (view the JAHWC’s “Conducting a Qualitative Interview” page for more details):

• Keep your major research question in mind, as responses may stray from what you expect and you want to make sure the conversation stays on track.
• Remember to use your follow-up questions (probes) as needed. 
• Send your interviewees a brief note of thanks afterward, reminding them what will happen with their data, as well as how they might reach you if they have questions. 

(This step should take 20% of your project time.) 

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Once you’ve recorded your interviews, you need to transcribe them, or transfer them to written form. Here are some tips:

• Consider using a free web transcription app like oTranscribe (check the privacy agreement of any app/service to ensure your data stays confidential–including preventing it being used for AI training).
• Play the audio at a slower speed while transcribing. 
• Read through/use these conventions for transcribing interviews from University of Toronto.

Code, or analyze, your data for patterns, using the method you selected for your research plan in step 3. When looking for patterns, keep the following in mind: 

• There’s no one right way to code; instead have a system that helps you interpret your data, and communicate that interpretation to your audience.
• Ask yourself, “Am I coding thoroughly?” and “Am I focused on my research question?” 

(This step should take 20% of your project time.) 

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Following your instructor’s guidelines, format a draft of your qualitative project that includes the following, known generally as an “IMRaD” structure (view the JAHWC’s “Drafting your Qualitative Research Project” guide for more info):

• Introduction: your study’s purpose, a literature review, and your research question.  
• Methods: how you conducted the study, who your participants were, and how you collected and coded data. 
• Results: a factual report of the conclusions you developed from analyzing your data. 
• Discussion: how/if your results answer your research question and their significance in the context of your project.
• You may also need to include a “Future Work” section discussing additional research that could delve further into your issue.
• References: a list of all cited sources, formatted according to the citation style you’re using–e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago. 
• Appendices: materials used in your research, such as the recruitment script, informed consent form, interview protocol, interview transcripts, and codebook.

(This step should take 15% of your project time.) 

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First, review the assignment guidelines and/or rubric.

Get feedback from your instructor or TA during their office hours, from the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center, or from a peer. 

Review these tips for Incorporating Peer and Instructor Feedback. 

(This step should take 5% of your project time.) 

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Try the “read out loud” approach to review your work–it can help you find things you might otherwise miss. 

Write down at least 2-3 major things you need to revise. Focus first on things like the clarity of your introduction, research question, and literature review, how accurately you describe your findings, the conclusions you’ve drawn from those findings, and clearly discussing your research methods and process. Focus on sentence-level concerns next. 

Revise as needed, based on your own review and the feedback you received.

If you need to do further research for your literature review or discussion section, you can use UT Libraries resources for finding sources –and remember, you can always ask a Librarian for help. 

(This step should take 5% of your project time.) 

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Review the assignment guidelines and/or rubric one last time. 

Proofread your work carefully and slowly. Review your qualitative project by assessing your work for accuracy, clarity, and consistency. Check for spelling and grammar errors, and verify you’ve included any necessary appendices and required materials. 

(This step should take 5% of your project time.) 
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