Introduction to Section V: Qualitative Methods

In this section, the authors offer insights about how to advance equity using qualitative methodologies. Beyond addressing how to effectively collect data through interviews or focus groups, observations, and field notes, as well as document analysis, readers are encouraged to reflect on their positionality as emergent scholars and to consider how they employ critical and post-structuralist theories when engaging in qualitative inquiry. Lastly, readers will also explore how various epistemological orientations guide the process of analyzing data and developing themes that offer rich accounts of research participants’ lived experiences.