Inquiry and Diary Circles: The power of the circle in qualitative research methods

11:30 -13:00 (Azores timetable) - In-person Workshop 

This workshop will be facilitated by Sadhbh O’Dwyer and Cristina Azaola

It is well accepted that research is rarely linear. This workshop gives participants the chance to reflect together on the way in which circles (and spirals and loops) are used in qualitative research. To illustrate circle methods we will use the experience of (i) an online diary circle the National Centre for Research Methods employed to understand the research methods learning journeys of doctoral and early career researchers; and (ii) Collaborative Inquiry Circles as a creative and inclusive method for tutors of students with specific learning difficulties to explore social justice theories. Circles are important in indigenous methods and research story-telling too. Workshop participants can expect to share the shape of their research and whether and how shape matters, especially where dialogue, collaboration and reciprocal benefits from the research are intended. This includes discussion of circles as non-hierarchical/democratic spaces with peer/horizontal interaction, and as safe spaces for sharing within a research community.
Keywords: diary methods, collaborative inquiry, dialogue, research community, research design.
Necessary resources: No additional technical resources are needed to participate in the workshop. Participants will benefit from prior experience of focus group methods.

Melanie Nind is Professor of Education and Co-Director of the National Centre for Research Methods. She has long engagement in building capacity in research methods including (with Kilburn and Wiles, Using video and dialogue to generate pedagogic knowledge: Teachers, learners and researchers reflecting together on the pedagogy of social research methods, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2015, 18:5, 561-76 and with Lewthwaite, Methods that Teach, International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 2018, 41(4), 398-410. She is editor of the Bloomsbury Research Methods for Education series and the Handbook of Teaching and Learning Social Research Methods (Edward Elgar). 

Sadhbh O’Dwyer is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Limerick, Ireland. She is a specialist teacher in Specific Learning Difficulties and her interests lie in supporting inclusive practice and universal design in Initial Teacher Education and Medical Education. She developed the use of Collaborative Inquiry Circles as an inclusive research method for her PhD research. She received funding from Health Education England to develop a dyslexia screener for medical trainees with an emphasis on qualitative research methods.

Marta Cristina Azaola is a lecturer at the Centre for Research in Inclusion at the School of Education at the University of Southampton. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and interested in educational inequalities, social inclusion, exclusion, and school belonging in marginalised contexts. She applies sociological lenses and qualitative approaches to her research. 

Sarah Lewthwaite is a Senior Research Fellow and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow with a continuing interest in methods development. She worked with Prof. Nind on the Pedagogy of Methodological Learning study (2015-2019), and has co-led studies focused on innovation in the teaching of ‘Big Qual’, methods textbooks, and inclusive research culture and data-driven research skills development. She is a contributor to the Handbook of Teaching and Learning Social Research Methods and has experience of using participatory and accessible digital diary methods with varied participants across university and the workplace learning settings.