Contemplation in Qualitative Research – Experiencing Self, No-Self, and the Lifeworld
Type:
Workshop
Category:
Kraków (Poland)
Place:
Room 316
Date and time:
9:40 to 11:10 on 02/05/2025
Location: Jagiellonian University, Collegium Wróblewskiego
This workshop aims to teach researchers methods of investigation that foster mindful awareness during social research and data analysis. Participants will learn how to observe the workings of the mind during research and “data” analysis, which can become an integral part of the contemplative practices of the mindful researcher. This will be taught through observing the body, mind, and emotions, especially within yoga and mindful walking.
Researchers will be guided on maintaining a mindful distance from the research fields, concepts, and methods so that these can be carefully observed and explicated. How do we arrive at conclusions? What assumptions do we hold before analyzing so-called “data” (co-created through interactions with research participants)? What emotions arise during this process? And what do these assumptions reveal about the mind of the researcher? These assumptions are theoretical or epistemological and can also emerge from the lifeworld in which we are immersed and of which we are a part.
I will teach meditation and breathing exercises as techniques to prepare researchers for observing the mind and understanding how it works. More specifically, I will introduce methods of self-observation, self-reporting, and empathetic skills, drawing inspiration from both Buddhist and Stoic philosophies. We will also explore the practice of writing contemplative notes. These notes can also be expressed in artistic forms such as poetry, drawings, paintings, collages, photography, etc. I will provide books and papers on the topics we will discuss.