Qualitative Research Methods for Understanding Violence

Much of the social work research agenda focused on violence against women and children aims to test interventions and measure health outcomes. Less attention has been paid to the equally important component of ensuring that intervention and research approaches have a strong theoretical basis, thus helping ensure they are attuned and appropriate for a given context. Improving outcomes for women and families requires working with the right theoretical assumptions for the situation, ideally derived directly from the real lived experiences, practice situations, and specific contexts of those involved. This workshop will provide participants with multiple tools from three qualitative methodologies, demonstrated by case examples: 1) constructing grounded theory on help-seeking from domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan, 2) conducting interpretative phenomenological analysis of how maltreated parenting young women aging out of foster care experience motherhood, and 3) investigating a single-case study of a U.S. domestic violence organization’s promotion of economic justice for survivors using an intrinsic design. Through lecture and exercises, the speakers will demonstrate concepts and analytical approaches applied during these varied qualitative research processes and summarize lessons learned through their collective experience.