Rapid Qualitative Analysis: Addressing the Research to Practice Implementation Gap

Social work researchers are often engaged in applied research where it is vital that research informs practice, programming, and policy development. However, critical gaps remain between research and implementation. This is especially true in social science research, where studies often take years to produce results and then many more years before practitioners and policy makers begin to integrate the research into their work (if at all). The problem is exacerbated in the qualitative research field, which has traditionally moved at a slower pace compared with its quantitative sibling. Although there is increasing recognition of the value of qualitative research, especially in intervention research, there are concerns that the potential impact from qualitative research may be blunted due to the typically longer timetable from data collection to results. For social work researchers who aim to make an impact with their work, such as through informing programming or policy changes, it may be necessary to consider new methods for qualitative research which increase the pace without reducing the quality or rigor of the research. This workshop introduces rapid qualitative analysis (RQA) as an approach which social work researchers could use for addressing the implementation gap. Rapid qualitative research approaches have been used primarily in public health and other social sciences fields for years. Previous research has found that rapid qualitative methods are as rigorous as traditional methods and can produce similar results to traditional methods, however, since rapid qualitative analysis takes less time, the process is more cost effective and the potential for impact is increased. Unlike traditional qualitative methods which places emphasis on the coding process, rapid qualitative methods typically involve minimal coding. Rather than spending a great deal of time on a detailed coding process, data are tagged or summarized quickly before moving on to the analysis where comparative methods, diagraming, memoing and peer debriefing are often used to develop themes and produce results. During this workshop we will discuss the history of RQA, compare RQA to traditional approaches, and have a conversation about when the rapid approach might be beneficial and when it might be better to stick with more traditional qualitative methods. During the discussion we will explore an example of our work using RQA during a mixed methods study which aimed to understand the context of labor trafficking among youth and young adults in Malawi. Following this discussion, workshop participants will be engaged in an activity where they will test a few rapid qualitative approaches using data provided by the presenters. Through this workshop participants will leave with an introductory understanding of RQA, an awareness of how RQA could be useful for addressing the implementation gap and resources for applying the approach to their own research.