A community for qualitative researchers.
QuIRI brings together researchers from across Cornell who are teaching, employing, and developing rigorous qualitative research methodologies. The qualitative and interpretive social science faculty at Cornell University are among the very best in the world. QuIRI creates opportunities for collaboration and excellence in interpretive social science research and training.
-
-
Cornell University’s QuIRI was established in 2020 to:
-
Enhance the support for qualitative and interpretive social scientists at Cornell
-
Increase the coordination and collaboration among Cornell faculty who teach, employ, and develop qualitative research methods
-
Increase the visibility and awareness of qualitative methodological opportunities among the social sciences at Cornell
-
Enhance the social science qualitative research methods training at Cornell
-
Identify collaboration opportunities for qualitative researchers in other disciplines
-
Enhance the external visibility of the strong qualitative research community at Cornell
QuIRI has a number of programs and initiatives to support qualitative research at Cornell. We have a monthly seminar series that explores methods, technologies, and research projects related to various kinds of qualitative research. We have a bi-annual small grants program for Cornell faculty, post-docs, and PhD students to support various kinds of research-related expenses. Our faculty working groups provide resources to bring together qualitative researchers for writing and or reading groups. Our faculty summer institute is intended for faculty across Cornell who are interested in incorporating qualitative methods into their research programs. See tabs above for more details.
-
-
To join the QuIRI e-list please send an email message with the subject line JOIN to QuIRI-L-request@cornell.edu
-
Lee Humphreys, Director of QuIRI, Communication
Sharon Sassler, Policy and Analysis Management
Linda Shi, City and Regional Planning
Marina Welker, Anthropology
-
Linda Shi, Assistant Professor, City and Regional Planning
My favorite qualitative methods book or article is: Mukhija, V. (2010). N of One plus Some: An Alternative Strategy for Conducting Single Case Research. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 29(4), 416–426. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X10362770
Alexandra Blackman, Assistant Professor, Government
My favorite qualitative methods book or article is: Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture (Frederic Charles Schaffer)
Erica Phillips, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College
My favorite qualitative methods book or article is: Basics of Qualitative Research: Second Edition: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory 2nd Edition by Anselm Strauss (Author), Juliet Corbin (Author).
Amelia Greiner Safi, Senior Research Associate, Department of Communication
My favorite qualitative methods books and articles are from Michael Q. Patton’s body of work, like Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods.
Jenny Goldstein, Assistant Professor, Department of Global Development
My favorite qualitative methods book or article is currently a toss up between Gibson-Graham, J.K. 2014. Rethinking the economy with thick description and weak theory. Current Anthropology 55(9):147-153 and Lave, R., Biermann, C., Lane, S.N. 2018. The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Physical Geography. London: Palgrave.
Tristan Ivory, Assistant Professor, Industrial and Labor Relations
In terms of a favorite qualitative methods article, I don’t really think in terms of favorites most of the time, but I always appreciate work that revisits older methods or applies methods beyond the disciple/sub-field where they are most commonly employed.
Maureen Waller, Professor in the Department of Policy Analysis & Management and Sociology (by courtesy)
My favorite qualitative methods article is Mario Small’s “'How Many Cases Do I Need?' On Science and the Logic of Case Selection in Field Based Research” published in Ethnography.
Sofia Villenas, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology
My favorite qualitative methods book or resource is Feminist Ethnography: Thinking through Methodologies, Challenges, and Possibilities, by Dana-Ain Davis and Christa Craven.
-
-
-
In-person Reception
Come learn more about QuIRI, celebrate the work of fellow qualitative researchers from across campus, and discuss possible collaboration opportunities in-person! Please join us for our in-person reception event.
4-5pm May 13th (location TBD).
Register here.
-
Graduate Researchers Panel
1-2pm April 1, 2022
Negar Khojatest, Information Science; Kendra Kintzi, Development Sociology; Yoselinda Mendoza, Sociology; Elif Sari, Anthropology; Gloria Xiong, Government; & Daniel Ferman-Leon, Anthropology.
This seminar showcases graduate student researchers across the university who have received support from QuIRI.
Collaboration in Qualitative Research
1-2pm March 11, 2022
Amelia Greiner-Safi, Associate Professor of Practice, Public Health, Cornell Vet; Sharon Sassler, Professor, Brooks School of Public Policy; Eli Friedman, Associate Professor & Chair Department of International and Comparative Labor, ILR; and Diane Bailey, Professor, Dept of CommunicationThis seminar explores best practices of collaboration in qualitative research. The panelists will draw on their research experiences to share what to avoid and how to make the most of collaborations.
View the presentation here.
Photovoice
1-2pm Febuary 4th, 2022
With Katie Foriella, Assistant Professor, Public Health, Cornell Vet and Elizabeth Fox, Assistant Professor of Practice, Public Health, Cornell Vet.This seminar will discuss Photovoice methods: what they are and when to use them, data collection strategies and best practices. We will provide applied examples of their use in the field and lessons learned from projects in Haiti, Cambodia, and Kenya.
View the presentation here.
Integrating Qualitative Social Science and Storytelling for Global Impact
1-2pm Dec 10
Cornell Alum Raul Roman, PhD ‘04, Founder & Executive Director, Dawning.org
Raul Roman is a non-traditional creative professional at the intersection of social science, journalism, and the visual arts. He is the Founder and Executive Director of DAWNING, a social venture devoted to high-impact research-driven storytelling on global development, climate change, and human rights. In this seminar, Dr. Raul Roman will describe integrating qualitative social science and storytelling in his work around the world.
View the presentation here.
Participatory Action Research Panel
1-2pm Nov 12, 2021
Featuring Richard Keily, Office of Engagement Initiatives at Cornell; Karen Purcell, Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology; Rana Zadeh, Dept of Design & Environmental Analysis at Cornell; Bobby Wilson, Metro Atlanta Urban Farm; Makeda Cheatom, WorldBeat Cultural Center; and Phyllis E. Turner, Community Science Collaborator, Metro Atlanta Urban Farm.
This panel will explore the key opportunities and challenges of participatory action research (PAR). The panel includes scholars, practitioners, and community members involved in PAR. Video recording coming soon.
-- Noise Project: https://noiseproject.org
-- Noise Project working agreements: https://power30icbos.blogspot.com/2019/05/our-icbo-working-agreements.html
-- Non-negotiables for doing research and evaluation in our communities (Community Review board of Non-negotiables):
https://power30icbos.blogspot.com/2019/08/download-our-icbo-community-review.html-- Meaningful collaborations (a workbook for Community-based Organizations): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xxyUdiE1vqnH2_pQeYCRfHwGOyFzECxb/view
-- Partnerships for Impact (a workbook for STEM Institutions): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1siAvFwP4ddDy3SmVuxTVgWj7WSZvRRCE/view
QuIRI Networking Event / Working Group Mixer
1-2pm Oct 1, 2021
In-person meeting
Come and meet the QuIRI leadership team and fellow QuIRI affiliates for an informal networking event. If you are interested in becoming a member of a QuIRI Working Group, this event is for you!
2021 QuIRI Innovation Award: Digital Due Process Clinic
Sept 10, 2021
Malte Ziewitz, Assistant Professor, STS
What is it like to be judged by a computer system and what if this is done unfairly? In this talk, Matle Ziewitz introduces the Digital Due Process Clinic, a clinical research program at Cornell, in which students and faculty work together on behalf of people struggling with automated scoring systems. Founded in September 2019, the program takes the didactic model of the law school clinic and transposes it to the social sciences with a particular focus on qualitative research. Responding to the growing use of automated decision systems in all areas of life, the clinic brings together multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate students to document the lived experiences of people who feel mistreated by these systems—and to think about alternative forms of (non-legal) recourse and relief. View the presentation.
2021 CCSS QuIRI Working Groups Panel
May 14, 2021
In this seminar, we heard from the QuIRI working groups that were funded in Fall 2020. The groups examined: Practicing Ethnography in Unprecedented Times, Elite and Citizen Interviews in High-Risk Settings, Cross-National Issues in Racial/Ethnic Inequality and Studying Identities through a Creative Qualitative Lens. Each group discussed key issues they explored and shared important insights that emerged from their work together. View the presentation.
Focus Groups and Best Practices
April 23, 2021
Jane Powers and Amanda Purington from BCTR ACT for Youth, discuss best practices of focus group research. Participants learn how to develop a focus group protocol and construct questions, as well as prepare for and conduct focus groups. Tips for transcription, data management and data analysis strategies also discussed. View this presentation. View materials from this presentation.
Software for Qualitative Research
February 22, 2021
Florio Arguillas and Lynda Kellam from CCSS present about various kinds of software that can be useful for qualitative research. They discuss tools for collecting qualitative data through recording and transcription software as well as note taking software. They discuss tools for analyzing qualitative data and the key differences between different software packages. Lastly, they describe software for writing up qualitative research. View this presentation. View slides from this presentation.
Qualitative Data Repository Workshop: Sharing and Archiving your Qualitative Research
December 4, 2020
Lynda Kellam of CCSS, and Sebastian Karcher, of Syracuse University’s Qualitative Data Repository discuss opportunities for archiving qualitative research. This workshop is intended for qualitative researchers at all stages of their careers who are interested in learning more about SU's Qualitative Data Repository (QDR), of which Cornell is a member. The workshop explores opportunities for Cornell qualitative social scientists to engage in open science practices. View this presentation.
Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Transdisciplinary Research
October 23, 2020
Professor Karim-Aly Kassam of the Department of Natural Resources and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program presented "Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Transdisciplinary Research. In this talk, he draws on his research examining human and environmental relations, addressing indigenous ways of knowing, food sovereignty, sustainable livelihoods, stewardship, and climate change.
Digital Qualitative Methods During COVID
October 9, 2020
QuIRI Director Lee Humphreys introduces current QuIRI program initiatives and presents, "Digital Qualitative Methods During COVID," with ideas and strategies for different kinds of qualitative methods that utilize digital communication technologies.
-
-
-
The CCSS QuIRI Small Grants Program is intended to provide up to $2,000.00 in funding for qualitative research expenses (such as participant compensation, travel, equipment, transcription software, research assistants, publishing costs, etc.) to Cornell faculty, post-docs, & doctoral students in the social sciences. Projects which may lead to other funding or help move a project to completion and/or publication will be given priority. Doctoral students must be post-A-exam to receive a grant. Grad students can apply pre-A exams, but the funds will not be transferred until the A exams have been successfully completed.
Faculty who apply to this should not be dissuaded from applying to the CCSS Research, Conference, or Roper Center Grants. These smaller amounts of funding are different from other CCSS funding and are intended to help qualitative scholars in their research.
Your application should include your name, rank, department(s)/unit(s), project title, 500-word description of the project, budget, budget justification, and any relevant COVID-19 backup plans. If you are a grad student, please also include a letter of support from your PhD committee chair. Alternatively, your committee chair may send the letter to our director at quiri@cornell.edu. All materials should be compiled into a single pdf for submission. Applications are due March 14, 2022.
-
The QuIRI Faculty Working Groups Program is intended for faculty-led writing and / or reading groups of social science faculty who employ qualitative research methods. Groups may be themed around specific methods, analytical approaches, as well as software and methods training. Groups may also explore theoretical or empirical synergies. Groups should include 4 to 5 members per group including the faculty leader and ideally represent at least two different departments/units. There may be doctoral students in the group, but it must be led by a faculty member. Each group member will receive up to $500 for research materials / equipment, participant compensation, software, etc. Applications will open Fall 2022.
-
The Trevor Pinch QuIRI Innovation Award
QuIRI is deeply saddened by the death of Professor Trevor Pinch in December 2021. He was a founding member of the QuIRI leadership team and a generous advocate and teacher of qualitative methods. He will be sorely missed. In honor of his creative spirit and out-of-the-box thinking, we are pleased to announce that the QuIRI Innovation Award is now called the Trevor Pinch QuIRI Innovation Award. QuIRI looks forward to continuing his legacy of teaching, developing, and promoting innovative, interpretive research across the social sciences.
About the Award
QuIRI Innovation Award is given to a Cornell faculty member who demonstrates innovation in the development, usage, or teaching of qualitative methods.
Applications are due April 1st, 2022.
To apply, please submit a CV and cover letter, explaining the innovative collaboration, project, course, or workshop as well as the name and email of a colleague or supervisor who could provide a letter of support. Submissions and letters can be sent directly to QuIRI Director Lee Humphreys at lmh13@cornell.edu.
Winners receive a $500 honorarium.
Previous Winners
Malte Ziewitz, Assistant Professor
Science and Technology StudiesWe are pleased to announce that the 2021 CCSS QuIRI Innovation Award has been awarded to Malte Ziewitz, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell. His Digital Due Process Clinic Project innovatively incorporates qualitative social science methods and methods training into an engaged and participatory project that critically examines the role of data in society. We are excited to be able to recognize this innovative and important work. Professor Ziewitz will be sharing about his project at the CCSS QuIRI Seminar Series in Fall 2021.
-
Fall 2021
Organizing Irresponsibility? Redrawing Nature with Magic and Maps
Democracy Deindustrialized?: The Political Economy of the Fall of Industry and the Rise of the Service Economy, 1960-2019
Sociotechnical Design and Governance in Automated Legal Discovery
Proyecto MESA: Exploring the food insecurity experiences of Latino families
Conceptions of Justice: Obstacles to Land Restitution in South Africa’s Putfontein Community
Regulating Destruction: the Politics of Multilateral Weapons Governance
Buy or Brown Bag? School Lunch Program Use in Tompkins County Schools
Judicial Resistance: The Role of Courts in Electoral Disputes
Measuring critical thinking in ecology and physics: What influences students’ abilities to make comparisons?
Engaging Men in Shifting Masculinities in Burundi
Developing a Complete Framework for the Social Effects of AI in Communication
Narrating Enemies in World Politics
Shadows and Silence: Identity and Legacies of Cameroon’s Hidden War
From Africa’s Great Lake Region to Maine: The experiences of East African immigrants in the Eastern U.S.
Understanding the impact of climate change on networked infrastructures in vulnerable coastal communities in south Louisiana
Situating Friendship in Middle-Class Emerging Adulthood
Revolution from the Ivory Tower?: The Knowledge Economy and Political Destabilization in Authoritarian Regimes
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Migrant Precarity and Decision-Making in Italy
Queering the American Family: Same-Sex Couples and the Marriage Green Card Process
Spring 2021
Corporate Responses to Racial Injustice
Understanding Use of Wild and Backyard Foods in Response to COVID-19 in Upstate New York
Pandemics and human-environment interactions: Land use change as a driver of coronavirus and influenza outbreaks in Asia
STEM Retention and Job Satisfaction in the COVID-19 Era
Developing a tailored approach to reducing cancer screening disparities in Tompkins County: Focus groups that address population-specific concerns
Mutual Aid Food Sharing: An exploration of host motivations and relationship building
Processing in Mega Food Parks: The Trials of a Technological Fix
Glittering Metropolis: Renewable Energy, Smart Grids, and Life beyond Oil in Jordan
The Relationship between International Missions and Post-Conflict Political Trust: Evidence from a Qualitative Analysis of Kosovo’s Newspaper Archives
Soldiers, Shovels and the State: Military Led State-Building and Civic Action in Post-Colonial Senegal
American Citizenship and the Welfare State
Weaponizing Nationalism: China’s Economic Coercion and Its Effectiveness
Fall 2020
Capital Xenophobia, Trade Rationalization: Two Sides of the “China Shock”
The Financialization of Racialized Geographies: Real Estate Investment and Housing Insecurity in Kansas City
A qualitative exploration of factors that influence snacking behaviors among culturally diverse adolescents from New York City (NYC)
“Safe sex for insects” and other stories: How land-grant scientists configure and enact their roles in working with controversial biotechnologies
Uncovering the Face Mask: Mundane Governance, Ontology, and the Construction of Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
How International Students and Their Spouses use Technology to Communicate with their Families
Latinx immigrant families and housing instability
Prepare and Punish: Schooling and Discipline in the Black Belt
From Competition to Solidarity: Iranian & Syrian LGBTQ Refugee Meetings
Digital Technologies in Occupational Wellbeing: Designing for Teachers in Low-Income Indian Schools
Rejecting 5G: Alternative Arti/facts
Portable Rights for Migrant Workers: Bringing the Sending State Back Into the Local
The effects of decreasing access to a car
States of Mind: The development of Norwegian and Swedish mental health policy in comparative perspective
-
2021-22
Critical perspectives on the qualitative study of computational and information systems
Gili Vidan, Computing and Information Sciences, Malte Ziewitz, Science and Technology Studies, A. Cooper, Computer Science, Madiha Choksi, Information Science, Fernando Delgado, Information ScienceNationalism and Identity
Leila Wilmers, Sociology, Ernesto Bassi, History, Yue Du, History, Viranjini Munasinghe, Anthropology, Irina R. Troconis, Romance StudiesPolitical Phenomenology
Uriel Abulof, Government, Laura Niemi, Psychology, Shirley Le Penne, Government, Joseph Lasky, Government, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Government2020-21
Elite and Citizen Interviews in High-Risk Settings: Research Challenges and Teaching Opportunities
Thomas Pepinsky, Government, Alexandra Blackman, Government, Hui Yuan Neo, Government, Trevor Brown, Government, Kapu Adi Rao, GovernmentCross-National Issues in Racial/Ethnic Inequality
Tristan Ivory, Sociology, Chiara Galli, Sociology, Tao Leigh Goffe, Africana Studies, Eleanor Paynter, Einaudi Center for International Studies, Migrations Initiative, Peter Rich, SociologyPracticing Ethnography in Unprecedented Times
Alex Nading, Anthropology, Jamie Luria, Anthropology, Itamar Haritan, Anthropology, Shirley LePenne, GovernmentStudying Identities through a Creative Qualitative Lens
-
-
-
This two and a half-day introductory workshop is intended for faculty and staff in the social sciences, medicine, engineering, and related fields:
- who want to incorporate qualitative methods into their research program
- who may have started employing qualitative methods but have limited formal training
- who are looking to build their knowledge of qualitative methodological literature
The workshop will be held virtually in summer 2022. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Explain when qualitative research is useful, and when it is not
- Identify sampling, access issues, and practices in qualitative research
- Describe basic data collection processes and tools, specifically relevant for focus groups, interviews, observations, textual analysis, and ethnography
- Comprehend basic interpretive data analysis procedures and software
- Evaluate trustworthy qualitative research by examining ethics, validity, reliability, and generalizability
Priority will be given to faculty, but if there is room in the class, professional research staff and others may be considered. The workshop will be limited to 15 participants.
Applications will be due in the spring.
-
Natasha Raheja, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Years at Cornell: 4
In my recent project, I conducted:
Participant-observation with Pakistani Hindu migrant families to learn about their transition from being a minority to being part of a religious majority in India.
One important finding was:
Caste, in addition to religion, shapes everyday migration experiences across the border.
One thing that surprised me was:
Immigration officers sometimes disagree with the migration policies that they are required to implement.
My favorite qualitative methods book or article is:
Cerwonka, A. and Malkki, L.H., 2008. Improvising Theory. University of Chicago Press.
In the next year, I look forward to:
Editing footage for an ethnographic film about the intimate, mundane objects that migrants carry and exchange across a militarized border.