Research Design

Reporting and Translating Qualitative Research Findings

Sociological researchers are motivated, and ethically obliged, to communicate the process and findings of their research to other social scientists.  The rationale for this is twofold.  On the one hand, research findings serve to advance and improve the knowledge base of the discipline.  On the other, researchers are obliged to subject their logics, methods and findings to other members of the scholarly community for scrutiny and evaluation. The primary avenue for achieving this objective is via peer reviewed academic journals which are considered the gold standard of the scientific and scholarly community.  In addition to publishing research articles in peer reviewed academic journals and other media primarily oriented to other social scientists, the knowledge outcomes of sociological research are also communicated in forms accessible to research participants, policy makers and members of the public more generally.  In the case of qualitative inquiry, where researchers are confronted with a need to communicate meaning and emotion alongside social and historical facts, the knowledge, techniques and strategies of the fine and popular arts provide a rich resource.