Description

• Title:
  Creative Thinking in Qualitative Research and Analysis
• Creator:
  Konecki, Krzysztof
• Contributor:
  University of Lodz, Poland;
  Krzysztof T. Konecki is a Full Professor and Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz. He is also the head of the Sociology of Organization and Management Department. His interests lie in qualitative sociology, symbolic interactionism, grounded theory, methodology of social sciences, visual sociology, communication and intercultural management, organizational culture and management, and contemplative studies. He is the editor-in-chief of Qualitative Sociology Review and he holds the position of President of the Polish Sociological Association.;
  krzysztof.konecki@uni.lodz.pl
• Description:
  I would like to present the possibility of broadening the traditional methodological and technical skills of researcher and analyst, but also the intellectual capacity of the researcher associated with combining data, categorizing, linking categories, as well as the interpretation of the causes and consequences of the emergence of certain social phenomena. Some methodologies, methods, and research techniques are more conducive to creative conceptual and interpretive solutions. Therefore, I describe the serendipity phenomenon in such methodologies as grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenological research, and contemplative inquiry. The problem of intuition in qualitative research will be also described in the paper. There will be presented also some suggestions how to be creative in qualitative research. From the review of issues of creativity in qualitative research we can derive the following conclusions: Creativity in qualitative research depends on the strength of a priori conceptualization and stiffness of the adapted methods of research and analysis. If the methodology is more flexible (as the methodology of grounded theory), the researcher can get to phenomena that he/she has not realized and which are still scantily explored in his/her field of expertise. The phenomenological and contemplative approaches allow the use of the investigator’s feelings and experience as they appear in the studied phenomena, which usually does not take place in objectifying and positivistic research. The investigator may therefore consciously use these methodologies and approaches that foster creativity. The researchers can improve their skills in thinking and creative action by doing some methodical exercises (journal writing, writing poetry as a summary of the collected data, the use of art as representation of the phenomenon, the use of meditation, observation of the body feelings, humor, etc.).
• Object availability:
  free access
• Rights:
  This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.;
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
• Date:
  2019.08.19;
  2019
• Type:
  Article
• Language:
  English;
  eng
• Format:
  application/pdf
• Publisher:
  Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Relation:
  Qualitative Sociology Review; 3;
  15
• Subject:
  Contemplation;
  Meditation;
  Creativity;
  Grounded Theory;
  Phenomenology;
  Serendipity;
  Qualitative Research;
  Ethnography
• Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11089/29948 ;
  1733-8077;
  10.18778/1733-8077.15.3.01
• Data provider:
  Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Can I use it?:
  check license
• Type:
  image