Why Write About Writing?

by Maria K. E. Lahman, Ph.D.

Maria Lahman is the Mentor in Residence for November, Academic Writing Month (AcWrMo.) She is a professor at The University of Northern Colorado in the Department of Applied Statistics and Research Methods, where she teaches qualitative research methods. A version of this blog entry was originally published in Lahman, M. K. E. (2022), Writing and Representing Qualitative Research, SAGE Publications. She is also the author of the relevant text, Ethics in Social Science Research: Becoming Culturally Responsive. Use the code SAGE30 for a discount when you order the books from SAGE.

November is Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo). I am so pleased to be able to work with Methodspace on this crucial topic! Writing often occurs in isolation, so it can be challenging for novice academics to learn about what goes on behind the scenes. Additionally, mentors such as faculty often have their struggles with writing and may not want to be public about this. Even the most productive author may go through times where little writing gets produced as they strive to balance personal life with academic demands. 

In an effort to enhance transparency and kick off a month dedicated to writing, I want to articulate why I wrote a textbook on qualitative writing and representing. I wrote about writing first and foremost for the graduate student and assistant professor I once was, and in memory of how profoundly lonely and out of step I felt when it came to writing research. Coming from a literary home with a father who was an English, literature, and journalism professor at a liberal arts college, I had the naive notion that I would just combine what I knew from the humanities with what I wanted to accomplish in higher education as an educator and social science researcher. My belief seemed to draw blank looks or, more disappointingly, lectures on how we cannot learn from an “n of 1” or from a research participant who is a remarkably positive figure. I was told, “Dissertations aren’t about the Mother Teresas of the world because who could be like them?” These assertions came from people I respected, so I began to feel unsure of myself and a knowledge source I had always learned through—stories what it would have meant to me as an unsure Mennonite at a state university if someone had slowed down and listened to the story that I, as a fledgling researcher, was trying to tell.

These initial writing experiences led me to create a course focused on writing and representing qualitative research when I received a position as an assistant professor in qualitative methodology. The course and my interactions with so many students and their writing journey developed into the textbook I was privileged to write! I wanted students to avoid the isolation I felt and the consistent message that my way of thinking about and representing the world was inferior. Instead, I wanted to create a sense of community for students where they could try new writing ideas in a safe environment and grow and thrive as a result. This book emerges from that story. Twenty years later, I like to think that the writing experience I had in graduate school is no longer as common for today’s students. Yet, for those amid anything reminiscent of my early experience, this text can be a resource, a comfort, and, perhaps, an inspiration, reminding them that they are not alone. As academics, researchers, teachers, and mentors, we must continue to ask what we risk, as “primary arbiters of knowledge,” when we cut off or relegate certain ways of seeing and knowing to a lower-level status or completely exclude them from the academy.

Second, I write about writing to emphasize the connection between qualitative portrayals of research and the need to disseminate research. As instructors, we make a mistake when we concentrate solely on writing research proposals, course research papers, or dissertations while excluding assignments and discussions of manuscripts for the purpose of publication.

Students who go on to be professors will no longer be writing course papers or dissertations; they will maintain their place in higher education by writing and publishing research articles. The primary graduate qualitative research writing focus needs to be on

·       a publishable manuscript;

·       the thesis and dissertation form, including conversion to a journal manuscript;

·       understanding and participating in the publication process, and building on this foundation; and

·       other ways to represent and disseminate research.

Third, I write about qualitative research writing in celebration! Over my career, the variety of ways qualitative data are represented has burgeoned. There is much to celebrate and discuss. In my textbook, I have the privilege to feature the research of my current and former students and other professional qualitative researchers portrayed through literary, performative, and artistic accounts, such as poetry, visuals, personal accounts, plays, song, sand trays, music, art, videos, collage, graphics, websites, posters, charts, infographics, rants, and more.

I am confident, even now, someone is considering representing qualitative research in a new way to help us engage with and understand our world.

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