Cancellation Notice

It is with great reluctance that we have decided to cancel this year’s Qualitative Research Symposium.

The combination of a continued presence of COVID-19 and the complexities it poses for those with pre-existing health conditions, as well as rethinking whether conferences are in-person or remote, twinned with our own increased workloads, have forced us to cancel the symposium.

We are frustrated and saddened not to be able to deliver a symposium to the standard we are accustomed to – for this, we apologise. However, we will host QRS in 2024, keeping the same conference theme and call for papers. We will see you next year.

Please note: the Pre-Symposium Qualitative Workshops on 31 January 2023 are still going ahead. Find out more about these workshops and book your place.

Event Schedule

The symposium day has been cancelled, but pre-symposium workshops will run on Tuesday 31 January 2023. It will be an in-person event at the University of Bath.

Tuesday 31 January

Pre-Symposium Qualitative Workshops

Workshops will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners.

A total of eight workshops are offered; participants can select whether to attend one (half a day) or two (full day) of the eight.

No prior knowledge of the subjects is required given the workshops are designed to be of an introductory level.

Each session lasts 2.5 hours and has a maximum capacity of 25 attendees.

Find more information about our workshops here.

Ethics and Power

The title of this year's Qualitative Research Symposium is Ethics and Power.

Through this Symposium, we reflect on ethics and power dynamics in qualitative research, opening for discussion how knowledge is created, who or what creates it, and how it can be contested.

Symposium Themes

The following areas form the core themes of the Qualitative Research Symposium 2023.

Formations and conceptualisations of ethics in applying qualitative methods

This theme focuses on the diversity of forms of approaches to ethics in qualitative researchers, considerations may include:

• How is ethics constructed within the development of, enacting of, or reflecting upon qualitative research?
• How does ethics vary by nation, institution, department, or discipline?
• How do researchers ‘problem-solve’ ethical conundrums in qualitative research?

Views on ethics and power in research

This theme looks at relationships with participants and may consider:

• Do researchers always hold the power in research?
• What methods and methodologies have historically and recently been used to foster power amongst participants?
• How can methods and methodologies be used to disrupt typical hierarchical power relations?

Effects of ethics and institutional power

This theme focuses on how vulnerability amongst researchers or in the researcher-participant relationship can impact upon the research process and the decisions we make, considerations may include:

• How do university and institutional ethics committees exercise/influence/shape power over qualitative researchers?
• Are there specific ethical parameters which may stifle approaches, such as participatory ones?
• How present are qualitative researchers and issues in institutional ethics committees and processes?

Previous events

The Qualitative Research Symposium is an annual event. Read more about our past events and the themes they have covered.