DIDACTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: A PROPOSITIONAL THEMATIC SYNTHESIS
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4109-9575
Pía Valentina Navea Olivares
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8814-7191
Abstract
There is a notable growth in publications on the teaching of scientific research, focused primarily on general teaching conditions. There is not, however, an equally notable growth regarding the didactics of qualitative research, understood as the study of the processes through which knowledge about qualitative research is reorganized as teachable knowledge. This study sought, first, to reconstruct the specific challenges for the didactics of qualitative research drawing on recent academic literature and, second, to propose teaching-learning strategies consistent with those challenges. A thematic synthesis was conducted in three progressive phases moving from a data-driven analysis to theory-driven conjectures based on abductive logic, over a corpus of secondary sources previously selected according to criteria of conceptual relevance and analytical sufficiency. The findings reveal the construction of three analytical configurations, conceived as critical nodes: the formative management of the uncertainty inherent to qualitative inquiry; the articulation between ethics, reflexivity, and learning communities; and the tension between traditional technical mastery and openness to creative and innovative resources. For each configuration, concrete teaching-learning strategies were developed as a first step toward more robust didactic frameworks, though open to empirical contrastation and adaptable according to institutional contexts. It is concluded that qualitative research must direct toward its own didactics the reflexivity it has exercised upon its objects of study, integrating more decisively the educational sciences. Thus, the results of this study contribute both to the strengthening of the incipient and fragmented field of the didactics of qualitative research and to the development of qualitative research itself, by subjecting to systematic reflection the conditions under which this knowledge is transmitted and formatively reproduced.
Downloads
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2026 New Trends in Qualitative Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
openAccess
openAccess
Afubwa, P. & Kauka, E. O. (2023). Key distinctions between qualitative and quantitative research in theory and data: Epistemological and ontological considerations. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 7(4), 1396-1403. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.7516
Aguilar, F. R. (2019). Didáctica de la filosofía. Revista de Estudios y Experiencias en Educación, 18(38), 129-150.
Behrmann, L., Epp, A., Gras, J. & Thane, K. (2025). Qualitative Methodenlehre jenseits von Forschungswerkstätten und seminaristischen Lehrforschungsprojekten: Der Mythos Vorlesung? Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 26(2), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-26.2.4338
Beuving, J. & de Vries, G. (2020). Teaching qualitative research in adverse times. Learning and Teaching, 13(1), 42-66. https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2020.130104
Bögelein, N. & Serrano-Velarde, K. (2012). Qualitative Methodenlehre in Zeiten der Modularisierung: Einführung eines anwendungsorientierten Lehrkonzeptes für die Sozialwissenschaften. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 13(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-13.2.1773
Bokhari, T. B., Anis, F. & Muhammad, Y. (2025). Cultural contexts and methodological rigor: Examining the tensions in qualitative research pedagogy for special education in Pakistan. ACADEMIA International Journal for Social Sciences, 4(2), 85-94. https://doi.org/10.63056/ACAD.004.02.0111
Breuer, F. & Schreier, M. (2007). Issues in learning about and teaching qualitative research methods and methodology in the social sciences. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 8(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-8.1.216
Campos, M. (2021). Didáctica de la investigación educativa. Instituto de Investigaciones sobre la Universidad y la Educación. https://doi.org/10.22201/iisue.9786073055574e.2021
Cárcamo, B., Pino, B. & Johnson, C. (2024). Bridging the gap between teaching and research: A case study of Chilean EFL university teachers’ perceptions. Journal of Latinos and Education, 24(4), 976-998. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2024.2434544
Castell, E., Muir, S., Roberts, L., Allen, P., Rezae, M. & Krishna, A. (2022). Experienced qualitative researchers' views on teaching students qualitative research design. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 19, 978-1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2021.1992061
Chevallard, Y. (1998). La transposición didáctica: Del saber sabio al saber enseñado. Aique Grupo Editor.
Class, B. (2023). Teaching research methods in education: Using the TPACK framework to reflect on praxis. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 47(3), 288-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2023.2270426
Cooms, S. & Saunders, V. (2024). Poetic inquiry: A tool for decolonising qualitative research. Qualitative Research Journal, 24(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-05-2023-0071
Debasish, L., Vasudevan, K., Dhasaram, P. & Mathiyalagen, P. (2022). Sensitizing the medical undergraduates to qualitative research: In the context of experiential learning debriefings. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 11, 1.
Drisko, J. W. (2015). Teaching qualitative research: Key content, course structures, and recommendations. Qualitative Social Work, 15(3), 307-321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325015617522
Guba, E. G. & Lincoln, Y. S. (2000). Paradigmas en competencia en la investigación cualitativa. En C. Denman & J. Haro (Eds.), Por los rincones: Antología de métodos cualitativos en la investigación social (pp. 113–146). El Colegio de Sonora.
Herzog, B. (2008). Learning and teaching qualitative research methods in social science: Provisional reflections. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-9.3.1011
Iannone, A. P. (2023). Teaching philosophy: Finding a balance between the factors that motivate philosophy, students' imagination, and their interests. SATS – Northern European Journal of Philosophy, 24(1), 93-110. https://doi.org/10.1515/sats-2023-0006
Jarzabkowski, P., Langley, A. & Nigam, A. (2021). Navigating the tensions of quality in qualitative research. Strategic Organization, 19(1), 70-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127020985094
Knoblauch, H. (2007). Comment: Theses zur Lehr- und Lernbarkeit qualitativer Methoden. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 8(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-8.1.217
Lewthwaite, S., Jamieson, L., Davidson, E., Edwards, R., Nind, M. & Weller, S. (2023). Enhancing the teaching of qualitative methods: Teaching the “breadth and depth” method for analysis of big qual. En M. Nind (Ed.), Handbook of teaching and learning social research methods (pp. 67–84). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800884274.00014
López, N. R. & Véliz, C. E. (2024). Didactic strategies to enhance meaningful learning in higher education. Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología, 4, 552. https://doi.org/10.56294/saludcyt2024.552
Mays, N. & Pope, C. (2000). Qualitative research in health care. Assessing quality in qualitative research. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 320(7226), 50-52. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7226.50
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. SAGE Publications.
Nind, M. (2020). A new application for the concept of pedagogical content knowledge: Teaching advanced social science research methods. Oxford Review of Education, 46(2), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1644996
Nind, M. (2023). Handbook of teaching and learning social research methods. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800884274
Nind, M. & Lewthwaite, S. (2020). A conceptual-empirical typology of social science research methods pedagogy. Research Papers in Education, 35(4), 467–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1601756
Nind, M. & Katramadou, A. (2023). Lessons for teaching social science research methods in higher education: Synthesis of the literature 2014-2020. British Journal of Educational Studies, 71(3), 241-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2022.2092066
Restrepo, B. (2003). Investigación formativa e investigación productiva de conocimiento en la universidad. Nómadas, 18, 195-202.
Ruth, A., Wutich, A. & Bernard, H. (2024). The handbook of teaching qualitative and mixed research methods: A step-by-step guide for instructors. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003213277
Salazar, R. (2017). Didáctica de la investigación: Un medio para fortalecer la investigación en la carrera de historia. Educación Superior, 3(1), 79-83.
Sandín, M. P. (2003). La enseñanza de la investigación cualitativa. Revista de Enseñanza Universitaria, 21, 37-52.
Teeters, L., Shedro, M., Álvarez, A., McKimmy, C. & Dimidjian, S. (2021). Teaching as mediation: The influence of professional development on teacher identity in Mexico City public schools. The Teacher Educator, 56, 372-398. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2021.1916141
Thomas, J. & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8, 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-8-45
Timmermans, S. & Tavory, I. (2012). Theory construction in qualitative research: From grounded theory to abductive analysis. Sociological Theory, 30(3), 167-186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275112457914
Timonen, V., Foley, G. & Conlon, C. (2024). Quality in qualitative research: A relational process. Qualitative Research Journal, 24, 1-16 https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-07-2024-0153
Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative Quality: Eight “Big-Tent” Criteria for Excellent Qualitative Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10), 837-851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121
Wagner, C., Kawulich, B. & Garner, M. (2019). A mixed research synthesis of literature on teaching qualitative research methods. SAGE Open, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019861488
Wintzer, J. (2023). Praktiken der Hochschullehre mittels Flipped Classroom und forschendem Lernen umkehren: Das Beispiel einer qualitativen Methodenausbildung in der Geografie. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 24(2), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.2.4074