Honest Feedback Helps Researchers Develop Methods

By Janet Salmons

Dr. Salmons is the Research Community Manager for Methodspace, and serves as Mentor in Residence for June. Her most recent book from SAGE Publishing is Doing Qualitative Research Online. If ordering from SAGE, use MSPACEQ422 for a 20% discount, valid through the end of December 2022.

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Doing something new and different can be a lonely process.

Innovating new methods sounds romantic but can be brutal. There are times when you wonder: this makes sense to me, but will it make sense to anyone else? Is this approach brilliant or stupid, workable or impossible to put into practice? Am I on the right track, or did I take a wrong turn? If you are thinking about working on new or updated methodologies or methods, it helps to have trusted colleagues who can help answer those questions.

Last year, when working a new edition of Doing Qualitative Research Online, I decided to ask Professor Luke Sloan for some input. We are engaged in different angles of online research, but I trust and respect his views. I asked if he would be willing to look at some of my models and frameworks and tell me candidly:

• Is it clear? Does it communicate the ideas I am trying to get across?

• Is it useful?

  • How could be used?

  • Could you use it to explain a research concept or process with students?

• What is missing? What could be improved?

I told Luke “I am not asking for complements on my work, I want the truth.” If I needed to make changes, I wanted to do so before I included the materials in the new book manuscript. I offered to give the same kind of frank appraisal to anything he wanted to share.

It is always challenging to open what has been private thinking to the input of others. However, I think there is a real value in initiating dialogue about the work while it is in progress. A friendly review allows you to refine and improve your ideas before you get to the point of submitting a manuscript or article for editorial or peer review. In this case, we had our discussion in public, on a Methodspace webinar. View the webinar recording here, and see the original post, which includes our bios and links to publications.

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Find trusted partners and ask for the truth.

You might decide to have such a discussion in private, either in-person or using a shared screen in a video conference. If you do, use these tips for a productive exchange:

• Find someone who understands the research tradition or paradigm. Be realistic: it is not likely someone will have the time or motivation to learn the foundations needed to understand your new approach.

• Provide some questions. What, specifically, do you want to know?

• Be clear about your boundaries. Are there points you don’t want to discuss, such as writing style?

• Reciprocate. Give thoughtful, constructive input to your partner.

• Prepare yourself! You might not like what you hear. You might need to make changes. Or you might need to scrap what you were doing and start over. Keep in mind that the sooner you know what is needed, the less time will be wasted on something that is unclear or unworkable.

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