First Qualitative Publication

During the midst of my dissertation study, I took a moment to interview a few of the participants. We had almost 2000 participants in my study, but two days in August, I set up a table outside the VR stations and asked about 10 of them, individually, to sit with me for a few minutes and tell me about their experiences. 

Each interview took about 15 to 20 minutes, and it was random in that I didn't pre-screen or designate who I would talk to. I just took the first 10 or so who showed up. The results were very interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I decided to write them up for a qualitative article (HERE). 

So, who cares right? Just another publication?

• This is a big deal in my life because it is the first qualitative article I've ever written. 
• Also, it is my first co-authored piece. Two of my good friends and former co-workers helped me with the writing, and I was so excited to share a by-line with them. 
• This is a 10K word article, so by far the longest publication I've had in this vein, if you don't count my novels or my dissertation. 
• Lastly, this is actually going to be the reason that I can pursue a qualitative researchers certificate. 

Most of my study buddies had studies that were more qualitative in nature. I was one of the few people who decided to perform a quantitative study. In fact, I can't think of any other students in our cohort who decided to use a quantitative methodology. If you follow the course of my dissertation work, you'll remember that I was challenged by not having enough help regarding the methodology chapter. One of my old professors had to step in at the last moment to help out. In some ways, this happened because I was such an anomaly, and my performing a quantitative study was so rare for KSU's College of Education. 

But this article is the ticket I needed to work toward a Qualitative Researchers Certificate (HERE). Now, I just need to take two more classes.