Collaborative Qualitative Research with Thalia M. Mulvihill and Raji Swaminathan

Ron Chenail and Dan Wulff interview Thalia Mulvihill and Raji Swaminathan about their new book Collaborative Qualitative Research (2023, Guilford). Thalia and Raji discuss their particular style of collaborating as co-authors in their writing projects. They discuss the research challenges of trying to build and support collaborative relationships with community research partners/participants while at the same time upholding established academic practices that may be very foreign to non-academic communities. They discuss the challenges of living and working with uncertainties that are endemic to collaborative projects and how collaborative approaches to qualitative research impact the types of questions that are possible and preferred. The conversation touches upon the importance of interpersonal skills of listening and blending viewpoints/agendas when embarking on collaborative research journeys. The podcast ends with a discussion of the challenges of language translation in conducting and reporting collaborative qualitative projects. The ideas explored in this conversation underscore the idea that “research is not innocent”—qualitative researchers have always known that research is a series of choices/decisions that reflect viewpoints, received knowledges, and power. Thalia and Raji’s book highlights the responsibilities of collaborative qualitative researchers to honor the multiple collaborations that are part of all research projects.