Questions to Journal Editors on Writing up Qualitative Research for Social Workers

Writing up qualitative research can be difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible. In this brief article, I address some of the questions that new and seasoned qualitative researchers at a national conference asked editors of four major social work journals at a session on writing up qualitative research for publication. The questions the researchers asked that I address in this article are
• “What to do when the themes that I come up with don’t match my research question?”
• How to use theory in qualitative research. The person who asked this question said, “I get feedback from reviewers that I don’t use enough theory.”
• “If I don’t understand or agree with reviewers’ comments, what can I do?”
• “What software is needed to ensure scientific rigor in analysis of qualitative data?”
• “Is there a minimum sample size for publication?”