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What hermeneutics helps us understand is that inquiring into meaning in dialogue with others is a never-ending process. Researchers want to get better at helping to elucidate the unsaid, not because it is a reachable goal but because the process is crucial to our own understanding and development.

Melissa Freeman

Professor

Good qualitative research requires a deep understanding of research design. During your time in our program at UGA, the qualitative research faculty will introduce you to a rich array of theoretical and methodological resources and analytical strategies for you to draw on as you carve out a research agenda for yourself.

I study qualitative research theories and practices with special focus on 1) philosophical and analytical forms of inquiry, 2) qualitative evaluation, and 3) research with children. My research into different philosophically-informed research traditions has been to understand the variety of interpretive and critical strategies used to make sense of the world, to disrupt conventional ways of thinking about research and the social world, and to open up new theoretical and practical trajectories for qualitative research and evaluation. The courses that I teach will introduce you to the theoretical foundations of qualitative traditions, different ways to conceptualize your research design and analysis, and strategies for teaching qualitative research.

Learn more about Melissa Freeman.