The Collaborative Turn

Book excerpt: "Pulling back the curtain on the collaborative process, Walter Gershon’s stunning new collection highlights the complex, multi-dimensional nature of qualitative research today. The Collaborative Turn: Working Together in Qualitative Research powerfully deepens and richens ongoing discussions around collaborative inquiry so central today. Drawing together a wide range of senior and emergent scholars, as well as a span of traditional and experimental approaches, this cutting-edge text is ideal for both new and seasoned scholars alike. -- Greg Dimitriadis, Professor, University at Buffalo, SUNY Gershon's edited volume on emerging collaborative methodological practices is a welcome resource for qualitative researchers who want to make their research more transparent, improvisational, and reflexive. It juxtaposes the latest reflections of innovators like Lather, Smithies, and Clandinin with new forms of collaboration in the arts and PAR. This interdisciplinary approach provides much food for thought that will surely inspire even bolder methodological experimentation. -- Douglas Foley, Professor of Cultural Studies in Education and of Anthropology, The University of Texas-Austin This book presents invaluable (and rarely seen) reflections on collaboration, which is a central practice for qualitative researchers, across disciplines. The authors examine their relationships and experiences with other researchers and with participants, resulting in an engaging text that explores the methodological and ethical implications of generating meaning in collaborative interactions. The end result is a ‘must-read’ text that educates and enlightens about the joys and challenges of collaborative research. -- Lisa M. Given, Director, International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, University of Alberta It is evident that qualitative research must be a social activity. But like so much in social life, it is taken for granted in the everyday practice of this methodology. This book lays bare the collaboration that is often unspoken on our work. Authors in Walter Gershon’s The Collaborative Turn push at current methodological boundaries enabling us to see the social practice of qualitative research in novel, creative, and artistic ways. -- George W. Noblit, Joseph R. Neikirk Distinguished Professor of Sociology of Education, UNC-Chapel Hill"