Innovation through collaboration: Working together on data analysis and interpretation

Qualitative research is an inherently social process. When conducting qualitative research, scholars engage with the social world through participants, settings, and, oftentimes, co-authors. While the relationships qualitative researchers form with their subjects have received a good deal of attention (e.g., Barley, 1990; Charmaz, 2006), connections made within research teams (i.e., between co-authors) remains largely underexplored. Yet ties between team members are likely critical to the overall impact of the research (Hackman, 2011). For example, collaborations enable researchers to engage in dialogue and debate over the phenomenon and the methodological approach. Importantly, when working together, partnerships also serve as a lens through which the data are interpreted and shared with the field. To help advance our understanding of how connections within research teams influence qualitative research outcomes, this chapter explores how working with others bolsters the innovativeness of the research process-in particular during the data analysis and interpretation phase.