Qualitative Research as a Practice of Attentiveness: What Did We Discover During the Webinar with Tara McCrimmon?
How can we listen in a way that truly hears? How can we ask in a way that helps? How can we research in a way that not only collects knowledge, but brings understanding?
These were the guiding questions of a two-day intensive webinar led by Tara McCrimmon – a public health researcher, graduate of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and expert in the implementation of social interventions in post-Soviet countries.
The event, organized by the Center for Leadership of UCU and facilitated by research project manager Maryna Hrudii, gathered around 30 participants from various fields – mental health, social services, academia, public administration, human rights, HR, and educational Leadership. Some were only dreaming of conducting their first study, while others already held doctoral degrees and had published extensively. But they were united by one shared intention: to work with complex social realities more deeply and more responsibly. So what were the key takeaways from this encounter? We explore them in today’s article.
By Way of Introduction: Who is Tara McCrimmon?
For three years, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chortkiv, Ukraine. For six years, she led research programs in Central Asia (Kazakhstan). And for over a decade, she has been studying access to healthcare among marginalized groups – including women engaged in sex work, people who use injection drugs, and youth living in socially vulnerable conditions.
Tara McCrimmon combines academic precision with human openness. She moves fluently between the language of scientific methodology and the language of lived experience. Her research interests include implementation science, policy analysis, the development of HIV-related interventions – and, most importantly, the use of qualitative methods as tools for understanding and transformation.
Day One. What Is Qualitative Research – and Why Do We Need It?
The training began on Wednesday, July 9, with a simple yet thought-provoking question: “What is research, and why do we do it?” In public health (and beyond), one possible answer is this: research is the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data aimed at understanding human realities or developing new forms of support. And this is precisely where the distinction between quantitative and qualitative approaches becomes clear.
“Quantitative research is about “how many”. Qualitative research is about “why”. Both are important. But if you want to see the person, to understand their experience, their motivation, their context – then you need a qualitative approach”,
explained Tara McCrimmon.
In societies undergoing deep transformation – war, institutional disintegration, social restructuring – there is a growing need not just for measurement and assessment, but for contextual understanding. And that’s where qualitative research becomes essential: it allows us to move beyond numbers and focus on people’s experiences, meanings, motivations, and the internal logic behind their behavior.
Participants also worked through several foundational concepts:
- Quantitative questions (such as: “What percentage of respondents exhibit symptoms of “burnout”?”).
- Qualitative questions (like: “How do professionals describe their experience of emotional exhaustion?”).
- Mixed-method approaches (for example: starting with interviews to explore emerging issues and using that input to design a follow-up survey).
One topic in particular resonated deeply with the group – the study of secondary traumatization among Ukrainian mental health professionals during the war.
“Standardized international questionnaires don’t always work in Ukraine. Sometimes we need to collect our own data first – to understand how Ukrainian professionals are experiencing these states – and only then build the right tools”,
noted one participant, and the researcher agreed.
Day Two. How to “Code” Experience: A Step-by-Step Introduction to Thematic Analysis
The second day offered a full immersion into the methodology of thematic analysis. All participants had the opportunity to walk the path from unprocessed, raw text to the formulation of meaningful themes and patterns.
This session helped participants gain a clearer understanding of several key aspects:
- What is transcription, and why is it important not to edit participants’ responses?
- How can we work with translations without losing meaning and tone?
- What is a codebook, and how does it differ from an interview guide?
- How do we distinguish between inductive and deductive coding?
- And how do we build consensus within a coding team?
One discussion focused specifically on the role of subjectivity and the importance of reflexivity during analysis. Qualitative research does not claim to deliver “absolute truth”, but it offers a deeper understanding of phenomena that often elude statistics – from the feeling of helplessness to the experience of moral fatigue.
“90% of the work is not technical – it’s conversation. Together, you search for what a particular fragment means, and why it’s important to highlight. It’s difficult, but incredibly enriching”,
the trainer summarized.
Participants’ Voices
Ultimately, the success of any initiative is best reflected in the impressions of its direct participants. The feedback shared at the end of the training proved especially valuable to the Center for Leadership of UCU:
“I was really happy to find this opportunity. And thank you for the invitation. In the past, I’ve conducted interviews, but without understanding the methodology. Now, I want to do it right”,
shared Alina Markina, HR Business Partner at “Intellias”.
“It was more challenging than I expected. We spent a long time discussing in the group because everyone had their own opinion. And we didn’t want to offend each other – that’s also part of research ethics”,
reflected Kateryna Snisarenko on the group work experience.
“It was very interesting to hear about the structure of methods, because in my own work I’ve mostly operated intuitively, without a solid scientific foundation”,
said Dmytro, echoing the experience of many attendees.
And these reflections are not merely emotional reactions – they serve as clear indicators of how deeply the topic of qualitative research resonates with the challenges faced by Ukrainian professionals today. For us, as organizers, they also confirmed that initiatives like this training are not just about knowledge transfer. They actively contribute to building a community of people who are ready to engage in research in a meaningful way – with respect, ethics, and real-world impact.
Why Qualitative Research Is Also a Form of Leadership
This training was not just an introduction to methods. It served as an invitation into a circle of people who conduct research not for reporting, but for understanding. Not for control, but for change. In a culture where research is often reduced to bureaucratic formality, the approach proposed by Tara McCrimmon stands as both a challenge and a compelling alternative.
For the Center for Leadership of UCU, this event is part of a broader, deliberate effort to foster a new research ethic in Ukraine – one grounded in respect for lived experience, academic integrity, and responsibility for social impact.
“Qualitative research is also a form of Leadership. It requires attentiveness, patience, and moral integrity. It’s not about control over data – it’s about partnership with those who share their experiences”,
emphasized Tara McCrimmon.
These words served not only as a summary of the training, but also as a reminder of the core of the researcher’s leadership role. To be a researcher is not simply to collect data – it is to create a space in which someone else’s experience can be heard, interpreted, and ultimately transform both our understanding and our actions.
We are grateful to Tara McCrimmon for the depth and generosity of knowledge she shared with the participants – knowledge we believe will meaningfully contribute to the growth of contemporary Ukrainian scholarship. And we extend sincere thanks to all participants for their readiness to think more deeply and more responsibly. Because as experience shows, real, sustainable change begins when we dare to step beyond the familiar.