Improving Qualitative Research Findings Presentations: Insights From Genre Theory

Every year thousands of presentations of qualitative research findings are made at conferences, departmental seminars, meetings, and student defenses. Yet scant scholarship has been devoted to these presentations, their nature and relevance to qualitative research, and how they can be improved. This article addresses this important gap by positioning “research findings” presentations as a distinctive genre, part of qualitative method, and an expression of scholarly discourse. From the theoretical basis of genre theory, a number of common and damaging mistakes are found to be evident in the manner in which qualitative research findings are usually presented. These have negative implications: reducing the methodological quality of, engagement with, and overall influence of the qualitative research presented. We draw on genre theory to make recommendations for future qualitative research findings presentations to improve the rigor, influence, and impact of such presentations.