(Is there a) middle ground?

Abstract

“(Is there a) middle ground?” is about the use of checklists in qualitative research to ensure rigor and trustworthiness, and to engage readers and reviewers. The flash fiction entry shows the constant struggle which qualitative authors face – whether to use checklists (and confirm to the positivistic viewpoint of making research formulaic to make it rigorous) or to avoid checklists (to prevent criticism from interpretivists who might argue checklists make qualitative research too standardized). It also shows the (mis) conceptions of researchers that the same content (check list parameters) presented in a different format (a word cloud or decision tree, instead of a table) makes the check list less formulaic.