“The thing itself”: Using literary criticism techniques in teaching qualitative research through dissertation advising

Abstract

Dissertation advising is a form of teaching that takes place one-to-one rather than in the classroom. Although there have been monographs and journal articles on dissertation advising from a number of disciplines, professions, and perspectives, to date, no qualitative social work scholarship has addressed the use of literature or literary criticism in guiding doctoral candidates through the process of conducting qualitative dissertation research. This article presents the experiences of one social work professor who integrates literature as a teaching tool in working with doctoral students who engage in qualitative research for their dissertations. The article will review selected recent research on dissertation advising in qualitative inquiry and will present examples of how specific concepts from literature and literary criticism can illuminate the teaching of qualitative social work research through the medium of dissertation advising. Concepts will include Keats’s “negative capability” as well as Nabokov’s reflections on Dickens’ Bleak House. Implications for one-on-one dissertation advising are offered.