Collecting School Counseling Group Work Data: Initiating Consensual Qualitative Research through Practitioner–Researcher Partnerships

Abstract

Group counseling interventions can be complex to assess and research. Over the years, The Journal for Specialists in Group Work (JSGW) has highlighted many of these challenges and offered valued approaches to designing projects that promote the efficacy and meaningfulness of group work in various settings. Similarly, school counseling literature has increasingly called for more research specific to the work of school counselors and highlighted the value of establishing practitioner-researcher partnerships to design and implement studies with fidelity. The following article considers these recommendations and offers a rationale for using Consensual Qualitative Research, a modern approach to qualitative inquiry, to help practitioners and researchers collaborate in the design and implementation of group work research in the schools.

Keywords:

• consensual qualitative research
• group counseling
• school counseling

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah I. Springer

Sarah I. Springer, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Professional Counseling at Monmouth University.

Christy W. Land

Christy W. Land, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Clinical and Professional Studies Department at The University of West Georgia.

Lauren J. Moss

Lauren J. Moss, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Counselor Education Department at Kutztown University.

Daniel Cinotti

Daniel Cinotti, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School Counseling Department at New York Institute of Technology.