We are delighted to be hosting a range of pre-conference workshops ahead of our kick-off for QRSE2026 on Monday 11th May.

 

Pre-conference workshop are primarily aimed at Doctoral and Early Career Researchers. They are led by scholars with considerable expertise in their respective topics and who span different career stages.

 

Participants can choose one session in the morning and/or one session in the afternoon. The pre-conference workshop day starts at 10.00am and finishes at 3.00pm. Workshop participation includes lunch and refreshments.
 

You can book your space on the pre-conference workshops HERE, selecting the appropriate button (Registration for Workshops and Dinner). Places on the pre-conference workshops are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Delegates who register for the full conference will have priority booking on the workshops.
 

The workshops available are as follows:

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"Trauma and Qualitative Research"

Melissa Day (University of Chichester) and Bryan Clift (North Carolina State University)

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Interest in trauma informed research practices has recently grown considerably in sport, exercise, and physical activity research. This workshop aims to enhance knowledge of trauma informed research practices and provide space to advance trauma-informed thinking in our own research practices so that we become more socially, psychologically, physically, emotionally, and ethically sensitive and attuned researchers. To accomplish this, we first explore several interrelated terms and dimensions of trauma-based research practices, including trauma, trauma-informed methods, vulnerability, and researcher-vulnerability. To put this learning into context we will use practical scenarios which encourage workshop participants to consider their own trauma informed decision making in research. Following this, participants will individually and collaboratively reflect upon how trauma-based research can inform their past, current, or future research. No knowledge of trauma-informed practice is needed for the workshop, and the session will appeal to those who work in trauma-related subject areas and all qualitative researchers where human interaction is foundational.

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"Digital Data, Generative AI and the Need for New Methods?  "

Andrea Bundon (University of British Columbia) and Christina Silver (University of Surrey)

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​The rapid pace at which AI technologies are developing raises interesting, important and urgent questions for qualitative researchers. These include the practical (What is AI? How can it be used appropriately? How to choose between tools?), the ontological and epistemological (How does AI trouble notions of what is real and what can be known?), the ethical (whose data are we using and how is it kept secure? What are the socio-environmental consequences of the use of AI?), and the methodological (Is the use of AI congruent with qualitative methodologies? Can AI interpret and whose interpretations are they?). In this workshop, we will discuss the many (possible) points of ‘entry’ for using and discussing AI in throughout the qualitative research workflow, from designing projects, through data collection/generation, to data familiarisation, analysis and interpretation. Together, we will explore how AI technologies might trouble or challenge our practices and underpinning assumptions and also where AI might support or facilitate new forms of inquiry or new ways of engaging with qualitative data that enhance our practices. To accomplish this, we will draw on recent examples of qualitative research into sport, exercise and related topics that have used or engaged with AI some fashion. Workshop participants will work together to consider the implications (the potentials and pitfalls!) of AI in different qualitative research designs with a focus on ethics and methodological coherence and alignment.  

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"Deepening Qualitative Analysis"

Brett Smith (Durham University) and Kate Marks (Durham University)

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"Partnerships"

Catherine Sabiston (University of Toronto)  and Simon Darnell (University of Toronto)

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