"It Requires Interest, Time, Patience and Struggle": Novice Researchers' Perspectives on and Experiences of the Qualitative Research Journey

This study aimed at exploring novice researchers' experiences of and perspectives on the qualitative research journey and determining the difficulties tackled and strategies developed while conducting qualitative research. The study was an interview-based qualitative case study involving nine graduate students in education as the participants. The data were collected between 2017 and 2019 at a state university located in Southeastern Turkey. The content-analyzed data revealed several findings about the research topic, indicating that the novice researchers considered the qualitative research journey as daunting and overwhelming, but pleasurable and satisfying. Despite scholarly development and lessons learned in the process, the researchers confronted with several difficulties concerning data collection, analysis and interpretation, recruitment and developing rapport, representation of findings, and the research process as a whole. They developed personal and external support strategies during the research journey. The metaphorical perceptions portrayed the elusive and distinctive nature of qualitative research.