Designing Qualitative Research to Do No Harm

This book is for everyone who cares about how people, communities, and institutions are treated through research processes, and what we learn from research that impacts them.

This accessible book helps researchers avoid unintentional harm to research participants, communities, institutions, and organizations. The book assists researchers in building knowledge, attitudes, dispositions, skills, and practices to co-construct knowledge with people and communities to inform policies and practices. Grounded in research and theory, the book focuses on three essential qualitative research methods: interviewing, observation, and document analyses. Readers are invited to employ ethical, compassionate, and rigorous practices committed to harm prevention, particularly important in today’s declining democracy.

The authors explore how to collect evidence, build and substantiate knowledge, and disseminate it in ways that honor, protect, and work in partnership with research participants and communities to improve human conditions. While early career and veteran researchers will find the book useful, so should parents, activists, policymakers, and anyone who cares about the health and wellbeing of people who participate in research and what we learn from it.

Book Features:

• Introduces a set of four commitments to “Do No Harm in Research” for readers to adopt and adapt to their own context and content.
• Written in an accessible tone and structure that is suitable for readers across different disciplines such as education, sociology, psychology, human development, health sciences, political science, ethnic studies, history, and social work.
• Offers real-life scenarios to help readers think about how they would approach aspects of their work differently by applying Do No Harm commitments in their own research planning and practices.
• Moves beyond philosophical debates and paradigm wars about the importance of qualitative research over other research traditions to focus on cultivating research practices and outcomes for equity and inclusion.

H. Richard Milner IV is Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Education, Professor of Sociology, and Professor of Education Policy Studies at Vanderbilt University. Tyrone C. Howard is the Pritzker Family Endowed Chair and professor of education in the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA.

“Milner and Howard’s Designing Qualitative Research to Do No Harm offers a rigorous, urgently needed template for equity-driven social science fieldwork. Focusing on ethical reflexivity, asset-based analysis, and accountability, they chart a path for knowledge production centering, rather than harming, historically marginalized communities. What sets this book apart is its model. The vivid case studies and granular fieldwork give life to these commitments, while their cyclical research model—preactive, interactive, and postactive—encourages self-reflection and dialogue with participants. They deliver not just a methodology guide, but a vision of social science as collaborative, justice-focused, and attuned to lived experience. In a research landscape scarred by extractive practices, this book serves as a major corrective, demonstrating ethical, asset-driven qualitative research that is essential for our increasingly diverse nation.”
—Joe R. Feagin, Distinguished Professor of Sociology emeritus, Texas A&M University

“This book is a must-read for individuals interested in performing culturally sensitive research. Milner and Howard illumine how interviews, observations, and document analyses can be transformed when informed by frameworks and practices from communities of color. Applying the accessible strategies from this book will ensure no harm in your research endeavors to the betterment of scholarly processes and the people you attempt to serve.”
—Sandra L. Barnes, C.V. Starr Professor of Sociology, Brown University

“Milner and Howard have created a timely book important for researchers interested in making a critical difference with communities. They provide clear methods for interviewing, observing, and documenting analyses that are useful with multiple methodological approaches. This book will help researchers truly do no harm as they collaborate with communities and implement important changes that impact people’s daily lives.”
—Penny A. Pasque, professor and director, QualLab Research Center, The Ohio State University

“Designing Qualitative Research to Do No Harm is a timely and transformative call to conduct research that centers dignity, reflection, and ethical responsibility. This book belongs in the hands of anyone committed to using research as a force for justice.”
—Daniel G. Solorzano, professor, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

“This book provides vital guidance regarding rigorous application of interpretivism to the essential disciplines of interviewing, observations, and document analyses during scientific inquiry. It is a must-read for present and future generations of scientists for all disciplines.”
—Wonder Puryear Drake, professor of medicine, senior associate dean of faculty affairs,
University of Maryland School of Medicine

“In an era in which scientific inquiry faces unprecedented scrutiny, Milner and Howard offer a timely and indispensable guide in Designing Qualitative Research to Do No Harm. This essential resource equips researchers, particularly those engaged in interdisciplinary studies, with a clear framework to conduct qualitative research grounded in principles of harm reduction. This book serves as both a blueprint and an inspiration for scholars committed to advancing inclusive and impactful research.”
—Derrick E. White, professor of history and African American & Africana studies, University of Kentucky

“This is a time when practices need to be revisited as we confront a context of misinformation, distrust in science, and wild conspiracy theories. This important book is a must for students and a reminder for researchers using qualitative methodologies that the fundamentals must never be taken for granted and that the authority of our research approaches must be grounded in ethical and principled research. The book is clearly written, key concepts are sharply described, and critical practices are identified and explained. This is a textbook I wish I had as a graduate student.”
—Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Distinguished Professor, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Whakatāne, New Zealand

“An engaging read with insightful examples, this book offers a clear set of principles for conducting rigorous and ethical qualitative research among marginalized groups. A helpful guide for emerging scholars in the social sciences."
—Matthew Clair, assistant professor of sociology, Stanford University

“Designing Qualitative Research to Do No Harm is an essential guide for researchers committed to producing knowledge that strengthens—not harms—communities too often placed at society’s margins. More than a methods text, this book is a call to conduct research that honors people, transforms practice, and supports regional efforts to improve conditions for communities too often misunderstood or misrepresented. It is a must-read for anyone committed to rigorous, justice-oriented research that truly advances opportunity.”
—Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development, Washington
University in St. Louis