In clinical work, counselors approach clients with a set of core assumptions about the practice of counseling-or theoretical orientation-and apply this accordingly throughout the duration of counseling in consideration of various client, setting, and treatment factors. Similar to how counselors rely on a theoretical orientation to guide professional practice, counseling researchers use research traditions to navigate qualitative research design decisions. Moreover, Kline (2008) asserted that selecting a research tradition congruent with one's research orientation and study purpose, and infusing it in all phases of qualitative inquiry, is a criterion for trustworthiness (i.e., coherence). Given its importance in framing the design and maximizing rigor of qualitative inquiry, the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of major qualitative research traditions and illustrate how they are infused into various qualitative research design components.First, it is important to briefly discuss the concept of research paradigm. While the terms research paradigm and research tradition are used often interchangeably in the literature, we conceptualize them as interdependent and essential components of the counseling researcher's orientation for qualitative inquiry. Hays and Singh (2011) noted that research paradigms are belief systems based on core philosophies of science (i.e., ontology, epistemology, axiology, rhetoric, and methodology), and research traditions are methodological approaches and design strategies that are influenced by paradigms. Collectively, they serve as a foundational guide or blueprint that highlights the counseling researcher's assumptions, values, and activities related to the scientific pursuit for a particular research topic.Common research paradigms include positivism, postpositivism, social constructivism, critical theory, feminism, and queer theory. Scholars operating under each paradigm attribute differential value to the nature of reality or truth of a phenomenon (ontology), knowledge construction (epistemology), infusion of researcher values in design and attention to the research relationship (axiology), role of researcher and participant voice in research process and data presentation Infusing Qualitative Traditions in Counseling Research Designs Danica G. Hays and Chris WoodResearch traditions serve as a blueprint or guide for a variety of design decisions throughout qualitative inquiry. This article presents 6 qualitative research traditions: grounded theory, phenomenology, consensual qualitative research, ethnography, narratology, and participatory action research. For each tradition, the authors describe its purpose and key characteristics, outline commonly associated fieldwork activities, describe analytic approaches within the tradition, and then discuss strengths and challenges of the approach.(rhetoric), and considerations for scientific rigor (methodology). As attention to qualitative approaches increased across a variety of disciplines, the notion that scientific inquir...

This phenomenological inquiry explored the lived experiences of resilience of 21 transgender individuals. Through individual semistructured interviews (3 interviews each with 5 participants) and 1 focus group interview (16 participants), the authors identified 5 common resiliency themes (evolving a self‐generated definition of self, embracing self‐worth, awareness of oppression, connection with a supportive community, and cultivating hope for the future) and 2 variant themes (social activism and being a positive role model for others). Future practice and research directions are discussed.

The authors conducted a content analysis on the type, frequency, and intensity of use of various indicators of rigor for 68 qualitative research articles published between 1999 and 2014 in the Journal of Counseling & Development. The authors identified the most frequently listed and implemented strategies for the research articles. The authors found a significant engagement in rigor strategies across time, variations in intensity in strategy use, and a significant positive relationship between intensity of strategy use across time.

A number of developments have marked the evolution of clinical supervision as a separate specialty since publication of the Standards for Counseling Supervisors in 1990, including accreditation and counselor licensure standards, supervisor credentials, and research on supervision practice and supervisor training, nationally and internationally. Such developments culminated in the development of a statement of Supervision Best Practices Guidelines. The Guidelines are described, followed by suggestions for their implementation and further evolution through research.