Qualitative Research by a Non-Hierarchical Team

In this and subsequent issues, The Qualitative Report will publish eight articles about a journal written by Edward B. Emerson (1805-1834), a younger brother of American philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. This introduction will describe the origins of the project, the sources, the process and the outcomes of the collaboration. The authors hope to document and illustrate the richness and value of interdisciplinary qualitative inquiry, while providing specifics of how the Emerson Journal Project evolved. We provide examples to illustrate the characteristics of effective teamwork, but also present the challenges along the way and how they were surmounted. The breadth of the topics in the journal and the range of expertise within the team have resulted in the use of different approaches to examine Emerson’s text. It is the authors’ goal that these essays will enhance the reading of Emerson´s journal, while contributing to the social and historical understanding of the Caribbean.