TIPS: Quick primer on qualitative research and scale development for mental health (and whatever you want!)

– First you’ll want a general background in qual research and methods, this is a great intro qual research textbook. This will teach you logic and methods in qual work, as well as analysis etc. 

Mack, N. (2005). Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide.  http://repository.umpwr.ac.id:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/3721/Qualitative%20Research%20Methods_Mack%20et%20al_05.pdf?sequence=1

– This is becoming a foundational text on code/meaning saturation, or as the title says, how many interview are enough to find consistently and saturation in meaning through interviews. Important to cite when you write up methods.

Hennink, M. M., Kaiser, B. N., & Marconi, V. C. (2017). Code saturation versus meaning saturation: how many interviews are enough?. Qualitative health research, 27(4), 591-608. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1049732316665344

– Now you’re trained in qual research 🙂 Here are some good qual research studies based on your goal to query historical trauma, resilience, coping, etc. 
Weaver, L. J., Worthman, C. M., DeCaro, J. A., & Madhu, S. V. (2015). The signs of stress: Embodiments of biosocial stress among type 2 diabetic women in New Delhi, India. Social Science & Medicine, 131, 122-130. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615001380?casa_token=C0cTcqpBftgAAAAA:yO5ToZG2YgXnm6vQ1SOPnI91KoPPi6lSuhcmfHJLWO-fdMeMhaAcO6SEbrAWVUfI0qayUTB9oyQ

Keys, H. M., Kaiser, B. N., Foster, J. W., Burgos Minaya, R. Y., & Kohrt, B. A. (2015). Perceived discrimination, humiliation, and mental health: a mixed-methods study among Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. Ethnicity & health, 20(3), 219-240.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13557858.2014.907389

Mutumba, M., Bauermeister, J. A., Musiime, V., Byaruhanga, J., Francis, K., Snow, R. C., & Tsai, A. C. (2015). Psychosocial challenges and strategies for coping with HIV among adolescents in Uganda: a qualitative study. AIDS patient care and STDs, 29(2), 86-94. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/apc.2014.0222?casa_token=kLvvvrkwo5cAAAAA%3A9tsU4UaPd1K5qox9KnX0dwyYdg3mZZlM8l2KPZTA7rQce879Mb9U_KRTMMEPlkM1tg-YUl3vxqM3M14

Kim, A. W., Kaiser, B., Bosire, E., Shahbazian, K., & Mendenhall, E. (2019). Idioms of resilience among cancer patients in urban South Africa: An anthropological heuristic for the study of culture and resilience. Transcultural psychiatry, 56(4), 720-747. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363461519858798

– This is the fun stuff and most relevant to what you need, moving from qualitative to survey research. You’ll see Bonnie Kaiser appear a lot, my undergrad mentor and expert on scale development and adaptation for mental health. 
Rasmussen, A., Eustache, E., Raviola, G., Kaiser, B., Grelotti, D. J., & Belkin, G. S. (2015). Development and validation of a Haitian Creole screening instrument for depression. Transcultural psychiatry, 52(1), 33-57. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1363461514543546

Weaver, L. J., & Kaiser, B. N. (2015). Developing and testing locally derived mental health scales: Examples from North India and Haiti. Field Methods, 27(2), 115-130. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lesley_Weaver2/publication/277611316_Developing_and_Testing_Locally_Derived_Mental_Health_Scales/links/55d4965508ae1e6516636966.pdf

Kaiser, B. N., Kohrt, B. A., Keys, H. M., Khoury, N. M., & Brewster, A. R. T. (2013). Strategies for assessing mental health in Haiti: Local instrument development and transcultural translation. Transcultural Psychiatry, 50(4), 532-558. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brandon_Kohrt/publication/257073699_Strategies_for_assessing_mental_health_in_Haiti_Local_instrument_development_and_transcultural_translation/links/56ac923608ae43a3980c56c8/Strategies-for-assessing-mental-health-in-Haiti-Local-instrument-development-and-transcultural-translation.pdf

Some really great and relevant reading with an emphasis on applied qualitative research for clinical practice and psychological research:

Kirmayer, L. J., Gone, J. P., & Moses, J. (2014). Rethinking historical trauma.

Lewis-Fernández, R., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2019). Cultural concepts of distress and psychiatric disorders: Understanding symptom experience and expression in context. Transcultural Psychiatry, 56(4), 786-803.