Everyday practice-based research as a qualitative inquiry approach: structuring research entry from lived experience

Purpose This article addresses the limited methodological attention to how qualitative inquiry begins from lived experience. It develops everyday practice-based research (EPBR) as an entry-oriented approach that structures how everyday practice becomes researchable. Design/methodology/approach The article adopts a conceptual and practice-based approach, drawing on qualitative research traditions and practice-based reflections to articulate EPBR. It distinguishes between an Everyday Entry Pathway (EPBR-E), which supports structured reflexive engagement with lived experience, and an Analytical Deepening Pathway (EPBR-A), which enables selective progression to conceptual and theoretical development. Findings EPBR foregrounds research entry as a distinct stage of qualitative inquiry and reframes reflexivity as a structured and developable practice. The approach demonstrates how experiential knowledge can be articulated and translated into researchable concerns across academic, organisational and policy contexts. Originality/value This article contributes to qualitative research by conceptualising research entry as an underexamined stage of inquiry and offering a structured approach that strengthens connections between lived experience and qualitative research practice.