This paper treats with an approach to the delivery of a course in qualitative research methods to postgraduate students in education. The approach is the result of a felt and expressed need on the part of both tutors and students for more appropriate and meaningful experiences in the qualitative research seminar. Caribbean literature is used to introduce students to the field of qualitative research through a process of learning by doing. Participants examined extracts from a variety of Caribbean literary works with a view to identifying the objects of inquiry, commenting on the appropriateness of the methods used to investigate and study the objects, and on the nature of the evidence presented by the writers. Participants’ responses are presented and analysed, and the implications for planning and delivery of qualitative research seminars considered.