Qualitative inquiry is a diverse field, with multiple traditions of practice. At Data Services, our pedagogy focuses on how you can leverage digital tools to support your unique approach to qualitative research.
You may find some of the following resources helpful to consult throughout your research process. If you are just getting started, we recommend taking a course or browsing resources in the "Getting started" page. For more advanced students, keep reading to check out tradition-specific resources.
Handling Qualitative Data
by
Viewing data as the heart of qualitative research, this book provides clear guidance on the steps involved in collecting and managing primary & secondary data while equipping you with a toolkit that they can apply to data in any context.In her positive and jargon-free style, the author discusses how setting up, working with, making sense of and presenting data can be a springboard into learning key research skills and reflecting on methodological issues. New to this edition: Ethical practice learning features, such as exercises and reflective questions Thoughtful guidance on the newer challenges in handling qualitative data, like data security and access to online data New chapters provide clear advice on communicating data to different audiences, and creating impactful data visualizations Online resources that illustrate how to work with data in real research projects; including a 'stepping into software' space that provides practical tips and guidance on using qualitative analysis software effectively
Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences
by
This book offers the most comprehensive and straightforward coverage of doing qualitative research on the market, now with a new chapter on Action Research. The author's central purpose remains a desire to instruct inexperienced researchers in ways of effectively collecting, organizing, and making sense of qualitative data, while stressing the importance of ethics in research and in taking the time to properly design and think through any research endeavor. After reading this book, fledgling researchers should be able to design, collect, and analyze data and then present their results to the scientific community.
Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design
by
In the Fourth Edition of the best-selling text, John W. Creswell and new co-author Cheryl N. Poth explore the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Preserving Creswell's signature writing style, the authors compare the approaches and relate research designs to each of the traditions of inquiry in a highly accessible manner. Featuring new content, articles, pedagogy, references, and expanded coverage of ethics throughout, the Fourth Editionis an ideal introduction to the theories, strategies, and practices of qualitative inquiry.
Qualitative Research
by
The bestselling guide to qualitative research, updated and expanded Qualitative Research is the essential guide to understanding, designing, conducting, and presenting a qualitative research study. This fourth edition features new material covering mixed methods, action research, arts-based research, online data sources, and the latest in data analysis, including data analysis software packages as well as narrative and poetic analysis strategies. A new section offers multiple ways of presenting qualitative research findings. The reader-friendly, jargon-free style makes this book accessible to both novice and experienced researchers, emphasizing the role of a theoretical framework in designing a study while providing practical guidance. Qualitative research reaches beyond the what, where, and when of quantitative analysis to investigate the why and how behind human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior, but this presents a number of significant challenges. This guide is an invaluable reference for students and practitioners alike, providing the deep understanding that this sometimes difficult area of research requires to produce accurate results. The book contains a step-by-step guide to analyzing qualitative data and an addendum for graduate students with a template for a thesis, dissertation, or grant application. Build a strong foundation in qualitative research theory and application Design and implement effective qualitative research studies Communicate findings more successfully with clear presentation Explore data sources, data analysis tools, and the different types of research
Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis
by
This unique text provides a broad introduction to qualitative analysis together with concrete demonstrations and comparisons of five major approaches. Leading scholars apply their respective analytic lenses to a narrative account and interview featuring "Teresa," a young opera singer who experienced a career-changing illness. The resulting analyses vividly exemplify what each approach looks like in action. The researchers then probe the similarities and differences among their approaches; their distinctive purposes and strengths; the role, style, and subjectivity of the individual researcher; and the scientific and ethical complexities of conducting qualitative research. Also included are the research participant's responses to each analysis of her experience. A narrative account from another research participant, "Gail," can be used by readers to practice the kinds of analysis explored in the book.
Designing Social Inquiry
by
While heated arguments between practitioners of qualitative and quantitative research have begun to test the very integrity of the social sciences, Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba have produced a farsighted and timely book that promises to sharpen and strengthen a wide range of research performed in this field. These leading scholars, each representing diverse academic traditions, have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive and causal inference in qualitative research, where numerical measurement is either impossible or undesirable. Their book demonstrates that the same logic of inference underlies both good quantitative and good qualitative research designs, and their approach applies equally to each. Providing precepts intended to stimulate and discipline thought, the authors explore issues related to framing research questions, measuring the accuracy of data and uncertainty of empirical inferences, discovering causal effects, and generally improving qualitative research. Among the specific topics they address are interpretation and inference, comparative case studies, constructing causal theories, dependent and explanatory variables, the limits of random selection, selection bias, and errors in measurement. Mathematical notation is occasionally used to clarify concepts, but no prior knowledge of mathematics or statistics is assumed. The unified logic of inference that this book explicates will be enormously useful to qualitative researchers of all traditions and substantive fields.
Successful Qualitative Research
by
*Shortlisted for the BPS Book Award 2014 in the Textbook Category* *Winner of the 2014 Distinguished Publication Award (DPA) from the Association for Women in Psychology (AWP)* Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners is an accessible, practical textbook. It sidesteps detailed theoretical discussion in favor of providing a comprehensive overview of strategic tips and skills for starting and completing successful qualitative research. Uniquely, the authors provide a "patterns framework" to qualitative data analysis in this book, also known as "thematic analysis." The authors walk students through a basic thematic approach, and compare and contrast this with other approaches. This discussion of commonalities, explaining why and when each method should be used, and in the context of looking at patterns, will provide students with complete confidence for their qualitative research journey. This textbook will be an essential textbook for undergraduates and postgraduates taking a course in qualitative research or using qualitative approaches in a research project.
The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis
by
The wide range of approaches to data analysis in qualitative research can seem daunting even for experienced researchers. This handbook is the first to provide a state-of-the art overview of the whole field of QDA; from general analytic strategies used in qualitative research, to approaches specific to particular types of qualitative data, including talk, text, sounds, images and virtual data. The handbook includes chapters on traditional analytic strategies such as grounded theory, content analysis, hermeneutics, phenomenology and narrative analysis, as well as coverage of newer trends like mixed methods, reanalysis and meta-analysis. Practical aspects such as sampling, transcription, working collaboratively, writing and implementation are given close attention, as are theory and theorization, reflexivity, and ethics. Written by a team of experts in qualitative research from around the world, this handbook is an essential compendium for all qualitative researchers and students across the social sciences.
Qualitative Data Analysis
by
Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña's Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebookis the authoritative text for analyzing and displaying qualitative research data. The Fourth Edition maintains the analytic rigor of previous editions while showcasing a variety of new visual display models for qualitative inquiry. Graphics are added to the now-classic matrix and network illustrations of the original co-authors. Five chapters have been substantially revised, and the appendix's annotated bibliography includes new titles in research methods. Graduate students and established scholars from all disciplines will find this resource an innovative compendium of ideas for the representation and presentation of qualitative data. As the authors demonstrate, when researchers "think display," their analyses of social life capture the complex and vivid processes of the people and institutions studied.
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers
by
This invaluable manual from world-renowned expert Johnny Saldaña illuminates the process of qualitative coding and provides clear, insightful guidance for qualitative researchers at all levels. The fourth edition includes a range of updates that build upon the huge success of the previous editions: A structural reformat has increased accessibility; the 3 sections from the previous edition are now spread over 15 chapters for easier sectional reference There are two new first cycle coding methods join the 33 others in the collection: Metaphor Coding and Themeing the Data: Categorically Includes a brand new companion website with links to SAGE journal articles, sample transcripts, links to CAQDAS sites, student exercises, links to video and digital content Analytic software screenshots and academic references have been updated, alongside several new figures added throughout the manual It remains the only book that looks specifically at coding qualitative data, as a core but often neglected skill that researchers and students alike need to effectively make sense of their data and to identify patterns, before they can analyse the material. Saldana presents a range of coding options with advantages and disadvantages to help researchers to choose the most appropriate approach for their project, reinforcing their perspective with real world examples, used to show step-by-step processes and to demonstrate important skills.
The Action Research Dissertation
by
`This book fills an important gap in the action research literature by specifically addressing the growing practice of action research master′s studies and doctoral dissertations in colleges and universities throughout the world. Like the authors′ previous work, this book provides a broad and clear overview of the varieties of action research. The discussion of the underlying choices that action researchers operating in a university degree program need to make and how such choices affect the quality of an action research project from different perspectives is an extremely valuable resource for students and faculty. I plan to use this book with my own graduate students on a regular basis′ - Ken Zeichner, University of Wisconsin, Madison `Finally, a thoughtful, accessible, and immensely helpful volume designed to promote dialogue among doctoral students and faculty about dissertation studies grounded in the everyday worlds of practice. By creating spaces for deep discussion about the decisions dissertators make (rather than proposing and arguing for particular solutions), the book sets doctoral researchers on their own quest for meaning, clarity and coherence. The rhetoric and contents of the book thus mirror its authors′ commitment to agency for doctoral students seeking to make their inquiries of value both within and beyond the academy′ - Susan Lytle, University of Pennsylvania `The authors have deftly produced a thoughtful, comprehensive, and much needed overview of the process of creating an action research dissertation that is sure to benefit generations of students and their faculty mentors′ - Davydd Greenwood, Cornell University `The Action Research Dissertation should be required reading for any student contemplating using an action research approach in a thesis or dissertation project. Kathryn Herr and Gary Anderson serve as able and amiable navigators through the challenging but equally rewarding process of planning, carrying out, and completing an action research dissertation. Clear explanations, compelling exemplars, and an honest discussion of the challenges of conducting an action research project combined with a sense of the passion and commitment of those who choose this path, make the volume a balanced and engaging guide to all would-be action researchers′ - Mary Brydon-Miller, University of Cincinnati Many students struggle with turning action research projects into a Master′s thesis or doctoral dissertation and receive little guidance from their advisors. To address this need, the authors have distilled decades of action research experience into a first-of-its-kind reference for graduate students. The book provides an accessible roadmap that honors the complexity of action research. It will show that action research is appropriate not only for a dissertation, but also a deeply rewarding experience for both the researcher and participants. This book helps students understand the ways action research dissertations are different from more traditional dissertations and prepares students and their committees for the unique dilemmas they may face, such as validity, positionality, design, write-up, ethics, and defense of the dissertation. The Action Research Dissertation is a must-have resource for any student contemplating an action research project, thesis, or dissertation, and equally valuable to researchers undertaking and writing up their action research.
Co-Operative Inquiry
by
This is the first book to provide a comprehensive account of co-operative inquiry: a way of doing research with people where the roles of researcher and subject are integrated. Co-operative inquiry is a distinctive and wide-ranging form of participative research in which people use the full range of their sensibilities to inquire together into any aspect of the human condition. This book offers both an extensive exploration of its theoretical background and a detailed practical guide to the methods involved. Topics covered include: a critique of established research techniques; the underlying participative paradigm of co-operative inquiry; the epistemological and political aspects of participation; different types of co-operative inquiry and the range of inquiry topics; ways of setting up inquiry groups and enabling their development; four kinds of inquiry outcome and the primacy of the practical; the main stages of the inquiry cycle, highlighting key issues for practice at each stage; and special skills and procedures used for enhancing validity.
Decolonizing Methodologies
by
To the colonized, the term 'research' is conflated with European colonialism; the ways in which academic research has been implicated in the throes of imperialism remains a painful memory. This essential volume explores intersections of imperialism and research - specifically, the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as 'regimes of truth.' Concepts such as 'discovery' and 'claiming' are discussed and an argument presented that the decolonization of research methods will help to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being. Now in its eagerly awaited third edition, this bestselling book includes a co-written introduction and features contributions from indigenous scholars on the book's continued relevance to current research. It also features a chapter with twenty-five indigenous projects and a collection of poetry.
Getting Lost
by
Winner of the 2008 Critics' Choice Award presented by the American Educational Studies Association In this follow-up to her classic text Troubling the Angels, an experimental ethnography of women with AIDS, Patti Lather deconstructs her earlier work to articulate methodology out of practice and to answer the question: What would practices of research look like that were a response to the call of the wholly other? She addresses some of the key issues challenging social scientists today, such as power relations with subjects in the field, the crisis in representation, difference, deconstruction, praxis, ethics, responsibility, objectivity, narrative strategy, and situatedness. Including a series of essays, reflections, and interviews marking the trajectory of the author's work as a feminist methodologist, Getting Lost will be an important text for courses in sociology of science, philosophy of science, ethnography, feminist methodology, women and gender studies, and qualitative research in education and related social science fields.
Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry
by
Recently, Black women have taken the world stage in national politics, popular culture, professional sports, and bringing attention to racial injustice in policing and the judicial system. However, rarely are Black women acknowledged and highlighted for their efforts to understand the social problems confronting our generation and those generations that came before us. In the post-civil rights era, research faculty and theoreticians must acknowledge the marginalization of Black women scholars' voices in contemporary qualitative scholarship and debates. Black Feminism in Qualitative Inquiry: A Mosaic for Writing our Daughter's Body engages qualitative inquiry to center the issues and concerns of Black women as researcher(s) and the researched while simultaneously questioning the ostensible innocence of qualitative inquiry, including methods of data collection, processes of data analysis, and representations of human experiences and identities. The text centers "daughtering" as the onto-epistemological tool for approaches to Black feminist and critical race data analysis in qualitative inquiry. Advanced and novice researchers interested in decolonizing methodologies and liberatory tools of analysis will find the text useful for cultural, education, political, and racial critiques that center the intersectional identities and interpretations of Black women and girls and other people of color. Daughtering as a tool of analysis in Black feminist qualitative inquiry is our own cultural and spiritual way of being, doing, and performing decolonizing work.
Black Feminist Anthropology
by
In the discipline's early days, anthropologists by definition were assumed to be white and male. Women and black scholars were relegated to the field's periphery. From this marginal place, white feminist anthropologists have successfully carved out an acknowledged intellectual space, identified as feminist anthropology. Unfortunately, the works of black and non-western feminist anthropologists are rarely cited, and they have yet to be respected as significant shapers of the direction and transformation of feminist anthropology. In this volume, Irma McClaurin has collected-for the first time-essays that explore the role and contributions of black feminist anthropologists. She has asked her contributors to disclose how their experiences as black women have influenced their anthropological practice in Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States, and how anthropology has influenced their development as black feminists. Every chapter is a unique journey that enables the reader to see how scholars are made. The writers present material from their own fieldwork to demonstrate how these experiences were shaped by their identities. Finally, each essay suggests how the author's field experiences have influenced the theoretical and methodological choices she has made throughout her career. Not since Diane Wolf's Feminist Dilemmas in the Field or Hortense Powdermaker's Stranger and Friend have we had such a breadth of women anthropologists discussing the critical (and personal) issues that emerge when doing ethnographic research.
Centering Diverse Bodyminds in Critical Qualitative Inquiry
by
Centering Diverse Bodyminds in Critical Qualitative Inquiry directly responds to the call for engaging in a new critical qualitative inquiry with consideration to issues related to power, privilege, voice, identity, and agency, while examining the hegemonic power of ableism and ableist epistemologies. The contributing authors of this edited volume advance qualitative methods and methodological discussions to a place where disability embodiment and the lived experience of disability are potential sources of method and methodological advancement. Accordingly, this book centers disability, and, in so doing, examines methodological challenges related to normative and ableist assumptions of doing qualitative research. The range of chapters included highlights how there is no singular answer to questions about qualitative method and methodology; rather, the centering of diverse bodyminds complicates the normative desire to create method/methodology that is "standard," versus thinking about method and methodology as fluid, emerging, and disruptive. As an interdisciplinary text on critical qualitative research and disability studies with an international appeal, Centering Diverse Bodyminds in Critical Qualitative Inquiry is valuable for graduate level students and academics within a broad range of fields including critical qualitative research methodologies and methods, disability studies, cultural studies, discourse studies, education, sociology, and psychology. Disciplines that engage in the teaching of qualitative research methodologies and methods, particularly those that foreground critical qualitative research perspectives, will also find the book appealing.
Critical Qualitative Inquiry
by
Critical approaches to qualitative research have made a significant impact on research practice over the past decade. This comprehensive volume of contemporary, original articles places this trend in its historical context, describes the current landscape of critical work, and considers the future of this turn. The book -includes contributions from some of the leading qualitative researchers on three continents; -consists of big-picture articles that describe the dimensions of this research tradition; -situates critical qualitative inquiry in the overall development and landscape of qualitative research.
The Archive Project
by
Recent scholarship on archival research has raised questions concerning the character and impact of 'the archive' on how the traces of the past are researched, the use and analysis of different kinds of archived data, methodological approaches to the practicalities involved, and what kind of theory is drawn on and contributed to by such research. The Archive Project: Archival Research in the Social Sciences builds on these questions, exploring key methodological ideas and debates and engaging in detail with a wide range of archival projects and practices, in order to put to use important theoretical ideas that shed light on the methods involved. Offering an overview of the current 'state of the field' and written by four authors with extensive experience in conducting research in and creating archives around the world, it demonstrates the different ways in which archival methodology, practice and theory can be employed. It also shows how the ideas and approaches detailed in the book can be put into practice by other researchers, working on different kinds of archives and collections. The volume engages with crucial questions, including: What is 'an archive' and how does it come into existence? Why do archival research and how is it done? How can sense be made of the scale and scope of collections and archives? What are the best ways to analyse the traces of the past that remain? What are helpful criteria for evaluating the knowledge claims produced by archival research? What is the importance of community archives? How has the digital turn changed the way in which archival research is carried out? What role is played by the questions that researchers bring into an archive? How do we deal with unexpected encounters in the archive? A rigorous and accessible examination of the methods and choices that shape research 'on the ground' and the ways in which theory, practice and methodology inform one another, this book will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and humanities with interests in archival and documentary research.
Archival Strategies and Techniques
by
I think that anyone who has an interest in traditional archival research will find this a thoughtful and valuable guide to the many different elements of the research process. --Theory and Methods "His research advice is systematic and thorough and could easily serve for other researchers than sociobiographers. In eighty-eight pages, Hill has managed to pack not only this sound research advice but a critique of archival practices and a six-page bibliography. The book is certainly worth a read. . . . and could give archivists an opportunity to broaden their sociological horizons." --Archivaria "Michael Hill′s monograph, Archival Strategies and Techniques, depicts a world that some might think would be as dusty as old manuscripts themselves, but in the process of describing the excitements, joys, frustrations, and ethical conundrums, he has demonstrated that the archival scholar can share thrills and fears with Indiana Jones. Hill′s book is filled with lively anecdote, compelling analysis and a full measure of wit. This monograph will be an invaluable companion for anyone planning to spend time in libraries, dusty or otherwise." --Gary Alan Fine, University of Georgia "Much more than a how-to book, Michael Hill interprets archives and their use from a Goffmanian sociological perspective. As an extra benefit, he guides readers through the archival process by drawing on a sociological/historical project--the recovery of unknown or presently discounted social scientists. Any teacher who assigns a term paper to students will want to recommend this book!" --Shulamit Reinharz, Brandeis University "Michael Hill has produced a lively and, for some of us, comforting guide to archival research in sociology. . . . The book is comforting because among the gems contained within this short monograph is a discussion of the need to recover `unknown or presently discounted social scientists′ as an important epistemological task." --Network Historical and biographical research is increasingly used by social scientists as an important form of qualitative research. This kind of research usually requires the extensive use of formal archives housed in university and government buildings, museums, and other institutions. This concise, but practical book provides the "rules of the game" for the novice on conducting and preparing to work in archives, the protocol of using archives, and ways of organizing and referencing the useful data from the archive. This intriguing volume will interest scholars and students from a wide array of disciplines using this type of research for social analysis.
Working with Archival Data
by
The number of longitudinal data archives is growing almost daily, yet no resource exists to help understand the relationship between research questions and archival data--until now. Drawing on a single project, the Lewis Terman Study at Stanford University, the authors illustrate how to use the model-fitting process to select and fit the right data set to a particular research problem. Employing a step-by-step approach, this handy volume covers the measurement of historical influences, the adaptation of existing coding schemes to temporal patterns that are characteristic of life records, and the recasting of archival materials to illuminate contemporary questions that the data were not designed to answer.
Thematic Analysis
by
**Winner of the 2022 British Psychological Society Book Award - Textbook Category**Developed and adapted by the authors of this book, thematic analysis (TA) is one of the most popular qualitative data analytic techniques in psychology and the social and health sciences.Building on the success of Braun & Clarke′s 2006 paper first outlining their approach - which has over 100,000 citations on Google Scholar - this book is the definitive guide to TA, covering:- Contextualisation of TA- Developing themes- Writing TA reports- Reflexive TAIt addresses the common questions surrounding TA as well as developments in the field, offering a highly accessible and practical discussion of doing TA situated within a clear understanding of the wider terrain of qualitative research.Virginia Braun is a Professor in the School of Psychology at The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.Victoria Clarke is an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol.
Case Study Research
by
With over 90,000 copies sold of the previous editions the new Third Edition of the best-selling Case Study Research has been carefully revised, updated, and expanded while retaining virtually all of the features and coverage of the second edition. Robert Yin′s comprehensive presentation covers all aspects of the case study method - from problem definition, design, and data collection, to data analysis and composition and reporting. Yin also traces the uses and importance of case studies to a wide range of disciplines, from sociology, psychology and history to management, planning, social work, and education. New to the Third Edition are: additional examples of case study research; discussions of developments in related methods, including randomized field trials and computer-assisted coding techniques; added coverage of the strengths of multiple-case studies, case study screening, and the case study as a part of larger multi-method studies, and five major analytic techniques, including the use of logic models to guide analysis. This edition also includes references to examples of actual case studies in the companion volume Applications of Case Study Research, Second Edition (Sage, 2003).
Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research
by
Much applied research takes place as if complex social problems--and evaluations of interventions to address them--can be dealt with in a purely technical way. In contrast, this groundbreaking book offers an alternative approach that incorporates sustained, systematic reflection about researchers' values, what values research promotes, how decisions about what to value are made and by whom, and how judging the value of social interventions takes place. The authors offer practical and conceptual guidance to help researchers engage meaningfully with value conflicts and refine their capacity to engage in deliberative argumentation. Pedagogical features include a detailed evaluation case, "Bridge to Practice" exercises and annotated resources in most chapters, and an end-of-book glossary. Winner (Third Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Community/Public Health Category
