Qualitative Research

DESCRIPTION: “Collecting Qualitative Data: A Field Manual for Applied Research provides a very practical, step-by-step guide to collecting and managing qualitative data. The data collection chapters focus on the three most often used forms of qualitative data collection: Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. The book also contains chapters on other practical aspects of qualitative field research often neglected in textbooks, including sampling, data management, research ethics, and supplementary data collection activities. Designed as an instructional field manual, this textbook incorporates many checklists and tips for how to use each technique while doing research. The book also includes numerous real-life examples and cases, making it easy for readers to see the broader picture."

REVIEW EXCERPT: “They lead readers through each data collection method, with explanations, cautionary notes, examples, and templates, in addition to discussion of recent technological advancements and their implications and a section on research in a foreign country or culture in each chapter.”

Collecting qualitative data; a field manual for applied research. (2012). Reference and Research Book News, 27(4), Reference and Research Book News, Vol.27(4).

DESCRIPTION: “The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research presents a comprehensive and student-friendly overview of the field of qualitative research and is intended for students of all levels, faculty, and researchers across the social sciences. It provides strong focus on methods instruction with coverage of theoretical approaches, analysis, writing, evaluation, and the politics of research.”

DESCRIPTION: “….This textbook offers step-by-step instructions for implementing the three principal types of qualitative text analysis: thematic, evaluative, and type-building. Special attention is paid to how to present your results and use qualitative data analysis software packages, which are highly recommended for use in combination with qualitative text analysis since they allow for fast, reliable, and more accurate analysis. The book shows in detail how to use software, from transcribing the verbal data to presenting and visualizing the results.”

REVIEW EXCERPT:  “Kuckartz presents a guide to the systematic analysis of qualitative data, explaining the central steps of the process of qualitative text analysis using software, and describing three main methods in detail….”

Qualitative Text Analysis: A Guide to Methods, Practice & Using Software. (2015). ProtoView, 2(41), ProtoView, Vol.2(41).

DESCRIPTION: “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.”

DESCRIPTION: “Presenting the state-of-the-art for the theory and practice of qualitative inquiry, this landmark Handbook has been a publishing phenomenon in the human sciences since it first published in 1994…. The new edition continues the book′s tradition of synthesizing an existing literature, defining the present, and shaping the future of qualitative research. As with previous editions, their aim is to show how the practices of qualitative research can effect change in the world in positive ways.”

REVIEW EXCERPT:  “The Handbook, in its third edition, does an impressive job of situating the field in historical context, locating it in the tradition of various social sciences, even linking it to the rather shameful tradition of colonial dominance, and offering ways in which qualitative research can be used in a more egalitarian and emancipatory manner than its origins would suggest. Overall, the book makes fascinating reading, although it functions better as an institutional reference tool. An argument could be made that the book is quite light on how-to advice for the novice researcher in the field, but one can see that more as a specific choice made by the editors and various authors rather than as a deficiency in the narrative.”

Milgate, M. (2007). The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Australasian Marketing Journal, 15(3), 94-96.

DESCRIPTION: “Using Software in Qualitative Research is an essential introduction to the practice and principles of Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS (CAQDAS). The book will help you to choose the most appropriate package for your needs and get the most out of the software once you are using it. This book considers a wide range of tasks and processes in the data management and analysis process, and shows how software can help you at each stage. In the new edition, the authors present three case studies with different forms of data (text, video and mixed data) and show how each step in the analysis process for each project could be supported by software. The new edition will be accompanied by an extensive companion website with step-by-step instructions produced by the software developers themselves.”

REVIEW EXCERPT: “‘Using Software in Qualitative Research: A Step-by-Step Guide’ is a useful and user friendly guide to Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS (CAQDAS) software packages. This book is ideal for anyone who (like myself) is a beginner researcher and not very familiar with using software packages for analysing textual data. It could also be used by more advanced researchers with specific research questions and problems in mind. The volume provides a step-by-step guide to the tasks and processes involved in doing qualitative research with software packages.”

Bruno, I., & Lewins, Ann. (2008). Using Software in Qualitative Research: A Step-By-Step Guide. Sociological Research Online, 13(3), Sociological Research Online, Vol.13(3).