Qualitative Research from Start to Finish

This book will help readers understand the practice of qualitative research--whether they want to do it, teach it, or just learn about it. All the major research phases are encompassed (startup, design, data collection, analysis, and composing), including newly emerging trends. Numerous easy-to-read vignettes show how other scholars have successfully implemented specific procedures. Equally distinctive, the book presents qualitative research as an adaptive craft. The array of choices among different procedures and methods enables readers to customize their own studies and to accommodate different worldviews and genres. New to This Edition: *Stronger discussion of different worldviews (e.g., constructivism, postpositivism, and pragmatism) and how they relate to different methodological choices. *Clearer emphasis on doing a generalized qualitative study, while acknowledging 12 specialized genres (e.g., action-based research, arts-based research, autoethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, and others). *Expanded discussions of different kinds of qualitative study samples and of mixed methods. *New ideas on how to avoid getting stalled when analyzing qualitative data. *Consideration of an additional way of concluding a qualitative study: by taking action. Pedagogical Features *Chapters start with an abstract and end with a suggested exercise. *Key terms and concepts appear in boldface throughout the text and are listed in end-of-chapter recaps as well as in the book’s glossary. *Sections within each chapter start with a preview box: “What you should learn from this section." *An appendix presents a semester- or yearlong field-based project.

This lively, practical text presents a fresh and comprehensive approach to doing qualitative research. The book offers a unique balance of theory and clear-cut choices for customizing every phase of a qualitative study. A scholarly mix of classic and contemporary studies from multiple disciplines provides compelling, field-based examples of the full range of qualitative approaches. Readers learn about adaptive ways of designing studies, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings. Key aspects of the researcher's craft are addressed, such as fieldwork options, the five phases of data analysis (with and without using computer-based software), and how to incorporate the researcher's declarative and reflective selves into a final report. Ideal for graduate-level courses, the text includes: Discussions of ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, feminist research, and other approaches Instructions for creating a study bank to get a new study started End-of-chapter exercises and a semester-long, field-based project Quick study boxes, research vignettes, sample studies, and a glossary Previews for sections within chapters, and chapter recaps Discussion of the place of qualitative research among other social science methods, including mixed methods research. This book will be invaluable to students and instructors in education, psychology, social work, sociology, nursing, management, and communication; practicing researchers and evaluators. It will also serve as a text in graduate-level qualitative methods courses, and as a supplement in graduate-level research design courses.