Books in the Qualitative Research Methods series

Rose argues for a break with the corporate mould of ethnography to refashion it as a democratic form of thought and existence in which the ethnographer is fully engaged with the subject. He assesses the possibility of ethnography as a way of life.

The essence of research design is the ability to articulate your research question. This book dissects the anatomy of a qualitative research question, outlines the role of paradigms in research design, describes strategies to use the anatomy as a design heuristic, and provides sample cases that track the decisions two researchers made while formulating a qualitative question. The book concludes with advice on how to move from the research question to the proposal.

In this introduction to understanding, researching and doing case studies in the social sciences, Hamel outlines several differing traditions of case study research including the Chicago School of Sociology, the anthropological case studies of Malinowski, and the French La Play school tradition. He shows how each developed, changed and has been practised over time. Suggestions for the practice of case studies are made for the novice reader and an additional feature is the extensive bibliography on case study methods in social science to allow for further exploration of the topic.

Unlike other types of qualitative research, the clinical perspective in field research does not aim to be impartial and uninvolved. The clinician is usually a consultant brought in specifically to effect change in an organization, and therefore works under a very different set of technical and ethical restraints. Edgar Schein succinctly outlines the clinical perspective in field research, how it differs from other types of qualitative research and its inherent rewards and difficulties.

Helping ethnographers devise a clearly articulated explanation of their methods, this book argues that norms about discussing methods in ethnographies are underdeveloped. The book considers what ought to be normative in methods discussions within ethnography - from the research design to the end product.

An exploration of strategies for writing up the same research in different ways - preparing the writer for approaching and addressing diverse audiences.

This guide outlines the differences between active interviews and traditional interviews and give novice researchers clear guidelines on conducting a successful interview.

Why do people in a certain group behave the way they do? And, more importantly, what specific criteria was used by the group in question? Ethnographic Decision Tree Modeling presents a practical method for answering these questions. From starting research to testing and verifying results, this handy volume takes you step-by-step through this unique research process.

The place of emotions in research poses many dilemmas. Ignoring emotions can have significant costs for analysis and for competence as researchers. This volume explores the links between emotion and analysis: how the feelings of fieldworkers - about their professional identity, their work and the people they study - inform analyses. The conclusion offers an extended example from one of the authors' field studies to highlight how the emotions of the fieldworkers can enhance qualitative analyses.

In this eloquently written volume Michael Agar expands the premise set forth in his very popular work The Professional Stranger. Speaking of Ethnography challenges the assumption that conventional scientific procedures are appropriate for the study of human affairs. Agar's work is informed by a hermeneutic and phenomenological tradition, in which he questions the researcher's own taken-for-granted procedures.

Kirk and Miller define what is -- and what is not -- qualitative research. They suggest that the use of numbers in the process of recording and analyzing observations is less important than that the research should involve sustained interaction with the people being studied, in their own language and on their own turf. Following a chapter on objectivity, the authors discuss the role of reliability and validity and the problems that arise when these issues are neglected. They present a paradigm for the qualitative research process that makes it possible to pursue validity without neglecting reliability.

Discourse Analysis: Investigating Processes of Social Construction provides a concise, straightforward guide for students and researchers who are interested in understanding and using discourse analysis.

In this concise introduction Alain Coulon demystifies the important qualitative research tradition of ethnomethodology. In terms accessible to students, he explains its history, its features and the major criticisms levelled at it. Both theoretical notions and main methodological practices are covered and examples of key ethnomethodological work are provided.

Qualitative Data Collection Tools by Felice D. Billups is a new and unique supplementary text that will guide students and new researchers to design, develop, pilot, and employ qualitative tools in order to collect qualitative data.

From setting up the fieldwork to writing up the research, this volume takes readers through the narrative approach to qualitative research with a focus on organization studies. Inspired by the work of Bakhtin, Eco, Rorty and Silverman, the author demonstrates that narratives are still the main carriers of knowledge in all societies.

Historical and biographical work is becoming a more common type of qualitative research done by social scientists and usually requires the extensive use of formal archives housed in universities, governments, museums and other institutions. This practical and concise book provides an introduction for the novice on conducting archival research and covers such topics as contacting and preparing to work in archives, the protocol of using archives, and ways of organizing and referencing the useful data from the archive.

Ethnographic fieldwork and formal linguistic analysis have traditionally been thought to be diametrically opposed. In this provocative analysis Peter Manning argues that these methods of qualitative research are complementary. After examining the potential benefits and limitations of each method of analysis, the author shows how a synthesis of the two is more powerful than either alone.

Whether the goals of research are applied or more abstract, team research has been an important aspect of ethnography. This title examines the myriad of challenges and opportunities in doing team ethnography.

Reflecting the many changes that have occurred in the study of focus groups over the years, this book begins with an introduction that offers a discussion of the social science approaches to focus groups. It also includes examples from social scientists who have established their own practices and methodological research on focus groups.

The author discusses the most obvious symbolic aspects of organizations - corporate logos, office sizes, use of titles - as well as focusing on the more subtle aspect of expressive forms of symbolism such as storytelling, institutional jargon and workplace personalization, among others.

The Long Interview provides a systematic guide to the theory and methods of the long qualitative interview or intensive interviewing. It gives a clear explanation of one of the most powerful tools of the qualitative researcher. The volume begins with a general overview of the character and purpose of qualitative inquiry and a review of key issues. The author outlines the four steps of the long qualitative interview and how to judge quality. He then offers practical advice for those who commission and administer this research, including sample questionnaires and budgets to help readers design their own. The author introduces key theoretical and methodological issues, various research strategies, and a simple four stage model of inquiry, from the design of an open-ended questionnaire to the write up of results.

This volume provides specific suggestions for preparing for and carrying out a life story interview. It places the life story interview into a wider research context before moving on to planning and then conducting the interview. Finally, the book deals with the issues of transcribing and interpreting the interview.

Hybrid Ethnography provides researchers with concrete and theory-based ways to combine online and offline ethnographic research methods to support the reality of much contemporary fieldwork. As part of the Qualitative Research Methods series, this concise book serves students and faculty designing, conducting, and writing up dissertations and research studies.

Conducting phenomenological research for dissertations can be an involved and challenging process, and writing it up is often the most challenging part. How to Write a Phenomenological Dissertation gives students practical, applied advice on how to structure and develop each chapter of the dissertation specifically for phenomenological research.