Bücher der Reihe Qualitative Research Methods

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.

Each year, academic institutions produce thousands of social science graduates, skilled in applied social research - many more than can be absorbed into the teaching profession. This volume provides information on how and where social scientists can put their skills to use in the private sector?

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.

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.

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.

Aims to guide researchers in not only how to think in terms of the feminist perspective, but also how to translate their research into feminist practice and analysis. This book offers ten angles for feminist analysis, or ten things to keep in mind when doing fieldwork and developing an analysis.

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.

The author shows the reader how to obtain, categorize, and analyze different media documents in this entry in the Qualitative Research Methods series

This volume explores the methodological issues related to audio documentary, it also provides readers with practical guidance on how to produce their own audio projects

Microcomputer Applications in Qualitative Research critically surveys the many ways microcomputers and programmes can be used to further qualitative social research. The author focuses on the liabilities and benefits of using this technology for research purposes and provides a generic, conceptual approach rather than a how-to guide to specific computers and programmes. Underlying every chapter is the conviction that microcomputer technology can only be useful in qualitative studies if its limitations, including its potentially negative or constraining impact, are kept in mind. The impact of microcomputer technology on qualitative research is considered in its relation to society as a whole.

Suitable for researchers who are committed to co-developing research programs with people rather than for people, this book provides a history of PAR, its various strands, and the underlying tenets that guide most PAR projects.

This volume discusses ethnostatistics - the interpretative study of the construction and use of statistics in social research - and will be of equal interest to qualitative and quantitative researchers across the social sciences. On the understanding that the development of a statistic is inherently a qualitative act, the author shows how this act can be studied and analyzed. The interpretative factors in statistical work can be demonstrated at a variety of levels; Gephart shows how each can be usefully illuminated through the use of ethnostatistics to produce more effective, reflexive social research.

Presents a guide to interpretative techniques and methods for policy research.

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Guided by the precept that to understand any phenomenon well it is necessary to start by looking at it in broad, nonspecialized terms, Robert Stebbins takes the reader through the process of exploratory research, providing the student or researcher with a complete reference for carrying out this type of research.

This useful book outlines four key strategies for interpreting qualitative data: ethnomethodology, semiotics, dramaturgy and deconstruction. To demonstrate, she applies the techniques of each method to a single data set, highlighting the differences in results.

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.

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.

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.

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