* Demystifies research making it accessible for new researchers * Helps the researcher deal with issues such as: *relationship conflicts *structural constraints *crises of confidence *writing blocks *the difficulties of being a student or a supervisor *choosing between the multitude of methodologies and methods *tells stories that are often silenced in official research documents *understands that research is more than a systematic, linear process
What makes qualitative research really worth doing? When do people feel most alive and energized in their research? This book offers insights into doing qualitative research by focusing on the specific moments that are experienced as generative. The focus on these generative moments illuminates what is life-giving, transformative, and expansive, both with regards to the imagination of ideas and the development of scholars in the process of doing research. The book offers a unique array of 40 stories, from both new and established scholars, covering the full arc of the research process, from the conception of the initial idea to publication and other forms of interaction with users of research. These personal, back-stage accounts provide readers with insights about the everyday micro-moments that compose the doing of qualitative research, which are typically invisible and not discussed, yet are the wellsprings of motivation and insight that sustain and inspire qualitative researchers. Readers will gain critical new understanding about research practice and will acquire important perspectives that are an inherent part of becoming a research scholar.
"Willis catches the student up on relevant aspects of philosophy, empiricism, history, and prevailing political influences. This building of chronology is so valuable for students in understanding the origins of specific schools of thought in relations to a paradigm." —Heather T. Zeng, NACADA Foundations of Qualitative Research introduces key theoretical and epistemological concepts replete with historical and current real-world examples. Author Jerry W. Willis provides an invaluable resource to guide the critical and qualitative inquiry process written in an accessible and non-intimidating style that brings these otherwise difficult concepts to life. Key Features: Covers the conceptual foundations of interpretive, critical, and post-positivist paradigms: A thorough background of theory and social inquiry is given by looking at the development of each paradigm throughout history. Provides real-world examples: Cases illustrate different approaches to the same research problem so that students can better understand the contrasting features of these paradigms. Introduces seven qualitative research frameworks: In-depth coverage is provided on Altheide and Johnson′s Analytic Realism; Denzin and Lincoln′s Interpretive Perspective; Eisner′s Connoisseurship Model of Inquiry; Semiotics; the Phenomenological Psychological Model; Poststructuralism and Postmodernism; and Symbolic Interactionism. Offers general guidelines for qualitative research: Conceptually covers the best practices, approaches to data analysis, and interpretation of qualitative research. Examines emergent methods in qualitative research: New research areas such as PAR, emancipatory research, and participatory design research are included, as well as exemplary journal articles to further illustrate how theory links to research practice. Intended Audience: This text is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking their first or second qualitative research methods course in the fields of Education, Psychology, and the Health and Social Sciences. It is also an excellent theory companion supplement to the more applied qualitative methods text.
′I find your straightforward writing style an absolute joy, such a breath of fresh air!′ - Angie Ash, PhD student ′...thank you very much for your accessible language, clear lay out and practical applied approach. I suspect that this book will never be far from my side over the next 4 years!!′ - Mayen Konarski, PhD student Using straight-forward language Doing Qualitative Research Using Your Computer walks readers through the process of managing and streamlining research projects using commonly available Microsoft software applications. Drawing on a wide range of examples to demonstrate how easy it is to use such software, this guide is full of useful hints and tips on how to manage research more efficiently and effectively, including: - Formatting transcripts for maximum coding efficiency in Microsoft Word - Using features of Word to organize the analysis of data and to facilitate efficient qualitative coding - Synchronizing codes, categories, and important concepts between Microsoft Word and Microsoft Access - Efficiently storing and analyzing the qualitative data in Microsoft Excel - Creating flexible analytic memos in Access that help lead the researcher to final conclusions Ideal for those students or researchers who don′t want to invest in expensive specialised software packages, this guide will be an invaluable companion for anyone embarking on their own research 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.
Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide shows students how to be critical consumers of research and to appreciate the power of methodology as it shapes the research question, the use of theory in the study, the methods used, and how the outcomes are reported. The book starts with what it means to be a critical and uncritical reader of research, followed by a detailed chapter on methodology, and then proceeds to a discussion of each component of a research article as it is informed by the methodology. The book encourages readers to select an article from their discipline, learning along the way how to assess each component of the article and come to a judgment of its rigor or quality as a scholarly report.
Now issued as part of the Routledge Education Classic Edition series, The Qualitative Manifesto provides a "call to arms" for researchers from the leading figure in the qualitative research community, Norman Denzin. Denzin asks for a research tradition engaged in social justice, sensitive to identity and indigenous concerns, brave to risk presentation in forms beyond traditional academic writing, and committed to teaching this to their students and colleagues. A new preface text by the author reflects on the changes in research, society and in social justice since the publication of the original edition. Denzin looks to the past, present and future of the field, underlining the continuing importance of this brief, provocative book.
Recipient of a 2022 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Introduction to Intersectional Qualitative Research, by Jennifer Esposito and Venus Evans-Winters, introduces students and new researchers to the basic aspects of qualitative research including research design, data collection, and analysis, in a way that allows intersectional concerns to be infused throughout the research process. Esposito and Evans-Winters infuse their combined forty years of experience conducting and teaching intersectional qualitative research in this landmark book, the first of its kind to address intersectionality and qualitative research jointly for audiences new to both. The book’s premise is that race and gender matter, and that racism and sexism are institutionalized in all aspects of life, including research. Each chapter opens with a vignette about a struggling researcher emphasizing that reflecting on your mistakes is an important part of learning. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter help instructors generate dialogue in class or in groups. Introduction to Intersectional Qualitative Research makes those identities and structures central to the task of qualitative study.
Life writing projects have become part of the expanding field of qualitative research methods in recent years and advances in critical approaches are reshaping methodological pathways. Critical Approaches to Life Writing Methods in Qualitative Research gives researchers and students looking for a brief compendium to guide their methodological thinking a concise and working overview of how to approach and carry out different forms of life writing. This practical book re-invigorates the conversation about the possibilities and innovative directions qualitative researchers can take when engaged in various forms of life writing, such as biography, autobiography, autoethnography, life history, and oral history. It equips the reader with the tools to carry out life writing projects from start to finish, including choosing a topic or subject, examining lives as living data, understanding the role of documents and artifacts, learning to tell the story, and finally writing/performing/displaying through the voice of the life writer. The authors also address the ways a researcher can begin a project, work through the issues they might face along the journey, and arrive at a shareable product. With its focus on the plurality of life writing methodologies, Critical Approaches to Life Writing Methods in Qualitative Research occupies a distinct place in qualitative research scholarship and offers practical exercises to guide the researcher. Examples include exploring authorial voice, practical applications of reflexivity exercises, the relationship between the narrator and participants, navigating the use of public and private archives, understanding the processes of collaborative inquiry and collaborative writing, and writing for various audiences.
