Qualitative Research in Education and Social Sciences

"The text has always been the most important qualitative methodological resource in my field, but I believe that the new organization and added material will enable increasing benefits. I am quite enthused about the infusion of experiential aspects throughout the book which model the very skills necessary to undertake rigorous qualitative research."
—Melissa Luke, PhD, LMHC, NCC, ACS, Department of Counseling & Human Services, Syracuse University

Praise for the First Edition:

"This book is a tremendous resource--well written, comprehensive, accurate, insightful, and accessible. I find especially refreshing the way the authors 'cluster' the research traditions, which provides a sound, logical, and fluid way of understanding and applying them. The chapters offer reader-friendly, practical tips in a largely jargon-free writing style that helps to guide the reader through the decisions and dilemmas inherent in a qualitative approach."
Thomas Schram, PhD, Department of Education, University of New Hampshire

"This text offers a solid overview of qualitative methods and recognizes the work of major authors in this area. The attention to diverse research traditions will be very helpful to novice researchers, as will the emphasis on helping students develop their own projects, which fits how the research courses in our program are taught. The perspectives, activities, and Wild Cards throughout the chapters reinforce this purpose. Chapters on data collection, analysis, and writing present an array of techniques, strategies, and firsthand accounts to help students work through this process and think critically about their own work. I would use this text and will recommend it to others."
Cray Mulder, PhD, LMSW, School of Social Work, Grand Valley State University, Michigan

"Written in an accessible and manageable style for graduate students, advanced undergraduates, or professionals, this book makes excellent use of examples throughout. Readers will be especially interested in the examples the authors bring from their personal research agendas. I really like the discussion of the different purposes of research (basic, applied, action, evaluation), since qualitative research methods texts often neglect to discuss the usefulness of qualitative methods to basic research. The book does a good job of educating readers about why qualitative research is just as rigorous and as valuable as quantitative research. Although primarily targeted toward clinical and educational researchers, this book will be useful for any social scientist who wants to acquire a rich understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research."
Lisa Harrison, PhD, Department of Psychology, California State University, Sacramento

"This book provides the groundwork for understanding the paradigms and tensions of qualitative inquiry and for building skills in research design, methods, and analysis. Integrated throughout are real-world examples and activities that clearly inform and demystify the process of qualitative research. The graphs, concept maps, quotes from qualitative researchers, and examples are very congruent to what one would find in a qualitative research study. I especially liked the examples of coding, developing themes, and handling data; the authors have done an amazing job."
Kathleen Burns-Jager, PhD, LMFT, former director, Michigan State University Family and Child Clinic

"This book is interesting, informative, and worthy of class adoption. The chapters are user friendly and easy to read, including clear definitions and explanations. The hands-on activities and exercises, case examples, and helpful hints will be helpful to students' comprehension."
Ruth Chao, PhD, Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver

"This is one of the more readable qualitative texts I've seen. I very much like the multi-method approach to definitions and explanations--the tables, charts, and models allow for thorough yet clear definitions of terms, enabling researchers to situate their studies within accepted designs and terminology."
Wendy Troxel, EdD, Department of Educational Administration and Foundations, Illinois State University

"I will definitely recommend this text to colleagues and will consider using it in my own teaching. The chapters are well presented, with plenty of examples and activities for in-class use, group discussions, and reflexive journaling. The use of the scientist-practitioner model is a particularly good way of framing the research endeavor for clinicians."
Rajeswari Natrajan-Tyagi, PhD, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University

"Two innovative writers concentrate here on many aspects of qualitative research which are of primary importance, yet which seldom seem to feature in other texts or part-texts on this topic. For that reason, I envisage that supervisors who discover this text will wish to encourage their research students to immerse themselves in their own personal copies. The writers are researchers who have been closely associated since their doctoral studies, and wish to take their readers on a rewarding journey into what they have learnt about qualitative analysis on the way. They are engaged in, and seek to advise those engaged in, qualitative studies of human conditions and behaviour, within clinical and educational settings....Perhaps because of their wider scope, the shared personal experience, advice and thinking offered to readers forms an especially deep and insightful source for all qualitative researchers....I treasure a few books on my shelves for the wisdom which their writers have made available to me. This text will join that small collection. It is unique, however, in that the wisdom these writers have accrued on the journey they invite us to retrace with them has astonishingly been accrued in a relatively short professional career."
British Journal of Educational Technology (Published on July 23, 2011)