About the Book
The Third Edition of this popular text offers those new to qualitative inquiry a clear and practical guide to the reasons for doing qualitative research, the fit of questions to methods, and the tasks of getting started. In their direct and friendly style, Lyn Richards and Janice Morse help researchers reflect on why they are working qualitatively, how to choose an appropriate method, and confidently approach research design, data making, coding, analyzing and finally writing up their results.
Table of Contents:
Preface
About the Authors
1. Why Readme First?
Part I. Thinking Research
2. The Integrity of Qualitative Research
3. Choosing a Method
4. Qualitative Research Design
Part II. Inside Analysis
5. Making Data
6. Coding
7. Abstracting
8. From Method to Analysis: Revisiting Methodological Congruence
Part III. Getting It Right
9. On Getting It Right and Knowing if It′s Wrong
10. Writing It Up
Part IV. Beginning Your Project
11. Groundwork for Beginning Your Project
12. Getting Started
Appendix 1. Qualitative Software: Where to Go Next
Appendix 2. Applying for Funding
References
Author Index
Subject Index
About the Author :
About the author
Lyn Richards has a highly unusual range of relationships with qualitative research. After undergraduate training as a historian and political scientist, she moved to sociology. Her early work as a family sociologist addressed both popular and academic audiences, with a strong motivation always to make the funded research relevant to the people studied, and the qualitative analysis credible to those affected. Each of her four books in family sociology was a text at university level but also widely discussed in popular media and at community level. During her tenure as Reader and Associate Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, she won major research grants, presented and published research papers, was a founding member of a qualitative research association and taught qualitative methods at undergraduate and graduate level, supervising Masters and PhD students.
She strayed from this academic pathway when challenges with handling qualitative data in her own studies led to the development, with Tom Richards, of what rapidly became the world’s leading qualitative analysis software. They founded a research software company, in which for a decade Lyn was Director of Research Services, writing software documentation and managing international training of researchers and trainers in the methods behind the software. Designing and documenting software taught her to confront fuzzy thinking about methods, and to demand straight talking, clarity of purpose, detail of technique and a clear answer always to ‘Why would we want to do that?’ Teaching methods to thousands of researchers in dozens of disciplines in 14 countries, she saw what worked and what didn’t. From those researchers, graduates and faculty in universities and research practitioners in the world beyond, she learned their many ways of handling data, on and off computers, and their strategies for making sense of data.
Handling Qualitative Data is a direct result of this experience. It offers clear, practical advice for researchers approaching qualitative research and wishing to do justice to rich data. Like her previous book, with Janice Morse, Readme First, for a User’s Guide to Qualitative Methods it strongly maintains the requirements of good qualitative research, assumes and critiques the use of software and draws on practical experience of helping researchers whose progress has been hindered by confusion, lack of training, mixed messages about standards and fear of being overwhelmed by rich, messy data.
Throughout this hybrid career, Lyn continued contributions to critical reflection on new methods, as a writer and a keynote speaker in a wide range of international conferences. She has life membership of the International Sociological Association and its Methodology section. Her writing aims always to cut through barriers to high quality qualitative research and to assist researchers and teachers in making the inevitable shift to computing whilst maximizing the benefits for their research processes and outcomes. On leaving software development, she took an Adjunct Professorship at RMIT University, creating and coordinating an active, informal and splendidly supportive Qualitative Interest Group (QIG). She currently works from home, (online, of course), combining research advising with convening of an asylum seeker support group and growing roses and vegetables, all of which provide marvellous metaphors for qualitative research.
Janice M. Morse, PhD (Nurs), PhD (Anthro), FAAN is a professor and Presidential Endowed Chair at the University of Utah College of Nursing, and Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta, Canada., from 1991-1996, she also held a position as professor at The Pennsylvania State University. From 1997-2007, she was the founding Director and Scientific Director of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, University of Alberta, founding editor for the International Journal of Qualitative Methods, and Editor of the Qual Press monograph series. She remains the founding editor for Qualitative Health Research, (now in Volume 2, Sage1), is currently editor for the monograph series Developing Qualitative Inquiry, and The Essentials of Qualitative Inquiry (Left Coast Press). Her research programs are in the areas of suffering and comforting, preventing patient falls, and developing qualitative methods. In 2011, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement in Qualitative Inquiry from the International Center for Qualitative Inquiry, was an inaugural inductee into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (2010), the 5th recipient of the Episteme Award (also Sigma Theta Tau). She received awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Newcastle (Australia) and Athabasca University (Canada). She is the author of 460 articles and chapters and 19 books on qualitative research methods, suffering, comforting and patient falls.
Review :
“This text offers current thinking in the field. The authors are well-established qualitative researchers and have pulled off a great text for the beginning researcher.”
“The key strength of this text is the discussion and presentation of how to think about qualitative research. This is the only text that discusses the process of thinking before doing at any stage of the research project from the general idea to the writing up and submitting for publication. This kind of discussion is extremely helpful for novice or experienced researchers as it helps them to take a step back in the middle of the research process, rethink clearly and improve the project.”
“This book combines the basics of qualitative research methods (why we choose qualitative over quantitative when we are trying to answer specific questions about human behavior) and the nuts and bolts of how to actually do qualitative research. I like that it explains qualitative research from conceptualization to writing up the results. Not a lot of textbooks accomplish this – they allude to a lot, but they don’t include the necessary information that this textbook includes.”
“The text is very clear and well organized, and accessible for new students. In comparison to many other introductory texts, it really brings to the fore the need for theoretical and methodological coherence.”
“An invaluable introduction to qualitative inquiry that emphasizes several points that I rarely find in other texts and, although somewhat subtle, they are extremely important for doing rigorous research.”
Very clear approach to disseminating five primary areas of qualitative research. My students appreciated the way it addressed the analysis of data in detail. In addition, the chapter on writing for different audiences and purposes was particularly valuable for beginning researchers.
I adopted it for the class I taught last fall, 2012. My apologies for not completing this earlier.
Excellent reading material for those newly embarking into qualitative research. I have recommended this as essential reading for those at the end of undergraduate programmes or at the beginning of Masters level.
This ′Readme first guide′ is exactly that and very useful as a basic text to as a quick reference for definitions and descriptions of key qualitative theory and methods. At the end of each chapter there are also helpful resources for further reading and a summary of points. By its very nature this is a relatively cautious and simple format, so it will work nicely to suggest as first step readings for students starting out in qualitative methods; either as final year undergraduates or first year postgraduates doing core modules in qualitative methods.
I have been using the 2nd edition for my Qualitative Methods course for two years, so adopting the 3rd ed was a "no-brainer." The book is quite helpful: It does a lot to demystify qualitative research and assisting students students thru the elements of qualitative design. "
A good introduction to the theory and practice of doing qualitative research for beginners as well as more experienced practitioners
Ordered for Library.
Nice intro for undergraduate students, we rather like this.
I have looked at this book and I have recommended it to a number of students undertaking qualitative research projects. Feedback has been generally positive. The only additional point made is the need for a companion book on Quantitative Methods.
Met Lyn Richards and heard her present at a qualitative research conference. Have adopted for my next offering of EDR 725 Qualitative Research at Northern Arizona University.
A clear and accessible book for students. Gives a good overview of qualitative methods.
Great text, well written. Students sang praises for this book.
Very useful text for anyone embarking on or extending a research project.
Appendices, including seeking funding, are useful.
Ethical issues covered usefully.
Table re coding date particularly useful.
Very helpful book to have in the library and one I will recommend to our PGCE students.
This provides a useful overview for qualitative research methods and is appropriate for masters and PhD level students
An excellent introduction to the subject matter for undergraduate students, non-ideological and straightforward.
A very useful initial guide to qualitative research paying particular attention to reflection on the broader methodological issues before embarking on a very good exploration of specific methods. Equally suitable for undergraduates and new postgraduate researchers.
Good layout and easily readable for those new to qualitative research
We have adopted this book for our PGCE:CT trainees. A very readable, accessible guide to qualitative research methods which will help prepare our trainees for their research project in their placement school.
This book has a good structure for students developing a proposal or carrying out qualitative research. It is also clear and well written. The resources at the end of each chapter are really good for students eg. the recommended journals at end of ch2. I will be recommending this to students on the Developing Research and Evaluation Skills module and also adding it to our recommended reading list for the Dissertation Module.
This is a must have introductory text for anyone with a developing an interest in qualitative research. It is clearly written and with a structure that allows readers to be guided through the complexity of qualitative inquiry. Useful for undergraduate, masters and doctoral level students.
This book provides good materials in qualitative research for students. It addresses the importance of working qualitatively and assesses the the mixed method designs as a way of achieving more comprehensive and broader results
This is another good text in the armoury of part time professional students who are engaged in work based projects
