Quality underpins the success (or failure) of any piece of qualitative research. In this book, Uwe Flick takes you through the steps in method and design to ensure quality and reliability throughout the entire research process. Showing hands-on what it means to ′manage′ quality, this book puts the spotlight on practical questions and steps researchers can use to continually interrogate, improve and demonstrate quality in your research.

Uwe Flick takes you through the steps in method and design to ensure quality and reliability throughout the entire research process.

This textbook is designed to help students and practicing researchers to improve the quality of their research. Practical examples and exercises demonstrate how to evaluate qualitative research, how to plan and collect good quality data, how to do thoughtful analysis, and how to write and report on qualitative research. "Apart from its inherent readability, I found three other attractive features about the book: First is the use of exemplars based on case studies from qualitative studies, including Whyte′s Street Corner Society; second, is the quotes from key methodological texts reflecting on a range of qualitative research traditions; and third, is the use of philosophical argument and reference in the book which provided an added depth to the debate, often lacking in more practically oriented books. These deliberations take readers to a higher plane, whilst still allowing the novice to philosophy to gain an insight into theory." —Forum for Qualitative Research "Seale steers a dispassionate course - both pragmatic and thoughtful - through the sometimes stormy waters of qualitative analysis. Anyone wanting an up-to-date picture of qualitative analysis will benefit from this book. It is truly a quality contribution to the field." —Nigel Fielding, University of Surrey "Clearly and engagingly written, this book covers crucially important issues such as the generalisability of findings, the grounding of theory and the validity and reliability of research reports. With frequent summaries of key points, criteria for evaluating research reports and discussions exercises, this is an extremely useful text for students and professionals alike." —Derek Layder, University of Leicester "This is a brilliant, carefully crafted, even-handed, comprehensive analysis of the multiple ways in which quality is assessed in contemporary qualitative inquiry. Clive Seale provides a balanced, subtly nuanced treatment of this key problem." —Norman Denzin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Chanpaign "The coverage is impressive and the depth of scholarship impeccable. Both students and seasoned investigators will find the author′s pragmatic approach refreshing and helpful. It will appeal to the naturalistic researcher as well as to empirically-oriented scholars smitten by postmodern questions. I would definitely recommend it to my students. A splendid leading text for classroom adoption." —Jaber F Gubrium, University of Florida "Clive Seale has performed an important service for social science researchers by finding a sane middle ground between the twin fanaticisms of radical interpretivism and quantiative scientism. His book is practical, telling people who want to get research done how to do that in an effective and reasonable way. His explanations are clear and concise, his examples well chosen, and the practices he recommends are doable. You can learn a lot about how to approach research from this book." — Howard S Becker, University of California, Santa Barbara "For the undergraduate, or postgraduate looking for a comfortable drive through an increasingly unmanageable literature, this book provides an outstanding introduction." —Qualitative Research

This unique text provides a comprehensive framework for creating, managing, and interpreting qualitative research studies that yield valid and useful information. Examples of studies from a wide range of disciplines illustrate the strengths, limitations, and applications of the primary qualitative methods: in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, ethnography, content analysis, and case study and narrative research. Following a consistent format, chapters show students and researchers how to implement each method within a paradigm-neutral and flexible Total Quality Framework (TQF) comprising four interrelated components: Credibility, Analyzability, Transparency, and Usefulness. Unlike other texts that relegate quality issues to one or two chapters, detailed discussions of such crucial topics as construct validity, interresearcher reliability, researcher bias, and verification strategies are featured throughout. The book also addresses applications of the TQF to the writing, review, and evaluation of qualitative research proposals and manuscripts. Pedagogical Features *Summary tables that highlight important content, such as the application of a method to vulnerable or hard-to-reach populations. *Case studies that illustrate TQF standards in practice for each method. *Guidelines for effective documentation (via thick descriptions) of each type of study. *End-of-chapter discussion topics, exercises, and suggested further reading and Web resources. *Chapters open with a preview and close with a bulleted summary of key ideas. *Extensive glossary. 2021 Winner--American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Book Award

Fresh, insightful and clear, this exciting textbook provides an engaging introduction to the application of qualitative methodology in the real world. Expert researchers then trace the history and philosophical underpinnings of different methodologies, explore the specific demands each places upon the researcher and robustly set out relevant issues surrounding quality and rigor. Featured methodologies include action research, discourse analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, case studies and narrative inquiry. This practical book provides a helpful guide to the research process - it introduces the relevant methods of generating, collecting and analysing data for each discrete methodology and then looks at best practice for presenting findings. This enables new researchers to compare qualitative methods and to confidently select the approach most appropriate for their own research projects. Key features include: Summary table for each chapter - allowing quick checks to test knowledge ′Window into′ sections - real world examples showing each methodology in action Student activities Learning objectives Full glossary Annotated suggestions for further reading Links to downloadable SAGE articles Links to relevant websites and organizations This is an invaluable resource for students and researchers across the social sciences and a must-have guide for those embarking on a research project.

Lecturers, click here to request an e-inspection copy of this text This new edition of Lyn Richards' best-selling book provides an accessible introduction to qualitative research for students and practitioners. Recognizing that for many new researchers dealing with data is the main point of departure, this book helps them to acquire a progressive understanding of the skills and methodological issues that are central to qualitative research. Lyn Richards provides clear and pragmatic guidance on how to handle, reflect on and get results from small amounts of data, while at the same time showing how a consideration of methods and their philosophical underpinnings informs how we should best handle our data. This book also covers all the processes of making, meeting, sorting, coding, documenting and exploring qualitative data, smoothly integrating software use and the discussion of the main challenges that readers are likely to encounter. It guides novice researchers to achieve valid and useful outcomes from qualitative analysis, and to ensure they do justice to their data. This second edition features: - Increased coverage of issues about the researcher's relation to their data and ethical implications - An expanded section on preparing for data collection and reflecting on the nature of data. There is also a brand new website, offering: - Live, detailed case studies of qualitative methods in practice, linking to publications and illustrative material. Researchers tell the stories of projects, from design, through what was actually done with the data, to how analysis was achieved and reported; - A software guide with links to information and tutorials in several products.

'The fourth edition of Uwe Flick's Introduction to Qualitative Research remains the most comprehensive and thorough text in qualitative research. It is student-and user-friendly, thoroughly up-to-date in terms of the latest developments in the field, imminently practical. it is the single most important introductory book on qualitative inquiry in the social sciences today' - Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois The new edition of Uwe Flick's bestselling textbook has been fully revised, expanded and updated. An Introduction to Qualitative Research guides the student step-by-step through the research process of qualitative research. This classic text covers all of the main theoretical approaches to qualitative research, and provides unmatched coverage of the full range of different qualitative methods and approaches now available to researchers. A range of new features have been added to the new edition including: - New structure to better meet the needs of teaching qualitative research - A new chapter on Grounded Theory plus updated coverage on the full range of other qualitative methods - A summary section discussing the state-of-the-art in qualitative research - A glossary - Updated cases studies, exercises and guided questions This new edition will continue to ensure that An Introduction to Qualitative Research remains an essential introductory text for all students of qualitative research.

This edition explores and explains the use of this methodological tool. Evert Gummesson refines the basic ideas from the first edition with conceptual developments, updated literature references and current examples from research and practice.

This book shows you not just how to use triangulation as a strategy of quality management, but also how to use it as an approach to designing and doing qualitative research in a more comprehensive way. Flick links triangulation with current debates about using mixed methods, and outlines their potential for extending qualitative research, addressing questions such as how such research can benefit from integrating quantitative (mixed methods), or from working more generally with more than one approach (triangulation).

Providing a comprehensive guide to devising an effective research design, Uwe Flick discusses each stage of the process of designing qualitative research in detail, including formulating a research design, selecting an appropriate strategy, conceptual framework and data source, and collecting and analyzing data.