Drawing from sources in sociology, philosophy, complexity theory, 'fuzzy logic', systems theory, cognitive science and evolutionary biology, the authors present a new series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the sociology of complex, self-organizing structures.

Offering a critique of the humanist paradigm in contemporary social theory, Qualitative Complexity is the first comprehensive sociological analysis of complexity theory. Drawing from sources in sociology, philosophy, complexity theory, 'fuzzy logic', systems theory, cognitive science and evolutionary biology, John Smith and Chris Jenks present a new series of interdisciplinary perspectives on the sociology of complex, self-organizing structures.

Negotiating the Complexities of Qualitative Research in Higher Education illuminates the complex nature of qualitative research, while attending to issues of application. This text addresses the fundamentals of research through discussion of strategies, ethical issues, and challenges in higher education. In addition to walking through the methodological steps, this text considers the conceptual reasons behind qualitative research and explores how to conduct qualitative research that is rigorous, thoughtful, and theoretically coherent. Seasoned researchers Jones, Torres, and Arminio combine high-level theory with practical applications and examples, showing how research in higher education can produce improved learning outcomes for students, especially those who have been historically marginalized. This book will help students in higher education and Student Affairs graduate programs to cultivate an appreciation for the complexity and ambiguity of the research and the ways to think thorough questions and tensions that emerge in the process. New in This Edition: Updated citations and content throughout to reflect the newest thinking and scholarship Expansion of current exemplars of qualitative research New exercises, activities, and examples throughout to bolster accessibility of theory A new chapter on Theoretical Perspectives with attention to new perspectives increasingly used in higher education and Student Affairs A new chapter on Challenges in Data Collection

Negotiating the Complexities of Qualitative Research in Higher Education illuminates the complex nature of qualitative research, while attending to issues of application. This text addresses the essentials of research through discussion of strategies, ethical issues, and challenges in higher education. In addition to walking through the methodological steps, this text considers the conceptual reasons behind qualitative research and explores how to conduct qualitative research that is rigorous, thoughtful, and theoretically coherent. Seasoned researchers Jones, Torres, and Arminio combine high-level theory with practical applications and examples, showing how research in higher education can produce improved learning outcomes for students, especially those who have been historically marginalized. This book will help students in higher education graduate programs to cultivate an appreciation for the complexity and ambiguity of the research and the ways to think through questions and tensions that emerge in the process. New in This Edition: Emphasis on participant representation and researcher reflexivity and positionality Additional conceptual frameworks that ground qualitative work in higher education and analyze power to reveal structural inequities A wider array of approaches including Participatory Action Research, Critical Discourse Analysis, and visual methodologies and methods A new chapter on writing that covers getting started, writing as analysis, writing to capture complexity, and positioning oneself in writing Updated citations and content throughout to reflect the newest thinking and scholarship New end-of-chapter discussion questions and activities to bolster accessibility of theory and help instructors support students' work on their course research projects.

Teaches a revolutionary approach to making judgements about the difficulty of a reading selection.

Most qualitative researchers work on teams at some point. Qualitative Research and Complex Teams charts new methodological territory by providing hands-on help for qualitative researchers working on team projects. Useful to those working with a purely qualitative research design or mixed methods, the text provides a unique focus on writing and communications, offering strategies for all stages of the process from research design to final product. This volume provides an overview of the research related to team-based work, as well as a discussion of relevant changes in approaches to writing in the field. Readers will learn how to initiate team-based work through a digital tool kit approach, organize systems to insure efficiency, and undertake the process of bringing together and training diverse teams. Jargon-free, this book provides strong guidance for thinking about the joint arenas of methodological and substantive writing, and it develops ways to further the aims of both as the project proceeds.

'Over recent years Complexity Science has revealed to us new limits to our possible knowledge and control in social, cultural and economic systems. Instead of supposing that past statistics and patterns will give us predictable outcomes for possible actions, we now know the world is, and will always be, creative and surprising. Continuous structural evolution within such systems may change the mechanisms, descriptors, problems and opportunities, often negating policy aims. We therefore need to redevelop our thinking about interventions, policies and policy making, moving perhaps to a humbler, more 'learning' approach. In this Handbook, leading thinkers in multiple domains set out these new ideas and allow us to understand how these new ideas are changing policymaking and policies in this new era.' - Peter M Allen, Cranfield University, UK

Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Computer Science - Software, grade: A, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: This essay describes or analyses the content, style and merit of the developments in Advanced Complexity Theory. Complex, self-organising, adaptive systems possess a kind of dynamism that makes them qualitatively different from static objects such as computer chips. Complex systems are more spontaneous, more disorderly, more alive than that. In the past three decades, chaos theory has shaken science to its foundations with the realisation that very simple dynamical systems can give rise to extraordinarily intricate behaviour. The edge of chaos is the constantly shifting battle zone between stagnation and anarchy, the one place where a complex system can be spontaneous, adaptive, and alive. Chaos theory is the qualitative study of unstable, aperiodic behaviour in deterministic, non-linear, dynamical systems. It is a specialised application of dynamical systems theory. Chaotic systems require impossible accuracy for useful prediction tasks. Chaos theory often seeks to understand the behaviour of a complex system by reconstructing its attractor, and knowing this attractor gives us qualitative understanding. Chaos theory includes theoretical hypotheses that assert relationships of qualitative (or topological) similarity between its abstract models and the actual systems it studies. Dynamics is used more as a source of qualitative insight than for making quantitative predictions. Its great value is its adaptability for constructing models of natural systems, which models can then be varied and analysed comparatively easily. Chaos theory is the quantitative study of dynamic non-linear system. Non-linear systems change with time and can demonstrate complex relationships between inputs and outputs due to reiterative feedback loops within the system. These systems are predictable but their behaviour is exquisitely sensitive to their starting point. Chaos is a sub-discipline of complexity. Complexity theory is the qualitative aspect drawing upon insights and metaphors that are derived from chaos theory.

The Second Edition of 30 Essential Skills for the Qualitative Researcher provides practical, applied information for the novice qualitative researcher, addressing the "how" of conducting qualitative research in one brief guide. Author John W. Creswell and new co-author Johanna Creswell Báez draw on many examples from their own research experiences, sharing them throughout the book. The 30 listed skills are competencies that can help qualitative researchers conduct more thorough, more rigorous, and more efficient qualitative studies. Innovative chapters on thinking like a qualitative research and engaging with the emotional side of doing qualitative research go beyond the topics of a traditional research methods text and offer crucial support for qualitative practitioners. By starting with a strong foundation of a skills-based approach to qualitative research, readers can continue to develop their skills over the course of a career in research. This revised edition updates skills to follow the research process, using new research from a wide variety of disciplines like social work and sociology as examples. Chapters on research designs now tie back explicitly to the five approaches to qualitative research so readers can better integrate their new skills into these designs. Additional figures and tables help readers better visualize data collection through focus groups and interviews and better organize and implement validity checks. The new edition provides further examples on how to incorporate reflexivity into a study, illuminating a challenging aspect of qualitative research. Information on writing habits now addresses co-authorship and provides more context and variation from the two authors.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Mixed Methods Research and Evaluation provides a user-friendly introduction for using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as part of a mixed methods approach to research and evaluation. Offering practical, in-depth, and applied guidance for this unique analytic technique that is not provided in any current mixed methods textbook, the chapters of this guide skillfully build upon one another to walk researchers through the steps of QCA in logical order. To enhance and further reinforce learning, authors Leila C. Kahwati and Heather L. Kane provide supportive learning objectives, summaries, and exercises, as well as author-created datasets for use in R via the companion site. Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Mixed Methods Research and Evaluation is Volume 6 in SAGE’s Mixed Methods Research Series. To learn more about each text in the series, please visit sagepub.com/mmrs.