This text offers a brief, but comprehensive overview of qualitative research that balances the practicalities of conducting research and the theory and debates that keep qualitative inquiry vibrant. As faculty and students increasingly turn to qualitative inquiry, they need a text that will not only provide them with an understanding of qualitative research methods, but also open them to the diverse possibilities within this inquiry approach. This text covers the range of possibilities along with numerous exercises that offer beginning students the opportunity to practice and refine the skills of being a qualitative researcher. The wealth of examples in the text is exceptional, as is the accessible writing style.

Table of Contents

Each chapter concludes with "Exercises." List of Exhibits. List of Photographs and Art. Introduction: A Sense of Things to Come. Acknowledgments. 1. Meeting Qualitative Inquiry. Beginnings. Searching. Ways of Knowing. A Bit of Historical Context. Varied Modes. Participant-Oriented Research. The Postmodern Context. What Is to Come. 2. Prestudy Tasks: Doing What Is Good for You. The Research Topic. Review of Literature. Theoretical Context. Research Statement and Questions. Site Selection. Selection of Study Participants. Selection of Research Techniques. Validity Issues. The Time Frame. The Lay Summary. The Pilot Study. Gaining Access. Researcher Roles. 3. Being There: Developing Understanding Through Participant Observation. The Participant-Observation Continuum. Participant-Observation Goals. The Participant-Observation Process. Other Fieldwork Allies: Photographs, Documents, and Artifacts. The Participant Observer's Role. Considerations . 4. Making Words Fly: Developing Understanding Through Interviewing. Interviewing: An Interaction. Developing Questions. Setting Up to Interview. The Nature of Interviewing. Interviewer Attributes. Some Typical Problems. Focus Group Interviews. Considerations. 5. The Personal Dimension: Rapport, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity. Definitions of Rapport. Factors Bearing on Rapport. Developing and Maintaining Rapport. Rapport and Friendship. Subjective Lenses. Monitoring and Using Subjectivity. Reflexivity. Rapport, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity. Notes. 6. But Is It Ethical? Learning to Do Right. Ethical Codes. Informed Consent. Researcher Roles and Ethical Dilemmas. The Researcher-Researched Relationship. Cultural Considerations. No Easy Solutions. 7. Finding Your Story: Data Analysis. Early Data Analysis. Later Data Analysis: Entering the Code Mines. Displaying Data. Using Computers. Making Connections. Trustworthiness of Your Interpretations. Considerations. Reflections. 8. Writing Your Story: What Your Data Say. Roles of the Writer. Strategies for Writing. The Text: Questions of Style. Responsibilities of the Writer. 9. Improvising a Song of the World: Language and Representation. The Tale and the Teller. The Researcher's Language. The Researcher's Representations. The Art of Re-presentation. Autoethnography. Poetic Transcription. Drama. Short Story. Taking Risks. Notes. 10. The Continuing Search. Becoming Qualitative Researchers: The Personal Context. Applications of Qualitative Research: The Research Manuscript. Using the Research Process. Using Qualitative Research to Learn About Yourself. Creating and Deepening Relationships through Qualitative Research. Concluding Words. Appendix: Guide for Developing a Qualitative Research Proposal. References. Name Index. Subject Index. List of Exhibits. 1.1: Predispositions of Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry. 1.2: A Few Potentially Useful Terms. 2.1: Relating Study Interests to Literature through a Diagram. 2.2: Some Selection Strategies for Research Sites and Participants. 2.3: The Qualitative Research Spiral. 3.1: Characteristics, Collection, and Use of Different Kinds of Observational Data. 4.1: Example of Developing Interview Questions. 4.2: Example of Using Probes in an Interview. 4.3: Designing Focus Group Interviews. 7.1: Subcodes of the Major Code "Data Analysis." 7.2: The Relational Work of Partner Teaming. 7.3: A Matrix Example of Constraints to Effective Education in Six Rural Schools. 7.4: A Matrix Example of Data Patterns and Researcher Hunches Regarding Constraints to Effective Education in Six Rural Schools. 7.5: Partial Taxonomy of the Domain "Things Kids Do at School." 7.6: Frequency Distribution of Perceived Attitudes toward Working the Land. 7.7: Frequency Distribution of Perceived Attitudes toward Working the Land by Dominant Land Tenure Situation of Interviewee. 7.8: Example Form for Keeping Interview Records. 7.9: Qualitative Data Analysis Software Websites. 7.10: Instructions for Fieldwork Notebooks. 8.1: Example of Theme Categories and Illustrative Responses. 9.1: The Making of a Poetic Transcription. 10.1: Partial List of Journals that Publish Qualitative Research. List of Photographs and Art.