PREFACE

Qualitative research is a powerful tool for learning more about our lives and the sociohistorical context in which we live. The roots of qualitative research can be traced back more than a century to anthropology and sociology, and now qualitative research is embraced by all the social sciences and applied fields of practice. There are numerous journals, web-based resources, conferences, books, and academic courses devoted to this form of inquiry. The variety of topics, journals, and disciplines from which selections for this book were drawn attests to the popularity of qualitative research in fields as diverse as counseling, health, tourism, management, and all levels of education.

The myriad of resources available to novice researchers to learn about qualitative research is both affirming, in that there is help available, and daunting, because there is so much help out there. Fortunately, many graduate programs in the social sciences, whether at the masters or doctoral level, include exposure to qualitative research in addition to the usual array of research design and statistics courses. Students are introduced to the philosophical foundations underlying qualitative research, as well as how to design and implement a qualitative study. However, there are still scholars and practitioners in many fields who have had no training in this method but who would like to improve their knowledge of, or have questions about, how their practice can be best approached from a qualitative, rather than quantitative, perspective. Understanding a phenomenon, whether related to one's work, one's family, or one's community, requires accessing participants' perspectives, most often through interviews, observing the phenomenon of interest, and accessing relevant documents or artifacts. This book, Qualitative Research in Practice: Examples for Discussion and Analysis, has been compiled for students and practitioners, who wish to learn more about qualitative research through reading and studying a variety of examples of qualitative research designs and topics.

Before reviewing the contents of this book, we would like to draw attention to two of the book's aspects. First, as this book is about qualitative research, we are working from the assumption that meaning is socially constructed by individuals in interaction with their world. It is thus the goal of a qualitative research study to uncover and understand the experience of the phenomenon from the participants' perspectives. Although there are different qualitative designs represented in this collection, all have the discovery and portrayal of participants' perspectives and understandings as their underlying goal. A second feature is that it is not meant to be by itself a textbook on qualitative research; rather, it is designed for use along with standard texts in the field. It is primarily a collection of articles exemplifying different types of qualitative research. A unique feature of the book is that each article is followed by a short reflection piece by the article's author(s) commenting on some aspect of their experience engaging in this type of research. Some of these reflections are written by novice researchers who describe how they made their way through the study, learning as they went; others are written by more seasoned researchers who have some very insightful things to share about conducting a qualitative study. Readers will be able to resonate with the trial-and-error and discovery nature of doing qualitative research regardless of whether one has had years of experience or is new to the methodology.

This book is intended for all those interested in qualitative research regardless of discipline or experience with this kind of study. Although researchers in fields such as education, nursing, social work, or urban studies may ask different questions of their practice, the process of qualitative inquiry remains the same. First, the question needs to be shaped in a manner congruent with the philosophical underpinnings of this form of research; a particular qualitative design is then decided upon, followed by selecting a purposive sample, data collection, and analysis. Finally, the interpretation of the data (the findings) is presented in a format compatible with the particular qualitative design. The introductory chapters of this volume present the "basics" of doing qualitative research, the different types of qualitative inquiry, and how to evaluate and assess studies conducted in this paradigm. Readers can then approach the 16 examples knowing what to look for. We hope this book will be a particularly useful resource for understanding the variety of qualitative research designs and for comparing and contrasting the approaches.

OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS

This second edition of Qualitative Research in Practice: Examples for Discussion and Analysis reflects both the enduring nature of this form of research, as well as the infusion of new and creative procedures and presentations. Part One presents two updated overview chapters; Part Two offers 16 articles - each exemplifying a particular type of qualitative research - along with the authors' reflections.

Chapter 1, "Introduction to Qualitative Research," explains what qualitative research is and how it differs from more familiar positivist research. This general introduction to qualitative research is followed by a section briefly describing different types of qualitative research designs. The last section of the chapter is a brief overview of the process of conducting a qualitative study.

We retained from the first edition of Qualitative Research in Practice the following designs: interpretive (called "basic interpretive" in the first edition), phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, and narrative inquiry (called "narrative analysis" in the first edition). In a reflection of the dynamic and changing landscape of qualitative research, we have added examples of qualitative research often loosely categorized as "arts-based," "qualitative action research," and "mixed methods," wherein a substantial component of the methodology is qualitative.

We considered retaining "qualitative case study" from the first edition, but reasoned that a case study, which is an intensive description of a bounded, integrated system (the "case"), was more of a format or structure for focusing an investigation, as well as conveying the findings of an investigation; indeed, one can have an "ethnographic case study," or a "phenomenological case study," and so on. Further, we reasoned that "critical qualitative research" and "postmodern research" from the first edition represented epistemological orientations that can inform the design of any qualitative study in terms of how the "problem" of the study is framed, the questions asked, what literature is reviewed, and generally the implementation and reporting of the study's findings. Such is the case with many of the articles presented in Qualitative Research in Practice. However, as we point out in the first chapter, there is a wide range of opinion by writers and methodologists in qualitative research as to how many "types" or "designs" there are. Other editors may have selected different formats. Nonetheless, all adhere to the basic interpretive/constructivist philosophical orientation underlying all qualitative research.

Chapter 2 focuses on assessing and evaluating qualitative research. Determining the "quality" and "trustworthiness" of this type of research involves consideration of what qualitative research is designed to do, and what criteria are appropriate for assessing its validity and reliability - criteria that are congruent with the philosophical assumptions underlying this paradigm. Chapter 2 contains two tables, the first being a general checklist of points to be considered when reading the articles in this volume to assess the "quality" of qualitative research, and the second being a table of strategies researchers might employ to assess trustworthiness and rigor.

The 16 articles in Part Two are organized into eight sections, each representing a particular qualitative research design (or a design with a major qualitative component). Each article is typeset for this text, but the format and the content of the original publications were not altered. There are two examples each of interpretive, phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, narrative inquiry, arts-based, qualitative action research, and mixed methods designs. Each of the 16 articles is immediately followed by an author reflection, which we hope will further engage our readers in thinking about designing and implementing a qualitative study of their own.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First to be acknowledged are the authors of the articles included in this volume. You were wonderfully responsive to having your article included and to writing your reflections on conducting a qualitative research study. Sharing your thoughts, your "ups and downs," your apprehensions and mishaps, your insights and "aha" moments, reveals just how engaging, and at times frustrating and yet rewarding conducting a qualitative study can be! Your contribution will be appreciated by students, novices, and experienced researchers alike.

We would also like to thank Kristi Kaeppel. We could not have completed this book without your invaluable...