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A Journey Through Qualitative Research
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A Journey Through Qualitative Research
From Design to Reporting

First Edition
Additional resources:


March 2018 | 264 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

This hands-on guide takes students from start-to-finish through the research process while showcasing the complexities and interrelationships of different methods, schools of thought, and associated analytical strategies.

Encouraging students to think of qualitative research as a flexible, cyclical process rather than a linear one, this book offers a panoramic strategy and dynamic approach to qualitative research that accommodates the fluid nature of research and accounts for lessons learned through lived experience.  With an emphasis on the analysis stage—within case, across case, and the dialogue between these insights and existing literature—it uses concrete applications to show how your methodological decisions translate into practice.

It covers:

  • Forming, defending, and evaluating research questions
  • Choosing a research approach
  • Ensuring ethically sound research
  • Collecting quality data
  • Analyzing data in layers
  • Reporting research results

Through a conversational tone that unpacks key vocabulary and acts as a companion supervisor, this book equips you to traverse every step of the qualitative research journey.



 
Chapter 1: Choosing qualitative inquiry
The knowledge production process

 
Qualitative research design

 
Realm of qualitative epistemologies

 
 
Chapter 2: Designing an iterative research project
Designing the research

 
The writing of a research project

 
 
Chapter 3: Choosing an Approach to Guide Methodological Decisions
Phenomenology

 
Grounded theory

 
Discourse analysis

 
Narrative analysis

 
Ethnography

 
 
Chapter 4: Choosing Tools for Your Fieldwork
Observation

 
Interviews

 
Documents

 
 
Chapter 5: Ethical challenges in qualitative research
Procedural Ethics

 
Making an Application to the REB

 
Concerns at the Heart of Research Relationships

 
 
Chapter 6: Preparing for analysis and validity requirements
The palimpsest as a metaphor for principles of analysis

 
Vertical analysis: The first stratum of the palimpsest

 
Horizontal analysis: The second stratum of the palimpsest

 
Theoretical analysis: The third stratum of the palimpsest

 
Initial project

 
 
Chapter 7: Vertical Analysis
Contextualizing condensation

 
Semantic condensation

 
 
Chapter 8: Horizontal analysis
Horizontal analysis using discourse analysis through interpretative repertoires

 
Horizontal analysis using a mixed approached inspired by grounded theory and narrative analysis

 
 
Chapter 9: Theorizing and presenting the results
Classification by Typology

 
Bringing out contrasting characters

 
Establishing a dialogue to enrich concepts

 
Ensuring the quality of the study

 

This book is a must for new researchers who want to succeed in qualitative inquiry. 

 
Pranee Liamputtong
Professor of Public Health at Western Sydney University

The real coup de maître is the way the authors compare qualitative research to a palimpsest and subsequently sketch the phases of data analysis with suitable examples. Qualitative researchers…have a read!

Lakshmi Balachandran Nair
Assistant Professor in Qualitative Research at Utrecht University

This book goes significantly beyond "how to do research" and a recipe approach found in many textbooks. Rather it encourages engagement with "being" a researcher and uses project checklists to prompt reflexivity. 

Jo Ferrie
Sociology, University of Glasgow

In this book Gaudet and Robert do a number of revealing things. First, they take the powerful metaphor of journey to help illuminate the process of inquiry. Second, they take key markers of quality and provide pointers to these ‘topographical features’ that help provide surety on the way. Following on, the authors make accessible key concepts and ideas and illustrate how they animate and reveal key decision-making points. Each of these key features build richer understandings and induct researchers new to qualitative inquiry in order to make a difference. 

Peter Wright
Associate Professor, School of Education, Murdoch University

The most valuable sections are the three chapters on analysis of qualitative data, which go through two texts step by- step to give students a hands-on feel for a three-layer analysis that the authors imagine as a palimpsest – because ‘a new creation can arise from original materials that had been repeatedly deconstructed and reconstructed’. The texts chosen are engaging, and the close analysis is interesting

Hannah Grene
Barncat Consulting
SRA Research Matters

Great introduction to qualitative research methods. I find the section on analysis extremely informative and helpful - also I appreciate the online resources for instructors which I personally use for my classes.

Dr Marta Fadda
Health, University of Lugano
November 11, 2019

a well-designed and well-written textbook that will support students at different levels very well

Mr Richard Kotter
Geography & Environmental Management, Northumbria University
March 22, 2020

The process of research can be daunting for students and the choice of approach and methods a challenge. As a strong advocate of qualitative research I have found this book to be well presented, thoughtful and full of great advice and explanation that will guide any student down their chosen research path. A very useful addition to a researcher's library.

Dr Ciaran McAleenan
School of the Built Environment (Jordanstown Campus), Ulster University
August 9, 2019

this is a really useful resource- students very often misunderstand the nature of qualitative research and this provides a solid framework for them to develop their knowledge

Ms Stella Harcourt
HE, Access and Counselling, South Essex College - Southend
September 13, 2019

An excellent book to support students through their individual qualitative reserach

Mrs Chrissie Draper
Educational Psychology, Derby College
December 3, 2019
Key features
KEY FEATURES:
  • Explores the connections and relationships between different schools of thought, vital to original qualitative inquiry. 
  • Encourages more sophisticated, nuanced thinking essential for qualitative researchers.
  • Illustrates key concepts and ideas and their applications in practice.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Choosing Qualitative Inquiry


For instructors

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