Books about Qualitative from Amazon.com

The Bestselling Text is Completely Updated and Better than Ever!

The Third Edition of the bestselling text Research Design by John W. Creswell enables readers to compare three approaches to research—qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods—in a single research methods text. The book presents these three approaches side by side within the context of the process of research from the beginning steps of philosophical assumptions to the writing and presenting of research. Written in a user-friendly manner, Creswell's text does not rely on technical jargon. He cuts to the core of what a reader needs to know to read and design research in part by showcasing ideas in a scaffold approach so that the reader understands ideas from the simple to the complex.

Key updates to the Third Edition:

• Presents the preliminary steps of using philosophical assumptions in the beginning of the book
• Provides an expanded discussion on ethical issues
• Emphasizes new Web-based technologies for literature searches
• Offers updated information about mixed methods research procedures
• Contains a glossary of terms
• Highlights “research tips” throughout the chapters incorporating the author’s experiences over the last 35 years
• Accompanied by an Instructor’s Resource CD ROM (ISBN:978-1-4129-6672-6) with a complete PowerPoint slide presentation ready-to-use in the classroom, as well as sample activities and discussion questions.  Qualified adopters of this text can request the Instructor's Resource CD through Customer Care at 1.800.818.7243.

Research Design, Third Edition appeals to students taking research design and research methods classes throughout the social and behavioral sciences—from undergraduates to the most advanced doctoral programs.

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Price: $39.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Creswell does an excellent job categorizing the various qualitative methods into five approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study...The author has expanded on and updated the information he presented in the first edition of the book (Creswell, 1998), including discussion of the various schools of thought that have developed among qualitative researchers since the mid 1990's...Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among five approaches is a highly informative book; researchers will likely return again and against to the book as they expand their comfort zone within qualitative research." 

                                                                          —Peggy M. Delmas, University of Alabama

“Creswell has produced an even more outstanding and valuable text for qualitative research than the First Edition.” 

                                                                                      —Edith King, University of Denver

Like the bestselling First Edition, this new version explores the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of each of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Using an accessible and engaging writing style, author John W. Creswell compares theoretical frameworks, ways to employ standards of quality, and strategies for writing introductions to studies, collecting data, analyzing data, writing a narrative, and verifying results.


New to the Second Edition:

• Brings the philosophical and theoretical orientations to the beginning of the book: This grounds students in the foundational thinking behind these methods much earlier.
• Gives broader coverage of narrative research: One of the original five approaches is expanded from "Biography" to "Narrative," thus exploring a wider range of narrative opportunities, biography still being one of them.
• Offers a much deeper discussion of interpretive approaches: There is much more emphasis on interpretive and postmodern perspectives such as feminism and critical theory.
• Provides more specific steps for doing research within each approach: The actual procedure for each approach is discussed and includes the sub-types of qualitative research within each of the five approaches.
• Illustrates phenomenology and ethnography: Two new, recent sample journal articles: one covering a phenomenological study; the other on an ethnographic study are included.
• Includes additional examples: More examples from the human services add to the robust examples in education, sociology, and psychology already present in the text.

Innovative Instructor's Resource CD:
An accompanying Instructor’s Resource CD contains many useful resources including PowerPoint slides, syllabi, checklists, exercises, annotated references to SAGE journal articles, and relevant Web links.

Intended Audience:
This is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in introductory qualitative research methods across the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences. (20071207).
Price: $47.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"On dissertation proposals on which I have served, Patton is by far the most cited qualitative research text."

Ian Baptiste, Penn State University

The book that has been a resource and training tool for countless applied researchers, evaluators, and graduate students has been completely revised with hundreds of new examples and stories illuminating all aspects of qualitative inquiry. Patton has created the most comprehensive, systematic, and up-to-date review of qualitative methods available.

"I am dazzled by the extent of the material that this book describes and clarifies. Patton has shifted the focus of the text to qualitative inquiry in general, which includes qualitative evaluation. New examples from his own work and that of others serve to clarify and deepen understanding of qualitative research topics and processes. New discussion of many current issues and debates in qualitative scholarship (autoethnography, ethical issues of informed consent and confidentiality, focus group/group interviews, computer-assisted analysis, the complexity of creating criteria for judging the quality of qualitative research, etc.) will bring readers up-to-date with the variety in perspectives about (and the variety within) qualitative inquiry. Most of the chapters in the book have been substantially reorganized in ways that augment the reader’s understanding. When anyone asks me about conducting qualitative inquiry, I will say: ‘Get Patton’s book’."

Corrine Glesne, author of Becoming Qualitative Researchers

The Third Edition has retained and expanded upon the exhibits, which highlight and summarize major issues, guidelines, the summative sections, tables, and figures as well as the sage advice of the Sufi-Zen master, Halcolm. This revision will help readers integrate and make sense of the great volume of qualitative works published in the past decade.

"Clearly, this is a vastly improved, much more comprehensive, cogently systematic, and timely review-a tour de force, one might say-of the field of qualitative research, in terms of the theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and normative dimensions/foundations of qualitative research. This is one of the strengths of the volume. It seeks to bring together theory and practice/methods without overburdening one or the other--this is as rare as it is commendable, not to mention extremely useful, not only for the professional researcher, but for the "non-professional" as well."

Lester Edwin J. Ruiz, New York Theological Seminar

New to this Edition

• Integrates and makes sense of the great volume of qualitative works published in the past decade

• Offers strategies for enhancing quality and credibility of qualitative findings by presenting a new framework for differentiating five contrasting and competing sets of standards for judging the quality and utility of findings

• Unravels the complexities of mixed methods and triangulation

• Explains the new issues and approaches to fieldwork as well as providing detailed analytical guidelines, including software and computer-assisted options

• Explores, compares and contrasts 16 different theoretical and philosophical approaches to qualitative inquiry

• Examines alternative interviewing strategies and approaches, including focus group interviews, group interviews, and cross-cultural interviews

• Identifies the latest Internet resources

Pedagogical Features to Enhance the Reader’s Understanding of the Material:

• Exhibit Boxes: Summarize and illuminate major points within chapters
• Chapter Opening Stories by Halcolm: Use wit and humor to engage the reader in reflecting upon the puzzles and lessons of qualitative research
• Foundational Questions: Orient the reader to the "meat" of the material being presented
• End of Chapter Appendices: Provide excerpts of detailed examples of particular techniques, such as open-ended interviews, case studies, etc.
• Comparison Tables: Organize, compare and contrast different approaches, strategies, and paradigms
• Original Cartoons:Created from the book’s material, illuminate and poke fun at chapter concepts

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Price: $69.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An invaluable resource--one that will open up the conceptual world of qualitative research and provide the step-by-step direction needed to translate those concepts into practice.
-- M. Carolyn Clark, Department of Educational Human Resource Development, College of Education, Texas A&M University

Since Merriam's definitive Case Study Research in Education first appeared in 1988, significant advances have occurred in the field of qualitative research. To meet the demand for a book that reflects these important changes, Merriam has completely revised and updated her classic work.

Timely, authoritative, and approachable, Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education is a practical resource that offers the information and guidance needed to manage all phases of the qualitative and case study research process..
Price: $27.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach, Second Edition provides researchers and students with a user-friendly, step-by-step guide to planning qualitative research A bestseller in its First Edition, this invaluable book presents an innovative approach to the components of design and how they interact with each other. The text presents a clear strategy for creating coherent and workable relationships among these design components and highlights key design issues. Based on a course the author taught for seven years at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the work is written in an informal, jargon-free style and incorporates many examples and hands-on exercises. This edition includes new or substantially expanded discussions of

* Research paradigms
* Defining a research problem
* Site and participant selection
* Relationships with research participants
* Data analysis
* Reliability and validity

Qualitative Research Design presents a flexible, systemic model of design, which is perfect for designing studies and research proposals. Experienced researchers will welcome author Joseph A. Maxwell’s refreshing approach and clear, direct style, and professors across the social sciences will find this an invaluable text for graduate research courses.

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Price: $32.41 [Notify me when price goes down.]