Interpreting Qualitative Data

by David Silverman

In this fifth edition of his field-defining text, David Silverman, a true guru of qualitative research, walks the reader through the basics of gathering and analyzing qualitative data. The book offers beginners unrivalled hands-on guidance to help them get the best out of a research methods course or research project.

New to the fifth edition:

A streamlined structure to aid navigation and guide readers smoothly through the research process.
A new chapter on generalizing from case-study research which addresses the perennial issue of ‘how many cases do you need?’
New material on doing qualitative research online and the ethics of internet research.
Additional sections covering organizational documents and documents of everyday life, including blogs and diaries.
Many more recent case study examples drawn from a broad range of disciplines including business, education, social work and geography as well as health studies.
A new and improved companion website, full of additional resources for students and lecturers.

This is the perfect companion for all those new to qualitative research.

518 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 18, 2006

About the author

David Silverman is Visiting Professor in the Business School, University of Technology, Sydney. He has lived in London for most of his life, where he attended Christ's College Finchley and did a BSc (Economics) at the London School of Economics in the 1960s. Afterwards, he went to the USA for graduate work, obtaining an MA in the Sociology Department, University of California, Los Angeles. He returned to LSE to write a PhD on organization theory. This was published as The Theory of Organizations in 1970.

He pioneered and taught MA in Qualitative Research at Goldsmiths in 1985. Since becoming Emeritus Professor in 1999, he has continued publishing methodology books.

His main teaching career was at Goldsmiths College. His three major research projects were on decision making in the Personnel Department of the Greater London Council (Organizational Work, written with Jill Jones, 1975), paediatric outpatient clinics (Communication and Medical Practice, 1987) and HIV-test counselling (Discourses of Counselling, 1997).

Reviews

[غيداء الجويسر · Rating 5 out of 5]

The worse thing that contemporary qualitative research can imply is that, in this post-modern age, anything goes. The trick is to produce intelligent, disciplined work on the very edge of the abyss. David Silverman

[Ogi Ogas · Rating 2 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[Rainier Moreno-Lacalle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silvermans' tome on qualitative research is one of the best books I read on this topic. The book displays originality, accessibility, and replete with examples to make his point.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very useful for a wide range of understanding -3*

(I ONLY HAVE ONE MORE RESEARCH METHODS BOOK TO READ WHEN I'M HOME AND THEN I'M DONE WITH THESE BOOKS. YEY!!!!)