Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research

by Mario Luis Small, Jessica McCrory Calarco

Suppose you were given two qualitative one is a piece of empirically sound social science and the other, though interesting and beautifully written, is not. How would you tell the difference?  Qualitative Literacy presents criteria to assess qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviewing and participant observation. Qualitative research is indispensable to the study of inequality, poverty, education, public health, immigration, the family, and criminal justice. Each of the hundreds of ethnographic and interview studies published yearly on these issues is scientifically either sound or unsound. This guide provides social scientists, researchers, students, evaluators, policy makers, and journalists with the tools needed to identify and evaluate quality in field research.

Genres: Sociology, Research Methods, Research, Qualitative Research, Academic, Ethnography, School

230 pages, Hardcover

Published August 23, 2022

Reviews

[Kat]

My good friend Sophie says I am allowed to put my sociology books on Goodreads!

[Brendan Dell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that gets the ball rolling on how to evaluate qual research (interviews and ethnography). This will definitely help me craft the interview phase of my dissertation work. Chapters on cognitive empathy, palpability, and follow-up I found most helpful. Although it’s a book on how to *evaluate* the work, it also works as a nice guide on how to do the work. Just understanding that in interview work, the researcher not only collects data but produces the data is important to keep in mind moving forward

[Aparna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors’ perspective is very heavily grounded in ethnography so some of their conclusions don’t ring true for other types of qualitative research. That being said, this is a very readable and accessible introduction to key concepts that should be present in high quality qualitative research. Incredibly useful for both evaluation of other’s research and for critical consideration of your own research.

[Dilek Sayedahmed, PhD · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book that aims to support high-quality, empirical social science research based on interviews or participant observation.

This is a book to have right on your desk if you are a social scientist that collects data from individuals, groups, organizations, etc.

Important book for researchers who collect and work with in-depth and/or semi-structured interview data, as well as participant observation data. For interview researchers who combine interviews with other types of data, including surveys and ethnographic observations, this is a must-read.

I learned quite a lot about topics:
exposure to subject(s),
cognitive empathy,
palpability,
heterogeneity ,
follow-up and
self-awareness.

Each chapter provides hands on tips with great to-the-point examples for you to use and go back to during your data collection.

This resource will definitely help me be a better researcher, and should be required reading for both qualitative and quantitative researchers.

[Regena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful to those learning about qualitative methodologies, particularly how it leans into aspects of qualitative literacy that arae unique strengths and differentiate it from other methods. A pretty quick but clear read sharing valuable information. I learned quite a lot about topics like exposure to subject(s), cognitive empathy, palpability, heterogeneity , follow-up and self-awareness. This resource will definitely help me be a better researcher, and should be required reading for researchers.

[Hui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among the five indicators (i.e., cognitive empathy, heterogeneity, palpability/concreteness, follow-up, and self-awareness/reflexivity), cognitive empathy is probably the least explicitly discussed. The idea is to show what the informants see, smell, and hear at the moment (perception), how they make sense of what they have sensed (meaning), and why they make certain comments or engage in certain actions (motivation).

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small and Calarco do not defer to other methods guides when they establish their five criteria for rigor in qualitative (interview and ethnographic) research. Instead, they reverse engineer the process before deciding on cognitive empathy, heterogeneity, palpability follow-up, and self-awareness as five vital aspects of rigor in qualitative research. This is probably one of the defining contributions to qualitative methods in the 21st century. Time will tell.

[Claire McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for my qualitative methods class offered in the sociology department. This course was part of my methodological education for my PhD program. My methodological background is all quantitative. Small and Calarco did an excellent job giving a broad overview of how to evaluate ethnographic and interview research. The examples were interesting and illuminated the points. As someone with little experience in this domain, the text was accessible.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful guide for qualitative researchers. Clearly and directly addresses the frustrating criticisms that many qualitative researchers have experienced. Next time a reviewer tells me I need a bigger sample size, I will quote this book in response. Seriously, I will be citing this book with it's 4 points for how to evaluate good qualitative research in all my methods sections from now on.

[Lily Keefauver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for class. Goes over how to analyze qualitative research and what to look out for. The book is broken up by criteria and is extremely easy to follow. Helpful when considering one's own bias and how to show up properly in the field.

[Amber Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my qualitative research class. Very informative! This helped me evaluate the effectiveness and quality of my phenomenological semester research project. I will definitely reference this in the future if I do any more interview based qualitative research projects. 💖

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Very helpful tools to evaluate qualitative research and to hone in on my own skills

[Yanming CHEN · Rating 5 out of 5]

最近的读到的最好的质性研究之书，主要讲了访谈和参与式观察法，写作清晰简明，通俗明了。作者虽然说并不旨在解决各大流派的争议和分歧，但其实完全能够让不同质性方法论流派的拥护者共同受益。区别于那些空话比较多的方法书，这本书有非常多具体的收集资料和写作的例子，可以让人很明白地了解资料收集到什么程度才足、什么样的资料收集是错误的。势必会是我以后常读常新之书。

[Nunnally Zou · Rating 5 out of 5]

go to people's home is better than having a phone call. Heterogeity among the respondents is so important.

[Allie Piippo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read but somewhat oversimplified discussion of qualitative research. However, important principles for interviewing.

[Catherine]

I don't rate books that I read for work, but for what it's worth, this is excellent.

[Daniel Truog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this for grad school. But pretty interesting and well written.

[esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

learned a lot about what makes qualitative research good

[Roxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for thesis but super helpful

[Yanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my seminar I had to read a book a week and this was the first one. Highly recommend for people in social sciences looking to do ethnography. Easy read that I blasted thru in 3 sittings