Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a scientific method of observation to gather non-numerical data. This type of research "refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions, characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and description of things" and not to their "counts or measures". This research answers why and how a certain phenomenon may occur rather than how often. Qualitative research approaches are employed across many academic disciplines, focusing particularly on the human elements of the social and natural sciences; In less academic contexts, areas of application include qualitative market research, busine ...more

Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches
Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods
Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory
Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd Edition
Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches
Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (Applied Social Research Methods)
Writing Up Qualitative Research
Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis (Introducing Qualitative Methods series)
Case Study Research: Design and Methods (Applied Social Research Methods)
The Art of Case Study Research
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers
The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research
Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation: A Roadmap From Beginning to End
InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing
Becoming Qualitative Researchers: An Introduction

As a general rule, researchers should assume an unobtrusive stance in public settings. A researcher should strive to blend into his or her surroundings in order to reduce his or her impact on the research setting. The art of blending into a research setting entails conscious decisions about how to dress in a research setting, what mannerisms to exhibit, whether to take notes openly or in a concealed manner, and other strategies that allow a researcher to become invisible in the field.
Robert Mark Silverman and Kelly L. Patterson

The complexities of validating qualitative research need not be due to a weakness of qualitative methods, but on the contrary, may rest upon their extraordinary power to reflect and conceptualize the nature of the phenomenon investigated, to capture the complexity of the social reality. The validation of qualitative research becomes intrinsically linked to the development of a theory of social reality.
S Kvale

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