Doing Qualitative Research

by Crabtree, Benjamin F.; Miller, William L.

• ISBN13: 9780803943117
• ISBN10: 0803943113
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-05-01
• Publisher: Sage Pubns

Summary

"The book offers communication researchers some of the best recent work on qualitative inquiry in the human disciplines. . . . Published by Sage, the leading publisher of qualitative research in the social sciences today. . . . This is an important work for it shows how the postpositivist qualitative approach can be inserted into the classical, positivist, medical paradigm. . . . This work brings the communication scholar up-to-date on where qualitative methods are in current sociological and educational discourse." --Norman K. Denzin in Journal of Communication "This book represents a remarkable step forward in the ability of primary care investigators to explore vital research issues related to their disciplines." --from the Foreword by Larry Culpepper "Doing Qualitative Research is the sourcebook for the 1990s for anyone interested in either learning or doing qualitative research. Crabtree and Miller review the many and various qualitative methods in a comprehensive yet systematic treatment. The book is well organized and well written. . . . If you are generally interested in research, read this book to stay informed in the developing specialty of qualitative research. If you wish to learn or do qualitative research, this is an excellent map to the field." --The Journal of Family Practice "The strengths of this book are many. Of particular note is the first chapter, in which Miller and Crabtree present a 'road map' of research methods. They identify five styles of inquiry, ranging from experimental to philosophic, based on the focus and intent of the research. In a further elaboration, they then match research aims and analysis objectives with these styles. This clear and succinct discussion not only helps put the various research styles in perspective but helps one to see the relationship between the aim of the research, analysis objectives, research question(s), and style. . . . [The authors] remind us that research is tied to assumptions concerning reality, knowledge of that reality, and the particular ways of knowing about that reality." --Qualitative Health Research "This volume contains much interesting material about medical research within the primary care sector. It is encouraging to note the value placed on qualitative research approaches by medical clinicians in this field. . . . This useful book restores the balance in concentrating on qualitative medical research within primary care." --Journal of Advanced Nursing "Research that will inform practice and policy of primary care must be driven by the important and central questions, rather than by the tools familiar and available to researchers. The editors of this important book have taken a giant step in creating a language and community of research that can cross disciplinary boundaries to address the important problems that affect most people most of the time. . . . Permitting the methods of biomedical research to constrain our inquiry into the nature of illness and healing has resulted in a totally inadequate knowledge base for primary care. This volume provides a basis for integrative research methods that will rise to the challenges of research in primary care." --Paul A. Nutting, Director, Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network Why are certain research designs selected? How do researchers use codebooks to analyze participant observation field notes? What are the best ways to use word processing software in the management of qualitative data? Edited by two of the top names in the field--Benjamin F. Crabtree and William M. Miller--this volume discusses essential strategies for doing qualitative research. Each chapter establishes the context when the specific methods should be chosen, offers a step-by-step description of the method, tells how the quality of the method is assessed, and provides interesting true-to-life examples. Two concluding chapters "pull it all togethe

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Introduction	p. vii
Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
Overview of Qualitative Research Methods
Primary Care Research: A Multimethod Typology and Qualitative Road Map	p. 3
Discovery: Data Collection Strategies
Sampling in Qualitative Inquiry	p. 31
Participant Observation	p. 45
Key Informant Interviews	p. 70
Interpretation: Strategies of Analysis
A Template Approach to Text Analysis: Developing and Using Codebooks	p. 93
Grounded Hermeneutic Research	p. 110
Computer Management Strategies for Text Data	p. 125
Special Cases of Analysis
Approaches to Audiotape and Videotape Analysis: Interpreting the Interactions Between Patients and Physicians	p. 149
Historical Method: A Brief Introduction	p. 163
Philosophic Approaches	p. 174
Putting It All Together: Completed Studies
A Qualitative Study of Family Practice Physician Health Promotion Activities
Doctor-Caregiver Relationships: An Exploration Using Focus Groups	p. 205
Summary
Qualitative Research: Perspectives on the Future	p. 231
References	p. 249
Index	p. 263
About the Contributors	p. 271
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