Becoming Qualitative Researchers

by Glesne, Corrine

• ISBN13: 9780205458387
• ISBN10: 0205458386
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

This text offers a brief but comprehensive overview of qualitative research that balances the practicalities of conducting research and the theory and debates that keep qualitative inquiry vibrant. As faculty and students increasingly turn to qualitative inquiry, they need a text that will not only provide them with an understanding of qualitative research methods, but also open them to the diverse possibilities within this inquiry approach. This text covers the range of possibilities along with numerous exercises that offer beginning students the opportunity to practice and refine the skills of being a qualitative researcher. The wealth of examples in the text is exceptional, as is the accessible writing style.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Sense of Things to Come	viii
Acknowledgments	x
Meeting Qualitative Inquiry	1	(20)
Beginnings	1	(2)
Searching	3	(1)
Ways of Knowing	4	(4)
A Bit of Historical Context	8	(3)
Varied Modes	11	(2)
Participant-Oriented Research	13	(5)
The Postmodern Context	18	(1)
What Is to Come	19	(1)
Exercise	20	(1)
Prestudy Tasks: Doing What Is Good for You	21	(28)
The Research Topic	22	(2)
Review of Literature	24	(3)
Theoretical Context	27	(2)
Research Statement and Questions	29	(2)
Site Selection	31	(3)
Selection of Study Participants	34	(2)
Selection of Research Techniques	36	(1)
Validity Issues	37	(1)
The Time Frame	38	(2)
The Lay Summary	40	(3)
The Pilot Study	43	(1)
Gaining Access	44	(2)
Researcher Roles	46	(2)
Exercises	48	(1)
Being There: Developing Understanding through Participant Observation	49	(30)
The Participant-Observation Continuum	49	(2)
Participant-Observation Goals	51	(1)
The Participant-Observation Process	52	(11)
Other Fieldwork Allies: Photographs, Documents, and Artifacts	63	(6)
The Participant Observer's Role	69	(7)
Considerations	76	(1)
Exercises	77	(2)
Making Words Fly: Developing Understanding through Interviewing	79	(30)
Interviewing: An Interaction	79	(2)
Developing Questions	81	(5)
Setting Up to Interview	86	(4)
The Nature of Interviewing	90	(3)
Interviewer Attributes	93	(7)
Some Typical Problems	100	(2)
Focus Group Interviews	102	(2)
Considerations	104	(3)
Exercises	107	(2)
The Personal Dimension: Rapport, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity	109	(20)
Definitions of Rapport	109	(1)
Factors Bearing on Rapport	110	(2)
Developing and Maintaining Rapport	112	(4)
Rapport and Friendship	116	(3)
Subjective Lenses	119	(4)
Monitoring and Using Subjectivity	123	(2)
Reflexivity	125	(2)
Rapport, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity	127	(1)
Exercises	127	(2)
But Is It Ethical? Learning to Do Right	129	(18)
Ethical Codes	130	(2)
Informed Consent	132	(1)
Researcher Roles and Ethical Dilemmas	133	(5)
The Researcher-Researched Relationship	138	(7)
No Easy Solutions	145	(1)
Exercises	146	(1)
Finding Your Story: Data Analysis	147	(26)
Early Data Analysis	148	(4)
Later Data Analysis: Entering the Code Mines	152	(3)
Displaying Data	155	(5)
Using Computers	160	(4)
Making Connections	164	(2)
Trustworthiness of Your Interpretations	166	(3)
Considerations	169	(1)
Reflections	170	(1)
Exercises	171	(2)
Writing Your Story: What Your Data Say	173	(20)
Roles of the Writer	173	(3)
Strategies for Writing	176	(6)
The Text: Questions of Style	182	(9)
Responsibilities of the Writer	191	(1)
Exercise	192	(1)
Improvising a Song of the World: Language and Representation	193	(18)
The Tale and the Teller	194	(1)
The Researcher's Language	195	(1)
The Researcher's Representations	196	(1)
The Art of Re-presentation	197	(2)
Autoethnography	199	(1)
Poetic Transcription	200	(5)
Drama	205	(2)
Short Story	207	(1)
Taking Risks	208	(2)
Exercises	210	(1)
The Continuing Search	211	(10)
Becoming Qualitative Researchers: The Personal Context	211	(2)
Applications of Qualitative Research: The Research Manuscript	213	(3)
Using the Research Process	216	(1)
Using Qualitative Research to Learn About Yourself	217	(1)
Creating and Deepening Relationships	218	(2)
Concluding Words	220	(1)
Exercises	220	(1)
Appendix: Guide for Developing a Qualitative Research Proposal	221	(2)
References	223	(18)
Name Index	241	(2)
Subject Index	243