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Doing Qualitative Research in Psychology
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Doing Qualitative Research in Psychology
A Practical Guide

First Edition


March 2010 | 280 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

This unique text provides a complete introduction to qualitative methods in psychology and will be ideal reading for anyone doing a course in qualitative psychology or planning a practical project using qualitative approaches. Forrester's book has been developed in tandem with its own dataset, collected specifically for the book which will be a unique resource for any students using the text. Using interview recordings (video and audio, available to readers on-line) alongside worked examples of different ways to analyze the same dataset, the handbook and the interview data together provide an invaluable resource for anybody interested in either learning or teaching qualitative methods in psychology.

Following an elucidating introduction, Doing Qualitative Research in Psychology: A Practical Guide offers clear and useful descriptions and explanations of how and why research questions are formulated and the importance of selecting appropriate methods for investigations, with a focus on semi-structured interviewing (as used in the on-line data).

The book describes four specific qualitative methods, explaining in a very clear 'how to proceed' style, how each of these methods can form the basis of a qualitative methods laboratory class, practical, or field study. It also describes precisely how research reports using qualitative methods are written, in line with the appropriate conventions of report writing in psychology.

All in all, this is simply the most useful undergraduate qualitative research methods book one could wish for.


Michael A Forrester
Introduction: This Book and How to Use It
 
PART ONE: FORMULATING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Cath Sullivan
Theory and Method in Qualitative Research
Rachel Shaw
Conducting Literature Reviews
 
PART TWO: CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Stephen Gibson and Sarah Riley
Approaches to Data Collection in Qualitative Research
Siobhan Hugh-Jones
The Interview in Qualitative Research
Nigel King
Research Ethics in Qualitative Research
 
PART THREE: QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS: PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
Stephen Gibson
Introducing the Data Set
Sally Wiggins and Sarah Riley
QM1: Discourse Analysis
Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson
QM2: Grounded Theory
Rachel Shaw
QM3: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Michael Forrester
QM4: Conversation Analysis
 
PART FOUR: WRITING UP
Colm Crowley
Writing up the Qualitative Methods Research Report

This is the best book for psychology students especially because it has practical activities. It is user friendly and give a full and academic clarity of methodological concepts and how to effectively apply them using empirical research. It is the best book to use as an introduction to qualitative research methods and since I am lecturing psychology students, it has become the best resource for my class.

Dr Ruth Mampane
Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria
July 20, 2011

Very useful textbook. Really allows students to understand the differences in a variety of key qualitative methods. It achieves this by using the same data throughout which really seems to work. Also it addresses some key conceptual issues and also practical issues. Will prove to be a very useful book for undergrad and postgrad students alike! Well done to the TQRMUL group!

Miss Amy Fielden
Division of Psychology, Northumbria University
June 20, 2011

A good introductory text for qualitative research, providing an overview of main methods.

Dr Anca Roberts
Division of Psychology, Northampton University
June 15, 2011

Some really good practical examples of different methods of analysis. Will prove to be a valuable aid to students.

Dr Richard Trigg
Psychology , Nottingham Trent University
June 13, 2011

This is a very practical and great "doing" book. The learning hints, aids, guidelines and specifically the examples make this book a great link between doing research and writing research. The practical examples included make this a good book.

Mr Francois Watson
School of Nursing Science, North-West University
May 24, 2011

This book provides the student an exelent overview of topics within qualitative research methods and has the potential of being additional reading to the students doing their own research.

Dr Klaus Stagis
Master of the Psychology of Organisations, University of Roskilde
May 24, 2011

Excellent overview of epistemology, data collection and data analysis.

Dr Fiona McSweeney
Social Science , Dublin Institute of Technology
March 23, 2011

This book is, I feel, a fantastic guide to qualitative research. For both students and slightly wary staff!

The depth of the theoretical coverage is good and written in such a way that it is quite accessible, even to a novice.

The book is well structured and I feel confident in recommending it to students to supplement their understanding of qualitative research methods and data analysis at the 2nd year level, as well as for 3rd year dissertations.

Dr Pelham Carter
School of Social Science and Business, University Campus Suffolk
March 17, 2011

This text has an accessible feel to it making it attractive to students. The availability of dataset to complement the text and the comparisons drawn between different methods of analysis serve to illustrate well the points of difference and strengths and weakness of the various methods involved. I am happy to include it in our reading lists for these modules.

Professor Chris McVittie
Department of Psychology, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh
January 5, 2011

The chapter on writing up a qualitative research project is very good and helpful to students.

Dr Irmgard Tischner
Psychology , Worcester University
November 19, 2010

Sample Materials & Chapters

Introduction

Chapter One