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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 a really good text giving practical, accessible yet thorough information and guidance. I like the fact that there is attention given to the theoretical underpinnings of qualitative work, and then the themed chapters on the different approaches work very well. I am impressed with this text and will certainly be recommending it to students undertaking qualitative research projects

Dr Rachel Maunder
Psychology , Northampton University
May 25, 2012

I really liked this title. Found it very informative. Alas, a little too informative for general undergraduate level research methods course. I'm going to stick to a research methods book that covers qualitative and quantiative methods together. I thought it was very well written though, and the examples were very useful.

Dr Christine Campbell
Psychology , St Mary's College
March 19, 2012

core text as part of qualitative methods for grounded theory coursework.
Well written and easy to follow book explaining qualitative methods

Dr Lisa Newson
School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University
March 12, 2012

This is a very readable textbook with addresses a range of important areas to consider when thinking about embarking on qualitative research. Its added value is that it comes with a companion website and a range of videoed interviews and transcripts to use for training purposes and to develop one's skills in analysing text. It is a highly recommended book for people who are novice to qualitative reserach, as well as more experienced researchers.

Dr Dario Pellegrini
Child and Family, Tavistock Centre
March 6, 2012

This book is adopted as recommended book for next year 2012

Mr Sibusiso Ntshangase
Educational Psychology , University of South Africa
November 25, 2011

This is a very good book. The only reason that I would not adopt it as essential is that the project that students have to do is using IPA and we have a specific IPA book for this. As more general book the book by Carla Willig has more theoretical/ philosophical considerations and therefore supplements the IPA book better.

Dr Anke Franz
Department of Applied Social Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University
November 14, 2011

useful supplemental resource for undergraduate and postgraduatre students

Dr Ceri Phelps
School of Psychology & Counselling, Swansea Metropolitan University
September 13, 2011

I have adopted the following book:
Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches.

Dr Ernesto Rosario-Hernandez
Psychology , Ponce School of Medicine
September 2, 2011

Excellent introductory and hands on for students beginning qualitative dissertations

Dr Joseph Futerman
Psychology Dept, Chicago School of Psychology
August 29, 2011

This book provides a clear and logical progression through the selection and implementation of a qualitative approach. The use of the same data to illustrate differing analysis is extremely useful for illustrating to studets how these approaches differ. In addition there are numerous redirections to additional texts which i found very useful.

Mrs Stella Williams
Department of Psychology, Newman College
July 20, 2011

Sample Materials & Chapters

Introduction

Chapter One