Advanced Qualitative Research
A Guide to Using Theory
- Michelle O'Reilly - University of Leicester, UK
- Nikki Kiyimba - University of Chester, UK
This distinctive, nuanced book addresses the more complex theoretical issues embedded in the qualitative research paradigm. Adopting a reflective stance that emphasises the role of the researcher it carefully avoids a standardised ‘tick box’ approach to methods.
Throughout each chapter, theory is powerfully and persuasively interwoven as its impact on practical topics such as data management and safety in the field is discussed. O'Reilly and Kiyimba bring an authority and clarity to the debate, taking us beyond the mechanical notions of qualitative methods and standardised approaches to research. Instead, they focus on subjects like methodological integrity, perspective driven data collection and theoretically-led analysis.
This will be an important resource for anyone looking to practically engage with advanced qualitative research methods.
A really useful exposition of key concepts which I am using with a variety of my cohorts (up to PhD) and very well written.
This is a useful text for undergraduate students in social sciences. It offers succinct theory and models of research methods and it is an excellent reader.
This book is not designed as a 'how-to' guide to conducting a piece of qualitative research, and other books in the Sage portfolio would be more appropriate for this. Instead, it highlights a number of theoretical debates that have arisen in qualitative research over recent years, and aims to show how these can be related to applied work. A range of key topics have been selected for review and the voice of experience employed to show their application to real research. Additionally, reflective spaces and case studies serve to guide a student's thought process, and model answers provided. The information is presented clearly and accessibly and is written in a way that should be useful to qualitative researchers in any area. A strength of this book is the many useful, and indented, examples that illustrate the points made in the text.
On our qualitative methods module we tend to be better at training students in the nuts and bolts of how to do a thematic analysis than at helping them work out how to make the leap from that empirical work to 'grounded' theoretical development. This book is a helpful addition to our teaching around that.
This book gives a good impression on the theoretical background of qualitative research. Examples given in the book foster the understanding of the introduced theories into practicioners' work.
The chapter on research ethics and researcher safety is of particular value to students who often do not understand the aspects of ethical research. Students further found the clarity provided in Chapter 2 regarding quality in qualitative research valuable and understandable.
Sage College Publishing
