Methods Resources

Qualitative researchers often view the conceptualization of a research project, as well as its implementation, as distinct from the writing process. These readings are meant to challenge that assumption, showing how research practices are intimately related to how a researcher writes up his or her findings into a respectable piece of scholarly research.

Conceptualization

Overview. Berg, Bruce L and Hoard Lune. 2012. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. New York: Piersen. 8^th edition. Chapter 12.

Comparing and Contrasting Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. Goertz, Gary and James Mahoney. 2012. A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigm. Princeton: Princeton University Press,

Case Study Research. Ragin, Charles and Howard S. Becker, eds., 2000. What is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 1-18 and 121-138.

Mixed-Method Research. Small, Mario Luis. 2011. “How to conduct a mixed methods study: recent trends in a rapidly growing literature.” Annual Review of Sociology 37: 57-86.

Fieldwork. Van Mannen, John 2011. Tales of the Field. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2^nd edition. Preface, Chapter 3 and epilogue.

Writing

Overview. Becker, Howard. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Prose and Voice in Sociological Writing. Erikson, Kai. 1989. “On Sociological Prose.” Yale Review 78 (1): 525-538

Ethnographic Writing. Golden-Biddle, Karen and Karen Locke. 1993. “Appealing Work: An Investigation of How Ethnographic Texts Convince.” Organization Studies 4: 595-616.

Writing the Prospectus. Kilbourn, Brent. 2006. “The Qualitative Doctoral Dissertation Proposal.” Teachers College Record 108: 529-76.

From Data to Publication. Bloemraad, Irene. 2012. “What the Textbooks Don’t Tell You: Moving from a Research Puzzle to Publishing Findings.” Pp. 502-520 in Handbook of Research Methods in Migration, edited by Carlos Vargas-Silva. London: Edward Elgar Publishing

From Data to Publication. Firestone, W.A. (1993) “Alternative Arguments for Generalizing from Data as Applied to Qualitative Research”, Educational Researcher 22(4): 16-23.

Data Confirmation and Validation. Mathison, Sandra. 1988. “Why Triangulate?” Educational Researcher 17(2): 13-17.

Linking Theory and Method. Van Maanen, John, Jesper B. Sørensen, and Terrence R. Mitchell. 2007. “The Interplay between Theory and Method.” Academy of Management Review 32, 1145-54.

These pieces provide an overview of how to analyze your qualitative data after it has been collected (and, in some cases, while it is still being collected!). The first category of readings is more general advice, while the others are specific to ethnography or interviewing. Advice on other kinds of qualitative data analysis is found later in this document.

Overview

Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences – Qualitative Division

Attride-Stirling, J. (2001) “Thematic Networks: An Analytic Tool for Qualitative Research.” Qualitative Research 1(3): 385-405.

Kelle, Udo, and Katherine Bird, eds. Computer-aided qualitative data analysis: Theory, methods and practice. Sage, 1995.

Guetzkow, Joshua, Michèle Lamont and Grégoire Mallard. 2004. “What is Originality in the Social Sciences and the Humanities?” American Sociological Review. 69:190-212

Miles, Michael and A. Michael Huberman, 1994. Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Chapter 1, 4 and 5. Skim through book.

Ethnography

Altheide, David L. 1987. “Ethnographic Content Analysis.” Qualitative Sociology 10: 65-77.

Eliasoph, Nina. 2011. “Appendix 2: Methods of Taking Field Notes and Making Them Tell a Story.” Pp. 261-263 in Making Volunteers: Civic Life After Welfare’s End. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Emerson, Robert, Rachel Fretz, and Linda Shaw, 1995. “Processing Fieldnotes: Coding and Memoing.” Pp. 142-166 in Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Interviews

Harry, Beth, Keith M. Sturges, and Janette K. Klingner. 2005. “Mapping the Process: An Exemplar of Process and Challenge in Grounded Theory Analysis.” Educational Researcher 34(2): 3-13.

McLellan, E., K. MacQueen and J. Neidig (2003) “Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription”, Field Methods 15(1): 63-84.

Oliver, D. , J.M. Serovich and T. L. Mason. 2005. “Constraints and Opportunities with Interview Transcription...”Social Forces. 84(2): 1273-1289

Ryan, G. and H.R. Bernard (2003) “Techniques to Identify Themes”, Field Methods 15(1): 85-109.

Saldana, Johnny. 2009. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Weiss, Robert. 1994. Learning from Strangers. Pp. 151-182

Weston, Cynthia, et al. 2001. “Analyzing Interview Data: The Development and Evolution of a Coding System.” Qualitative Sociology 24: 381-400.

This section provides additional insight on ethnographic methods, with specific tips about how to carry out an ethnographic study.

Overview

Buroway, Michael et al., 1991. Ethnography Unbound. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. ix-28 and 271-290.

Charmaz, Kathy, 2001 (1995). “Grounded Theory.” Pp. 335-352 in Contemporary Field Research.

Emerson, Robert, ed. 2001. Contemporary Field Research: Perspectives and Formulations, Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. Pp. 1-54.

Goffman, Erving. (1989) “On Fieldwork”, Contemporary Field Research: Perspectives and Formulations, edited by Robert M. Emerson. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, pp. 153-158

Hannerz, Ulf, 2003. “Being There… and There… and There! Reflections on Multi-Site Ethnography.” Ethnography 4 (2): 201-216.

Observation

Adler, Patricia A. & Peter Adler. 1998. “Observational Techniques.” Pp. 377-392 in Norman K. Denzin & Yvonna S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Kleinman, S., M. Copp and K.A. Henderson (1997) “Qualitatively Different: Teaching Fieldwork to Graduate Students.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 25 (4): 469-499.

Tope, Daniel, Lindsey Joyce Chamberlain, Martha Crowley, and Randy Hodson. 2005. “The Benefits of Being There.” Journal of Contemporary ethnography. 34 (4): 470-493.

Field Notes

Emerson, Robert, et al. 1995. “Writing Up Fieldnotes I: From Field to Desk” and “Writing Up Fieldnotes 2: Creating Scenes on the Page.” Pp. 39-107 in Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Luttrell, Wendy. 2000. “Good Enough Methods for Ethnographic Research.” Harvard Educational Review. 70 (4): 499-523.

Watkins, Susan Cotts and Ann Swidler. 2009. “Hearsay Ethnography: Conversational Journals as Method for Studying Culture in Action.” Poetics 37: 162-184.

Interpretation

Geertz, Clifford. 2001 (1973). “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture.” Pp. 55-75 in Contemporary Field Research.

Lareau, Annette and Jeffrey Shultz, 1996. Journeys Through Ethnography. Realistic Accounts of Fieldwork. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Snow, David A. Calvin Morill, and Leon Anderson, 2003. “Elaborating Analytic Ethnography.” Ethnography 4 (2): 181-200.

Wilson, William Julius and Anmol Chaddha. 2009. “The Role of Theory in Ethnographic Research.” Ethnography 10 (2-3): 269-284.

This section provides additional insight on interview methods, with specific tips about how to carry out an interview-based study.

Overview

Hammer, Dean and Aaron Wildavsky. 1993. “The Open-Ended, Semistructured Interview.” Pp. 57-101 in Aaron Wildavsky, Craftways: On the Organization of Scholarly Work. New Brunswick: Transaction.

Hermanowicz, J.C. (2002) “The Great Interview: 25 Strategies for Studying People in Bed”, Qualitative Sociology 25(4): 479-499.

Small, Mario Luis. 2009. “How many cases do I need: On science and the logic of case selection in field-based Research.” Ethnography 10 (1): 5-38.

Snow, David, et al. 1982. “Interviewing by Comment.” Qualitative Sociology 5: 285-311.

Controversial Topics. Newman, Katherine S. 2002. “Qualitative Research on the Frontlines of Controversy.” Sociological Methods and Research 31 (2): 123-130.

Recruiting Subjects

Elites. Odendahl, Teresa, and Aileen Shaw. 2002. “Interviewing Elites.” Pp. 299-316 in Jaber F. Gubrium and James A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Focus Groups. Krueger, Richard. 1988. Focus Groups. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Focus Groups. Morgan, D.L. (1996) “Focus Groups”, Annual Review of Sociology 22: 129-15

Hard-to-find Populations. Watters, John K. and Patrick Biernacki, 1989. “Targeted Sampling: Options for the Study of Hidden Populations.” Social Problems 36 (4): 416-430.

Snowball Sampling. Biernacki, Patrick, and Dan Waldorf, 1981. “Snowball Sampling: Problems and Techniques in Chain Referral.” Sociological Methods and Research 10 (2): 141-163.

Data Validation

Bloor, Michael. Techniques of Validation in Qualitative Research: A Critical Commentary.” Pp. 383-296 in Contemporary Field Research, edited by Robert Emerson.

Maxwell, Joseph A. 1992. “Understanding and Validity in Qualitative Research.” Harvard Educational Review 62: 279-300.

Reflexivity

Overview. Kenway, J. and J. McLeod (2004) “Bourdieu's Reflexive Sociology and 'Spaces of Points of View': Whose Reflexivity, Which Perspective?”, British Journal of Sociology of Education25(4): 525-544.

Overview. Peshkin, Alan. 1988. “In Search of Subjectivity – One’s Own.” Educational Researcher 17: 17-21.

Race. Dunbar, Christopher, Jr., Dalia Rodriguez, and Laurence Parker. 2002. Race, Subjectivity, and the Interview Process, Ch. 14 in Jaber F. Gubrium and James A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Race. “White Like Me? Methods, Meaning, and Manipulation in the Field of White Studies.” Pp. 67-92 in France Twine and Jonathan Warren (Eds.), Racing Research, Researching Race: Methodological

Race. Young, Alford A. 2004. “Experiences in Ethnographic Interviewing about Race: The Inside and Outside of it.” Researching Race and Racism, edited by Martin Bulmer and John Solomos. London: Routledge, pp. 187-202

Race, Class, Gender. Cannon, L.W., E. Higginbotham and M.L.A. Leung (1988) “Race and Class Bias in Qualitative Research on Women”, Gender and Society 2(4): 449-462.

Race and Class. Lamont, Michèle. 2004. “ A Life of Hard but Justified Choices: Interviewing Across (too) Many Divides," Pp. 162-171 in Researching Race and Racism, edited by Martin Bulmer and John Solomos. London: Routledge.

Gender. Devault, M.L. (1990) “Talking and Listening from Women's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis”, Social Problems 37(1): 96-116.

Analysis

McClintock, C.C., D. Brannon and S. Maynard-Moody (1979) “Applying the Logic of Sample Surveys to Qualitative Case Studies: The Case Cluster Method”, Administrative Science Quarterly 24(4): 612-62.

Temple, Bogusia and Alys Young. 2004. “Qualitative Research and Translation Dilemmas.” Qualitative Research 4: 161-178.

Weiss, Robert S. 1994. Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. New York: Free Press. Pp. vii-120.

This section provides additional insight on comparative and historical analysis methods, with specific tips about how to carry out a comparative and historical study.

Overview

Bonnell, Victoria. 1980. “The Use of Theory, Concepts, and Comparison in Historical Sociology.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 22 (2): 155-173.

Eisenhart, Kathleen M., and Melissa E. Graebner. 2007. “Theory Building from Case Studies: Opportunities and Challenges.” Academy of Management Journal 50, 25-32.

Flyvbjerg, Bent. 2006. “Five Misunderstandings about Case Study Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 12: 219-245.

Lieberson, Stanley. 1991. “Small N’s and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases.” Social Forces, 70(2): 307-320.

Mahoney, James. 2004. “Comparative-Historical Methodology.” Annual Review of Sociology 30: 81-101.

Data Analysis

Elder, Glen, Elizabeth K. Pavalko, and Elizabeth H. Cliff, 1993. Working with Archival Data: Studying Lives. Newbury Park: Sage.

Howell, Martha C. and Walter Prevenier. 2001. “Source Criticism: The Great Tradition” and “Historical Interpretation: The Traditional Basics.” Pp. 60-68 (NOT 43-59) & 69-87 in From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Mill, John Stuart, 1973. “Of the Four Methods of Experimental Inquiry.” Pp. 388-406 in A System of Logic. London: Routledge.

Ragin, Charles. 1987. The Comparative Method. Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 1-102.

Skocpol, Theda. 2003. “Doubly Engaged Social Science: The Promise of Comparative Historical Analysis. Pp. 407-429 in Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, ed. James Mahoney and Dietrich Rueschemeyer. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Skocpol, Theda. 1984. “Emerging Agendas and Recurrent Strategies in Historical Sociology.” Pp. 356-391 in Vision and Method in Historical Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vaughan, Diane. 2004. “Theorizing Disaster: Analogy, Historical Ethnography, and the Challenger Incident.” Ethnography 5: 313-45.

Walton, John. 1973. "Standardized Case Comparison: Observations on Method in Comparative Sociology," Pp. 173-188 in Comparative Social Research, Methodological Problems and Strategies. New York: Wiley.

Yin, Robert. 1994. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Chapters 1, 2, and 4.

Foundational Books on Qualitative Methods expand_more

Ethics of Qualitative Research expand_more

Conceptualizing and Writing a Research Project expand_more

Analysis of Qualitative Data expand_more

Ethnography expand_more

Interviews expand_more

Comparative and Historical Analysis expand_more

Content Analysis expand_more

Survey Research expand_more

ArcGIS expand_more

Other Online Resources expand_more