Key Themes in Qualitative Research: Continuities and Changes

(Paperback)

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Description

This is an attempt by three well-respected ethnographic researchers to present a balanced view of qualitative methodology and research. The book is structured around classic texts, written by methodological pioneers, which comprise the basic foundation of modern qualitative research. The authors examine key premises in these texts, such as intimacy, advocacy and validity and how they may be supported, redesigned or made problematic in today's field. This allows for a critical analysis of Old Guard vs. Avant-Garde ideas and provides for the reader a guide to wade through the proliferation of texts and theories available since the post-modern turn. While not designed as a primer in qualitative research methods, anyone with modest experience in the field should find this book useful.

Reviews

This reading of the recent history of qualitative research from the leaders of the Cardiff school of ethnography provides a measured, useful analysis of a field now so vast as to be unwieldy, so conflicted (in part) as to be balkanized and so multi-faceted as to appear opaque when transparent, transparent when opaque. The authors present a balanced perspective in their book, referring to classic texts and themes in examining contemporary issues. Chapters such as 'Whose Side Are We On' make this book a contender for required reading in a qualitative methods class where beginners too easily slip into an individualistic way of viewing respondents/participants. I enthusiastically recommend this book as an essential text to anyone wanting to better understand the field and literature of qualitative research. -- Virginia Olesen, University of California, San Francisco
The three authors, especially Atkinson, are experienced in studies of ethnography and qualitative research methods from a postmodern perspective...Highly recommended. -- R. Wang, Central Michigan University * Choice Reviews *
Overall, Key Themes is a useful book for educational researchers conducting ethnographic inquiriesand for those engaged with participant observation and/or interview as research method. The historical contextualization in anthropology and sociology is helpful, as is the delineation of key classic texts. The tensions outlined are relevant to all involved with qualitative research. * Canadian Journal of Education *
This is an important book, a manifesto written by the leaders of the Cardiff School of Social Sciences. * Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute *

Author Bio

Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, and Sara Delamont are at the Cardiff School of Social Science in Wales and are well-known writers on qualitative research methods.