Qualitative Methods

This page is intended as a resource for students who might be engaging with Qualitative Research Methods for the first time.

Recommended Textbooks/Chapters

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. London, UK: Sage. [Google Books]

Brodsky, A. E. (2008). Researcher as instrument. In L. M. Given (Ed.). The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods, London, UK: Sage.

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. Sage.

Green, J., & Thorogood, N. (2018). Qualitative methods for health research. Sage. [Google Books]

Mason, J. (2017). Qualitative researching. Sage.

Maxwell, J. A. (2012). A realist approach for qualitative research. Sage.

Potter,J & Hepburn, A. (2012). Eight challenges for interview researchers. J.F. Gubrium and J.A. Holstein (Eds). Handbook of Interview Research (2nd Ed.) (pp. 555-570). London:Sage. [www]

Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., & Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.

Saldaña, J. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London, UK: Sage.

Smith, B., & Sparkes, A. C. (2013). Qualitative research methods in sport, exercise and health: From process to product. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203852187

Recommended Journal Articles

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Hammersley, M. (2007). The issue of quality in qualitative research. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 30(3), 287-305. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437270701614782

King, N., Horrocks, C., & Brooks, J. (2018). Interviews in Qualitative Research. London, UK: Sage..

O’Reilly, M., & Parker, N. (2013). ‘Unsatisfactory Saturation’: a critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 13(2), 190-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112446106 [www]

Smith, B., & McGannon, K. R. (2018). Developing rigor in qualitative research: Problems and opportunities within sport and exercise psychology. International review of sport and exercise psychology, 11(1), 101-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2017.1317357

Smith, B. (2018). Generalizability in qualitative research: Misunderstandings, opportunities and recommendations for the sport and exercise sciences. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 10(1), 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2017.1393221

Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10), 837-851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121

Scotland, J. (2012). Exploring the philosophical underpinnings of research: Relating ontology and epistemology to the methodology and methods of the scientific, interpretive, and critical research paradigms. English Language Teaching, 5(9), 9. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080001.pdf

Yardley, L. (2000). Dilemmas in qualitative health research. Psychology and Health, 15(2), 215-228. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440008400302

Recommended Examples of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research in Age and Ageing - https://academic.oup.com/ageing/pages/qualitative_research

Further Recommended Reading

Becker, H. S. (2014). What about Mozart? What about murder?: Reasoning from cases. University of Chicago Press. [GoogleBooks]

also on Becker, Gopnik, A. (2015) The Outside Game: How the sociologist Howard Becker studies the conventions of the unconventional. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/outside-game

Web Resources

Thematic Analysis - www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-groups/thematic-analysis.html

The Qualitative Report - A wide range of curated resources - https://tqr.nova.edu/tqrresources/

MethodSpace - www.methodspace.com/

Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) - http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Introduction/researchers.php

National Centre for Research Methods - www.ncrm.ac.uk/resources/

Credit to Teresa Corbett who in this tweet inspired me to start this resource page