README FIRST for a User's Guide to Qualitative Methods [Paperback]

Janice M. Morse (Author), Marilyn (Lyn) G. (Gray) Richards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0761918914 | ISBN-13: 978-0761918912 | Edition: 1st

This book provides beginning researchers with an overview of techniques for making data and an explanation of the ways different tools fit different purposes to provide different research experiences and outcomes. The authors clearly explain why there are many methods and show readers how to locate their study within that choice. Written as a pragmatic companion, this text will help readers get confidently and competently started on a research path that works for their study.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For the price, you get not only a sound introduction to qualitative research in three of the most commonly used methodological traditions (phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory), but an opportunity to "test drive" one of the modern software systems for analysis of qualitative data and project management- complete with access to data files from two actual studies- all before you begin to plan your own project."

About the Author

Lyn Richards (B.A. Hon., political science; M.A., sociology) is a qualitative research writer and consultant and Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of Business at RMIT University in Melbourne. As a family sociologist, she published four books and many papers on Australian families and women’s roles. As a methodologist, she taught graduate and undergraduate qualitative research at La Trobe University and went on to write for and teach the teachers. Her most recent book is Handling Qualitative Data, Second Edition (SAGE, 2009). In university research with Tom Richards, she developed the NUD*IST software and founded QSR International, Melbourne. In interaction with the researchers using the software, and later development teams at QSR, she worked on the design of the subsequent versions (to N6) and then NVivo, as a principal member of the QSR software-development teams and author of the software’s documentation. She was an invited speaker at all of the conferences in the first decade of qualitative computing and a leading teacher and trainer internationally in qualitative computing and the handling of qualitative data. Richards has taught qualitative methods and qualitative software to some 4,000 researchers in 15 countries, and learned from them all.

Janice M. Morse, PhD (Nurs), PhD (Anthro), FAAN is a professor and Presidential Endowed Chair at the University of Utah College of Nursing, and Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta, Canada. She was the founding Director and Scientific Director of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, University of Alberta (1997-2007), founding editor for the International Journal of Qualitative Methods, and Editor of the Qual Press monograph series. She remains the founding editor for Qualitative Health Research, (now in Volume 21, Sage), is currently editor for the monograph series Developing Qualitative Inquiry, and The Essentials of Qualitative Inquiry (Left Coast Press). Her research programs are in the areas of suffering and comforting, preventing patient falls, and developing qualitative methods. In 2011, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement in Qualitative Inquiry from the International Center for Qualitative Inquiry, was an inaugural inductee into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (2010), and the 5th recipient of the Episteme Award (also Sigma Theta Tau). She was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Newcastle (Australia) and Athabasca University (Canada). She is the author of 460 articles and chapters and 19 books on qualitative research methods, suffering, comforting and patient falls.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc; 1st edition (March 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761918914
• ISBN-13: 978-0761918912
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars QRM Student Review, October 8, 2008

By 

A. Bradford "QRM Student" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: README FIRST for a User's Guide to Qualitative Methods (Paperback)

This book is a) very readable b) flows logically c) covers a LOT of material d) makes a great resource for writing a QRM proposal e) is a great resource when planning and executing a qualitative study. A MUST have for the new student and makes an excellent text for an intro class.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readme First, January 20, 2008

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Rebekah Carey Wi College - See all my reviews
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This review is from: README FIRST for a User's Guide to Qualitative Methods (Paperback)

Excellent overview of qualitative methods which provides descriptive and useful definitions, while distinctly clarifying,i.e. phenomonology, grounded theory, ethnography.
Easy-reading without being elementary.
Perfect as I embark on my PhD in Nursing!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best!, August 17, 2007

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NY10017 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: README FIRST for a User's Guide to Qualitative Methods (Paperback)

This is one of the best qualitative textbook that I've ever read. (And I read extensively.) It's easy to read. The writing style is concise and unpretensious. Unlike other bulky research method textbooks, it contains less than 300 pages. I use it as a portable book on the go.

The title may lead people to think that it is for beginners who haven't undertaken their studies. At one point, this holds true. The book is written for people who haven't committed to a specific research design. It walks you through various methodological routes, illustrating the possible shape of findings based on the choice of the research approach. However, I also found this book helpful for those who already have some exposure to qualitative research. (The only relatively minor downside is that I found the section on coding pretty dry. It's not as enlightening as other sections.)