Qualitative Research for Education : An Introduction to Theories and Methods / Robert C. Bogdan, & Sari Knopp Biklen.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 276-295) and index

Foundations of Qualitative Research for Education: Characteristics of qualitative research -- Traditions of qualitative research -- Theoretical underpinnings -- Eleven common questions about qualitative research -- Ethics -- What is to come -- Research Design: Choosing a study -- Case studies -- Multisite studies -- Additional Issues Related to Design -- Concluding Remarks -- Fieldwork: Gaining access -- First days in the field -- The participant/observer continuum -- Doing fieldwork in another culture -- Researching characteristics and special problems with rapport -- Be discreet -- Researching in politically charged and conflict-ridden settings -- Feelings -- Interviewing -- Visual recording and fieldwork -- Triangulation -- Leaving the field -- Qualitative Data: Some friendly advice -- Fieldnotes -- The process of writing the fieldnotes -- Transcripts from taped interviews -- Documents -- Photography -- Official statistics and other qualitative data -- Concluding remarks -- Data Analysis and Interpretation: Analysis and interpretation in the field -- Analysis and interpretation after data collection -- The mechanics of working with data -- Computers and data analysis -- Interpretation -- Concluding remarks -- Writing It Up: Writing choices -- More writing tips -- Criteria for evaluating writing -- Texts -- A final point about getting started -- Applied Qualitative Research for Education: Evaluation and policy research -- Action research -- Practitioner uses of qualitative research -- A: Examples of Observational Questions for Educational Settings -- B: Example of Fieldnotes

"This introductory-level text provides the reader with a background for understanding the uses of qualitative research in education (and other professions) examining its theoretical and historical underpinnings, and providing the "how-to's" of doing qualitative research. This new edition places qualitative research within current debates about research methods and alternative ways of knowing. While the authors approach the subject from a sociological perspective, they also take care to reflect the many changes in conceptualization of qualitative research brought by post-structural and feminist thought."--Jacket