Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design : Choosing among Five Traditions

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Summary: This book delivers!
Review: Creswell manages to clearly explain differences and similarities of the five methods. Vocabulary, glossaries, examples and illustrations make each of the methodologies come alive to the reader. It is excellent as a review for someone who is writing their thesis, or for a new graduate student to grasp an understanding of qualitative methods. Creswell includes complete articles that illustrate the principles behind each of the methods. This is a "how to" and "what" book. It does not go into the philosophy behind each of the methods or the history of their development. For that perspective, try Denzin and Lincoln's Handbook of Qualitative Research. But when you are clearly defining a research project, it isn't philosophy that helps you! This book is a definite must for anyone interested in understanding or critiquing qualitative methods, or writing a qualitative proposal. Highly recommended!!!

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Summary: In the pursuit of qualitative research...
Review: this book provides clear, concrete examples of five "traditions" or types of qualitative research. If you need to understand the differences between biography, ethnography, grounded theory, case study, and other qualitative methods, this is the book for you. I've used it extensively in my dissertation writing.

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Summary: A helpful tour guide for your journey
Review: This book really helped me write my master's thesis. For anyone who may be doing graduate study in the social sciences and is interested in qualitative research, this is a GREAT place to start.

My friend suggested this book to me when my thesis adviser told me to get a book on qualitative research as I was trying to design my study of a newspaper and its relationships with strategic publics. In this book Creswell clearly and logically lays out five different qualitative research traditions (1. a biographical life history; 2. a phenomenology; 3. a grounded theory study; 4, an ethnography; and 5. a case study). Creswell guides researchers on the rationale for each method, the design, and corresponding data collection, analysis and narrative report, while giving ample references for further reading in one's chosen tradition. Particularly helpful are the appendices that include example studies of each methodology.

I needed other sources to supplement what I learned here, but this book really gave me an excellent foundation with which to proceed. I recommend it to anyone who is trying to design a qualitative study and isn't sure where to start.