Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis

This unique text provides a broad introduction to qualitative analysis together with concrete demonstrations and comparisons of five major approaches. Leading scholars apply their respective analytic lenses to a narrative account and interview featuring "Teresa," a young opera singer who experienced a career-changing illness. The resulting analyses vividly exemplify what each approach looks like in action. The researchers then probe the similarities and differences among their approaches; their distinctive purposes and strengths; the role, style, and subjectivity of the individual researcher; and the scientific and ethical complexities of conducting qualitative research. Also included are the research participant's responses to each analysis of her experience. A narrative account from another research participant, "Gail," can be used by readers to practice the kinds of analysis explored in the book. This book will be important reading for graduate students, instructors, and researchers in psychology, education, social work, family studies and human development, sociology, and nursing.It will also serve as a text in graduate-level qualitative analysis courses and as a supplement in graduate-level qualitative methods, PsyD research methods, and humanistic psychology courses and in phenomenological research seminars.

Frederick J. Wertz is Professor of Psychology at Fordham University, where he served as department chair, received the Distinguished Teaching Award in the Sciences, and is a member of the Institutional Review Board. His scholarship focuses on the philosophy, methodology, theory, and cultural context of psychology.Kathy Charmaz is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Faculty Writing Program at Sonoma State University. Much of her scholarship has either used or developed grounded theory methods. She has received mentoring and lifetime achievement awards from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.Linda M. McMullen is Professor of Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan, where she served as department head and elected faculty member on the Board of Governors. Her research, which is qualitative and discursive in form, focuses on how people use language to do things and on how language shapes, and is shaped by, social and cultural contexts. She has received the Jillings Award from the Saskatchewan Psychological Association and the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association Academic Freedom Award.Ruthellen Josselson is Professor of Psychology at the Fielding Graduate University. Her work uses narrative approaches to investigate a variety of topics. She is a recipient of the American Psychological Association's Henry A. Murray Award and Theodore R. Sarbin Award, and is a cofounder of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry.Rosemarie Anderson is Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and an Episcopal priest. In addition to intuitive inquiry, Dr. Anderson has developed the Body Intelligence Scale, which measures three types of body awareness; embodied writing; and a model of human development that describes development from the perspective of the body.Emalinda McSpadden is a PhD candidate in the Applied Developmental Psychology program at Fordham University. She is a psychology instructor at Hunter College and Bronx Community College, and works as a group therapy moderator for cancer patients. Her current academic work focuses on employing mixed methodologies in developmental and lifespan research.

"This is a fascinating book for novice and seasoned researchers, including postgraduates and undergraduates at advanced levels. Wertz not only explicates the essential discrepancies among the analyses done via the five methods and the aspects that are easily neglected, but also addresses the diverse backgrounds of the authors themselves as people. It is very useful for both people who have already used the methods independently, and for those who are new to qualitative methods. Written in a straight-forward tone, the texts do not use much jargon, which is an extra bonus for novice researchers and students." - British Psychological Society's Qualitative Bulletin, Spring 201, Issue 15 "This text addresses one of the most frequently asked questions in qualitative analysis: what is the difference between phenomenology, grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative research, and intuitive inquiry? Not only do the authors explain the theory that underlies each approach, but they also illustrate its application and the resultant findings, making the book a worthy text for a qualitative methods course. As an added bonus, the authors present the participant's reaction to the results of the five different analyses and discuss the ethical implications in terms of letting the participant speak for herself, issues of confidentiality, and tensions around interpretation of data. I would definitely use this book in my advanced qualitative research course." - Donna M. Mertens, Department of Educational Foundations and Research, Gallaudet University, USA "A powerful, richly nuanced, brilliantly innovative pedagogical intervention into the field of qualitative inquiry. This book is clearly written, grounded in case materials, and very accessible to students. The narrative is driven by the voices and insights of preeminent scholars, each an expert in one of five ways of doing qualitative analysis. This book represents the most innovative approach to date for teaching qualitative analysis. It will provide a starting place for the ne