New Approaches to Qualitative Research: Wisdom and Uncertainty / Edition 1

by Maggi Savin-Baden, Claire Howell Major

Overview

Qualitative research has seen a surge of growth during the past decade. This is in large part because positivist approaches have not yielded the kinds of results that had been anticipated, and more researchers are seeking alternative perspectives to understand phenomena. The number of researchers using qualitative approaches continues to grow, yet there are few up-to-date guides to assist thinking broadly about qualitative research as a field of inquiry.

Over the decades the range of approaches has increased, which has led to an even greater lack of certainty about how to think about doing qualitative research. In considering key issues while offering practical guidance on how to work within the face of uncertainty, this book will be a valuable resource to this next generation of researchers.

New Approaches to Qualitative Research offers:

• a clear understanding of the range of issues related to researcher stance, the way that researchers position themselves in relation to their subjects, their participants, and their own belief systems, and the way in which they locate themselves across the qualitative paradigm
• an overview of some of the most cutting-edge qualitative techniques in use today: from the exploration of visual texts to the concept of inquiry to synthesis methods, this section lays out the state of the art in methodology
• specific information regarding processes of data analysis, synthesis and interpretation that are employed in these various approaches.

In this book, the authors take the stance that qualitative research is a broad approach that encompasses and even encourages difference and uncertainty, and here at last they provide a route-map to this uncertain but fruitful line of inquiry. This vital text is ideal for professional researchers and postgraduates in a range of subject areas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415572415
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/07/2010
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Maggi Savin-Baden is Professor of Higher Education Research at Coventry University, UK.

Claire Howell Major is Professor of Higher Education at the University of Alabama, US.

Table of Contents

Figures and tables ix

Acknowledgements x

Notes on the contributors xi

Preface xv

1 Introduction: The uncertainty of wisdom Maggi Savin-Baden Claire Howell Major 1

Part 1 Stances 7

2 Positioning positionality: the reflexive turn Glynis Cousin 9

3 Values and virtues in qualitative research Bruce Macfarlane 19

4 Relocating truths in the qualitative research paradigm Lana Van Niekerk Maggi Savin-Baden 28

5 Imagining intersectionality and the spaces in between: theories and processes of socially transformative knowing Rebecca Ropers-Huilman Kelly T. Winters 37

6 Taking a stance: socially responsible ethics and informed consent Madeleine Duncan Ruth Watson 49

Part II Methodologies and methods 59

7 Writing ethnodrama: a sampler from educational research Johnny Saldaña 61

8 Narrative theory and the construction of qualitative texts Julia Colyar Karri Holley 70

9 Multimodality, visual methodologies and higher education Lesley Gourlay 80

10 Participatory action research: an integrated approach towards professional practice development Katherine Wimpenny 89

11 Deliberative inquiry Heather Kanuka 100

12 Qualitative research synthesis: the scholarship of integration in practice Claire Howell Major Maggi Savin-Baden 108

Part III Places and spaces 119

13 Locating space in qualitative research: questioning culture through the corporeal Paddy O'Toole 121

14 Listening spaces: connecting diverse voices for social action and change Theresa Lorenzo 131

15 The politics of space in qualitative research Aaron M. Kuntz 145

16 Urban ethnography: approaches, perspectives and challenges Kristan M. Venegas Adrian H. Huerta 154

17 Researching in immersive spaces Maggi Savin-Baden Lesley Gourlay Cathy Tombs 162

Afterword Maggi Savin-Baden Claire Howell Major 172

Glossary 174

Index 179