Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide

`I was really floundering until I found Handling Qualitative Data, which is a great practical guide, and I hope it will gain much more recognition so that people in my position will know it is the first place to go for help in a qualitative project... A great book' - Steve Lowman, Rural Researcher, Aberystwyth University

`At the end of each chapter the author maps out the pragmatic steps required to progress a qualitative research study and the associated analysis of data. This is accompanied by experiential exercises, suggested further reading and links to the online tutorial on www.sagepub.co.uk/richards. This latter dimension provides an exciting and innovative aspect to the text and the opportunity for readers to gain something beyond the expected theoretical perspectives.... In summary, an excellent book' - Nurse Researcher

Handling Qualitative Data introduces students and practitioners to qualitative research in a uniquely practical manner. Firstly, it recognizes that for many novice researchers, data, rather than methods and their philosophical underpinnings, are the point of departure. Secondly, it advocates a progressive accumulation of skills and understanding of methodological issues as they are needed. This enables the student to perform efficaciously from the start by immediately being in a position to handle, reflect on and get results from, small amounts of data, giving them a launch pad to more complex endeavours.

The book provides pragmatic, informal and succinct assistance in the processes of meeting, sorting, coding, documenting and exploring unstructured records. It smoothly integrates software use into data handling as and when it is necessary, with discussion of challenges. It guides the reader to debates about the nature and interpretation of such data and the goals of valid and useful outcomes from qualitative analysis.

This text will assist novice researchers to do justice to such data, whatever their background or opportunities for further methods training.

For those who wish to work with the QSR NVivo software on the issues and techniques in the book's chapters, resource pages featuring tutorials covering each chapter are available by clicking on the companion website logo above.