Martyn Hammersley - What Is Qualitative Research [2012][A]

Book Description
Publication Date: November 8, 2012
This book invites readers to explore the nature of qualitative research, and to recognise the varied and conflicting forms it can take. It examines how these contrast with quantitative work, as well as how they differ from journalism and imaginative literature. The book describes various methodological philosophies that have shaped qualitative work, as well as different types of orientation to be found within it today. It offers clear definitions of key terms and concepts, and also a detailed exploration of recent disputes among qualitative researchers, with a view to showing how differences in practice relate to underlying commitments. This book will be a vital resource for both new and experienced researchers.

Reviews
Qualitative research has become a vast and complex approach to understanding social life, riddled with diversity and debate. Martyn Hammersley has, in this short text, managed to introduce all of this complexity and diversity without baffling the reader. It is an inspiring and exciting text, full of relevant examples illustrating the diversity of qualitative research today. Written by an undoubted authority in the field, this accessible book should whet the appetite of any would-be qualitative researcher. Karen O'Reilly, Professor of Sociology, University of Loughborough

This is a well written, authoritative text on qualitative research, written by a leading scholar in the field. The style is accessible without being patronizing; it deals with both methodology and research practice; it provides helpful definitions and typologies; it gives a sense of both the distinctiveness and diversity of qualitative approaches to social research. I enjoyed reading it. I think it will have a broad appeal to those new to qualitative research, to students and to those working within the field. In that sense it manages to be both introductory and thought provoking. Amanda Coffey, Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, UK

About the Author
Martyn Hammersley is Professor of Educational and Social Research in the Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning at The Open University, UK. His books include Taking Sides in Social Research (1999), Questioning Qualitative Inquiry (2008), and Methodology, Who Needs It? (2011).