,© U w e Flick 2009
This f o u r t h edition first published 2009
First edition published 1998
Second edition published 2002
T h i r d edition published 2006
R e p r i n t e d 2010
Originally published as Qualitative Forschung in the 'rowohlts enzyklopadie' series.
C o p y r i g h t © 1995 R o w o h l t Taschenbuch Verlag G m b H , R e i n b e k bei H a m b u r g .
Apart f r o m any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as p e r m i t t e d u n d e r the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication
may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any f o r m , or by any means, only w i t h the
prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction,
in accordance w i t h the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
SAGE Publications Ltd
1 Oliver's Yard
55 City R o a d
L o n d o n EC1Y ISP
SAGE Publications Inc.
2455 Teller R o a d
T h o u s a n d Oaks, California 91320
SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
B 1 M o h a n Cooperative Industrial A r e a
Mathura Road
N e w Delhi 110 044
SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd
33 Pekin Street #02-01
Far East Square
Singapore 048763
Library of Congress Control Number 2008933314
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this b o o k is available f r o m the British Library
ISBN 9 7 8 - 1 - 8 4 7 8 7 - 3 2 3 - 1
I S B N 9 7 8 - 1 - 8 4 7 8 7 - 3 2 4 - 8 (pbk)
Typeset by C & M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed in Great Britian by Ashford C o l o u r Press Ltd., Gosport, Hants
Printed on paper f r o m sustainable resources
,SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
PART 1 FRAMEWORK 1
1 Guide to This Book 3
2 Qualitative Research: Why and How to Do It 11
3 Qualitative and Quantitative Research 23
4 Ethics of Qualitative Research 35
PART 2 F R O M T H E O R Y TO T E X T 45
5 Making Use of the Literature in Qualitative Research 47
6 Theoretical Positions Underlying Qualitative Research 56
7 Epistemological Background: Construction and Understanding of Texts 74
PART 3 RESEARCH DESIGN 87
8 The Qualitative Research Process 89
9 Research Questions 97
10 Entering the Field 105
11 Sampling 114
12 How to Design Qualitative Research: An Overview 127
PART 4 VERBAL DATA 147
13 Interviews 149
14 Narratives 176
15 Focus Groups 194
16 Verbal Data: An Overview 210
PART 5 O B S E R V A T I O N A N D MEDIATED D A T A 219
17 Observation and Ethnography 221
18 Visual Data: Photography, Film, and Video 239
19 Using Documents as Data 254
20 Qualitative Online Research: Using the Internet 263
21 Observation and Mediated Data: An Overview 281
, vi AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PART 6 F R O M T E X T TO T H E O R Y 291
22 Documentation of Data 293
23 Coding and Categorizing 305
24 Analyzing Conversation, Discourse, and Genres 333
25 Narrative and Hermeneutic Analysis 345
26 Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis 358
27 Text Interpretation: An Overview 373
PART 7 GROUNDING AND WRITING
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 381
28 Quality Criteria in Qualitative Research 383
29 The Quality of Qualitative Research: Beyond Criteria 400
30 Writing Qualitative Research 413
PART 8 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATION
A N D OUTLOOK 425
31 Qualitative Research at Work I: Grounded Theory 427
32 Qualitative Research at Work II:Triangulation 443
33 Qualitative Research: State of the Art and the Future 454
Glossary 467
References 476
Author Index 492
Subject Index 496
About the Author 505
This f o u r t h edition first published 2009
First edition published 1998
Second edition published 2002
T h i r d edition published 2006
R e p r i n t e d 2010
Originally published as Qualitative Forschung in the 'rowohlts enzyklopadie' series.
C o p y r i g h t © 1995 R o w o h l t Taschenbuch Verlag G m b H , R e i n b e k bei H a m b u r g .
Apart f r o m any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as p e r m i t t e d u n d e r the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication
may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any f o r m , or by any means, only w i t h the
prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction,
in accordance w i t h the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
SAGE Publications Ltd
1 Oliver's Yard
55 City R o a d
L o n d o n EC1Y ISP
SAGE Publications Inc.
2455 Teller R o a d
T h o u s a n d Oaks, California 91320
SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
B 1 M o h a n Cooperative Industrial A r e a
Mathura Road
N e w Delhi 110 044
SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd
33 Pekin Street #02-01
Far East Square
Singapore 048763
Library of Congress Control Number 2008933314
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this b o o k is available f r o m the British Library
ISBN 9 7 8 - 1 - 8 4 7 8 7 - 3 2 3 - 1
I S B N 9 7 8 - 1 - 8 4 7 8 7 - 3 2 4 - 8 (pbk)
Typeset by C & M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed in Great Britian by Ashford C o l o u r Press Ltd., Gosport, Hants
Printed on paper f r o m sustainable resources
,SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
PART 1 FRAMEWORK 1
1 Guide to This Book 3
2 Qualitative Research: Why and How to Do It 11
3 Qualitative and Quantitative Research 23
4 Ethics of Qualitative Research 35
PART 2 F R O M T H E O R Y TO T E X T 45
5 Making Use of the Literature in Qualitative Research 47
6 Theoretical Positions Underlying Qualitative Research 56
7 Epistemological Background: Construction and Understanding of Texts 74
PART 3 RESEARCH DESIGN 87
8 The Qualitative Research Process 89
9 Research Questions 97
10 Entering the Field 105
11 Sampling 114
12 How to Design Qualitative Research: An Overview 127
PART 4 VERBAL DATA 147
13 Interviews 149
14 Narratives 176
15 Focus Groups 194
16 Verbal Data: An Overview 210
PART 5 O B S E R V A T I O N A N D MEDIATED D A T A 219
17 Observation and Ethnography 221
18 Visual Data: Photography, Film, and Video 239
19 Using Documents as Data 254
20 Qualitative Online Research: Using the Internet 263
21 Observation and Mediated Data: An Overview 281
, vi AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PART 6 F R O M T E X T TO T H E O R Y 291
22 Documentation of Data 293
23 Coding and Categorizing 305
24 Analyzing Conversation, Discourse, and Genres 333
25 Narrative and Hermeneutic Analysis 345
26 Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis 358
27 Text Interpretation: An Overview 373
PART 7 GROUNDING AND WRITING
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 381
28 Quality Criteria in Qualitative Research 383
29 The Quality of Qualitative Research: Beyond Criteria 400
30 Writing Qualitative Research 413
PART 8 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATION
A N D OUTLOOK 425
31 Qualitative Research at Work I: Grounded Theory 427
32 Qualitative Research at Work II:Triangulation 443
33 Qualitative Research: State of the Art and the Future 454
Glossary 467
References 476
Author Index 492
Subject Index 496
About the Author 505
