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“Creswell does an excellent job categorizing the various qualitative methods into five approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study…The author has expanded on and updated the information he presented in the first edition of the book (Creswell, 1998), including discussion of the various schools of thought that have developed among qualitative researchers since the mid 1990′s…Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: … More >>
Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches
Creswell manages to clearly explain differences and similarities of the five methods. Vocabulary, glossaries, examples and illustrations make each of the methodologies come alive to the reader. It is excellent as a review for someone who is writing their thesis, or for a new graduate student to grasp an understanding of qualitative methods. Creswell includes complete articles that illustrate the principles behind each of the methods. This is a “how to” and “what” book. It does not go into the philosophy behind each of the methods or the history of their development. For that perspective, try Denzin and Lincoln’s Handbook of Qualitative Research. But when you are clearly defining a research project, it isn’t philosophy that helps you! This book is a definite must for anyone interested in understanding or critiquing qualitative methods, or writing a qualitative proposal. Highly recommended!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
This book really helped me write my master’s thesis. For anyone who may be doing graduate study in the social sciences and is interested in qualitative research, this is a GREAT place to start.
My friend suggested this book to me when my thesis adviser told me to get a book on qualitative research as I was trying to design my study of a newspaper and its relationships with strategic publics. In this book Creswell clearly and logically lays out five different qualitative research traditions (1. a biographical life history; 2. a phenomenology; 3. a grounded theory study; 4, an ethnography; and 5. a case study). Creswell guides researchers on the rationale for each method, the design, and corresponding data collection, analysis and narrative report, while giving ample references for further reading in one’s chosen tradition. Particularly helpful are the appendices that include example studies of each methodology.
I needed other sources to supplement what I learned here, but this book really gave me an excellent foundation with which to proceed. I recommend it to anyone who is trying to design a qualitative study and isn’t sure where to start.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is one of John Creswell’s best books by far. I purchased it in paperback and actually had it spiral bound by a local print shop because I used it so much. I can’t go on enough of how helpful this book was with one of my doctoral courses. I am glad our professor choose this text because when we went through various pieces of the five qualitative designs it gave great examples, detailed lists for guidance, and a great glossary. The studies in the text were very helpful as well. I recommend every masters and doctoral student to add it to their bookshelf, I guarantee you will use it a lot. It is invaluable!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
Creswell’s book effectively covers basic theoretical and practical issues regarding biographies, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case studies. I studied this book as a graduate student and now use parts of it in my research methods class. He avoids much of the qualitative jargon that so many other qualitative writers can’t seem to avoid, thus making this book accessible to students who are not familiar with qualitative approaches. I especially like the convenient tables that summarize key points and the real-life articles in the appendix, one for each approach.
There is plenty of information about qualitative research that is not included in the book. For instance, having personally spent a great deal of time reading and applying phenomenology, I can honestly say that there is much more to this technique (theoretically and practically) than what is discussed in the book. For this reason I do not believe that people can conduct expert qualitative research after reading just Creswell – I am sure that he would agree. Other resources are needed. But everyone has to begin somewhere, and Creswell’s book is an excellent start.
I would like to see an expanded version of this book; one that discusses each qualitative tradition in greater detail.
Dave
After reading some of the example articles at the back of the book I am of the opinion that these articles are the weak spot for this book. In particular, the ethnography article is a very long and old paper (circa 1972?) about school principals that is more a case study than an ethnography. I think that Creswell could have selected a more recent paper that was a true ethnographic study. Also, the Grounded Theory paper on sexual victimization seems too depressing. The Phenomenological paper on the nurse-patient caring relationship is pretty good, however.
Rating: 5 / 5
this book provides clear, concrete examples of five “traditions” or types of qualitative research. If you need to understand the differences between biography, ethnography, grounded theory, case study, and other qualitative methods, this is the book for you. I’ve used it extensively in my dissertation writing.
Rating: 4 / 5