David Silverman trained as a sociologist at the London School of Economics and the University of California, Los Angeles. He taught for 32 years at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is interested in conversation and discourse analysis and he has researched medical consultations and HIV-test counselling.He is the author of Interpreting Qualitative Data (Seventh Edition, 2024) and A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research (Second Edition, 2013). He is also the editor of Qualitative Research (Sixth Edition, 2026) and the Sage series, Introducing Qualitative Methods. In recent years, he has offered short, hands-on workshops in qualitative research for research students and faculty at universities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.Now retired from full-time work, David aims to watch one hundred days of cricket a year. He also enjoys voluntary work in an old people’s home where he sings with residents with dementia and strokes.

• IntroductionPreface: Making a Space for This BookChapter 1: Innumerable Inscrutable Habits: Why Unremarkable Things MatterChapter 2: On Finding and Manufacturing Qualitative DataChapter 3: Instances or Sequences?Chapter 4: Applying Qualitative ResearchChapter 5: The Aesthetics of Qualitative Research: On Bullshit and TonsilsA Very Short Conclusion

David Silverman guides the reader along an enlightening pathway, exploring current issues relevant to studying the minutia of social life through naturalistic data.Sarah Seymour-SmithNottingham Trent University A very short suggestion: read it immediately and discover how qualitative research is best carried out!Lars StrannegardStockholm School of Economics

David Silverman trained as a sociologist at the London School of Economics and the University of California, Los Angeles. He taught for 32 years at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is interested in conversation and discourse analysis and he has researched medical consultations and HIV-test counselling.He is the author of Interpreting Qualitative Data (Seventh Edition, 2024) and A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research (Second Edition, 2013). He is also the editor of Qualitative Research (Sixth Edition, 2026) and the Sage series, Introducing Qualitative Methods. In recent years, he has offered short, hands-on workshops in qualitative research for research students and faculty at universities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.Now retired from full-time work, David aims to watch one hundred days of cricket a year. He also enjoys voluntary work in an old people’s home where he sings with residents with dementia and strokes.

• IntroductionPreface: Making a Space for This BookChapter 1: Innumerable Inscrutable Habits: Why Unremarkable Things MatterChapter 2: On Finding and Manufacturing Qualitative DataChapter 3: Instances or Sequences?Chapter 4: Applying Qualitative ResearchChapter 5: The Aesthetics of Qualitative Research: On Bullshit and TonsilsA Very Short Conclusion

David Silverman guides the reader along an enlightening pathway, exploring current issues relevant to studying the minutia of social life through naturalistic data.Sarah Seymour-SmithNottingham Trent University A very short suggestion: read it immediately and discover how qualitative research is best carried out!Lars StrannegardStockholm School of Economics

David Silverman trained as a sociologist at the London School of Economics and the University of California, Los Angeles. He taught for 32 years at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is interested in conversation and discourse analysis and he has researched medical consultations and HIV-test counselling.He is the author of Interpreting Qualitative Data (Seventh Edition, 2024) and A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research (Second Edition, 2013). He is also the editor of Qualitative Research (Sixth Edition, 2026) and the Sage series, Introducing Qualitative Methods. In recent years, he has offered short, hands-on workshops in qualitative research for research students and faculty at universities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.Now retired from full-time work, David aims to watch one hundred days of cricket a year. He also enjoys voluntary work in an old people’s home where he sings with residents with dementia and strokes.

• IntroductionPreface: Making a Space for This BookChapter 1: Innumerable Inscrutable Habits: Why Unremarkable Things MatterChapter 2: On Finding and Manufacturing Qualitative DataChapter 3: Instances or Sequences?Chapter 4: Applying Qualitative ResearchChapter 5: The Aesthetics of Qualitative Research: On Bullshit and TonsilsA Very Short Conclusion

David Silverman guides the reader along an enlightening pathway, exploring current issues relevant to studying the minutia of social life through naturalistic data.Sarah Seymour-SmithNottingham Trent University A very short suggestion: read it immediately and discover how qualitative research is best carried out!Lars StrannegardStockholm School of Economics