An Introduction to Qualitative Research

Uwe Flick is Senior Professor of Qualitative Research in Social Science and Education at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. He is a trained psychologist and sociologist and received his PhD from the Freie Universität Berlin in 1988 and his Habilitation from the Technical University Berlin in 1994. He has been Professor of Qualitative Research at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Germany and at the University of Vienna, Austria. Previously, he was Adjunct Professor at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Canada; a Lecturer in research methodology at the Freie Universität Berlin; a Reader and Assistant Professor in qualitative methods and evaluation at the Technical University Berlin; and Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Medical Sociology at the Hannover Medical School. He has held visiting appointments at the London School of Economics, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, Cambridge University (UK), Memorial University of St John’s (Canada), University of Lisbon (Portugal), Institute of Higher Studies in Vienna, in Italy and Sweden, and the School of Psychology at Massey University, Auckland (New Zealand). His main research interests are qualitative methods, social representations in the fields of individual and public health, vulnerability in fields like youth homelessness or (forced) migration and chronical illness in everyday live. He is the editor of The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Design (2 Vols.; Sage 2022). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis (Sage, 2014), The SAGE Qualitative Research Kit (Sage, 2nd edn, 2018), A Companion to Qualitative Research (Sage, 2004), Psychology of the Social (Cambridge University Press, 1998). His most recent publications are the seventh edition of An Introduction to Qualitative Research (Sage, 2023), Doing Grounded Theory (Sage, 2018), Doing Triangulation and Mixed Methods (Sage, 2018), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Collection (editor, Sage, 2018), the third edition of Introducing Research Methodology – Thinking Your Way through Your Research Project (Sage, 2020) and Doing Interview Research - The Essential How To Guide (Sage 2022). In 2019, Uwe Flick received the Lifetime Award in Qualitative Inquiry at the 15th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.

• Part 1: Foundations of Qualitative ResearchChapter 1: Why and How to Do Qualitative ResearchChapter 2: The Qualitative–Quantitative DistinctionChapter 3: Theoretical FrameworksChapter 4: Methods and Data in Qualitative ResearchChapter 5: Subjectivity, Identity, and Texts in Qualitative ResearchPart 2: Research DesignChapter 6: Formulating a Research QuestionChapter 7: Choosing and Constructing the Research DesignChapter 8: Planning the Process in Qualitative ResearchChapter 9: Ethics of Doing Qualitative ResearchChapter 10: Using The Existing LiteratureChapter 11: Access, Fields Relations, and Participatory ResearchChapter 12: SamplingChapter 13: Qualitative Designs with Multiple MethodsPart 3: Verbal DataChapter 14: Collecting Verbal DataChapter 15: Doing InterviewsChapter 16: Doing Focus GroupsChapter 17: Using Narrative DataPart 4: Data Beyond TalkChapter 18: Collecting Data Beyond TalkChapter 19: Observation and EthnographyChapter 20: Visual Data: Photography, Film and VideoChapter 21: Documents as Data and Secondary Data AnalysisChapter 22: Digital and Social Media ResearchPart 5: Qualitative Data AnalysisChapter 23: Analysing Qualitative DataChapter 24: Transcription and Data ManagementChapter 25: Grounded Theory CodingChapter 26: Thematic Coding and Content AnalysisChapter 27: Analysing Naturally Occurring Data: Conversation and DiscourseChapter 28: Using Software in Qualitative Data AnalysisPart 6: Grounding, Writing And OutlookChapter 29: Quality of Qualitative Research: Criteria and BeyondChapter 30: Writing Up and Assessment in Qualitative ResearchChapter 31: State of the Art and the Future

Professor Uwe Flick has been a leading qualitative methodologist in the social sciences for decades. His methods texts reflect his considerable talent for presenting complex concepts and approaches in a thorough and accessible manner. This latest text is no exception.