Introducing Research Methodology

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 I: OrientationChapter 1: Why Social Research?Chapter 2: Worldviews in Social ResearchChapter 3: Ethical Issues in Social ResearchChapter 4: From Research Idea to Research QuestionPart II: Planning and DesignChapter 5: Reading and Reviewing the LiteratureChapter 6: Steps in the Research ProcessChapter 7: Designing Social ResearchPart III: Method SelectionChapter 8: Deciding on Your MethodsChapter 9: Triangulation and Mixed MethodsPart IV: Working with DataChapter 10: Using Existing DataChapter 11: Collecting DataChapter 12: Analyzing DataPart V: Reflection and WritingChapter 13: What is Good Research? Evaluating Your Research ProjectChapter 14: Writing up Research and Using Results

A significant effort has been made to present a detailed, contemporary overview of designing and conducting social research. The author goes beyond the usual content covered in this type of textbook, by elaborating on worldview methodological approaches to research.