Working with Paradata, Marginalia and Fieldnotes

Edited by Rosalind Edwards, Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Southampton, John Goodwin and Henrietta O’Connor, Department of Sociology, University of Leicester and Ann Phoenix, Thomas Coram Research Unit, Department of Social Sciences, UCL Institute of Education, UK and Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland

• Contents:Marginalia - A Poem by Billy CollinsPrefaceRobert G. Burgess1. Introduction: Working with Paradata, Marginalia and FieldnotesJohn Goodwin, Henrietta O’Connor, Ann Phoenix and Rosalind Edwards2. Paradata for Non-response Investigations in Social SurveysGabrielle B. Durrant and Olga Maslovskaya3. Using Paradata to Evaluate Survey Quality: Behaviour Coding the 2012 PSE UK SurveyEldin Fahmy and Karen Bell4. ‘Another Long and Involved Story’: Narrative Themes in the Marginalia of the Poverty in the UK SurveyAnn Phoenix, Janet Boddy, Rosalind Edwards and Heather Elliott5 ‘The House Seemed to be Falling Down Around Their Ears’: Contesting and Amplifying Observations of Housing Through Qualitative Survey ParadataDaniel Kilburn6. The Secondary Analysis of Fieldnotes, Marginalia and Paradata from Past Studies of Young PeopleHenrietta O’Connor and John Goodwin7. John Adam’s Marginalia: Then and NowH.J. Jackson8. ‘Soiled by Use’ or ‘Enlivened by Association’? Attitudes Towards MarginaliaWilliam H. Sherman9. Afterword: The Craft of Paradata, Marginalia and FieldnotesRosalind Edwards, Ann Phoenix, John Goodwin and Henrietta O’ConnorIndex

'This is an extremely important book that brings to the attention of social researchers and methodologists the fascinating potential and intrinsic interest of three kinds of by-product of the research process - field notes, paradata, and marginalia. Many of us are unfamiliar with all or some of these sources. The book is full of worked examples of their use which greatly enhances the book's utility for all of us. The editors and authors have done us all a great service in bringing to our attention research sources that can no longer be ignored.'