📖 Overview
Designing Qualitative Research equips researchers with practical guidance for planning and conducting qualitative studies. The book guides readers through key decisions and considerations at each stage of the research process.
Michael Quinn presents frameworks and tools for developing research questions, selecting methods, managing fieldwork, analyzing data, and writing up findings. The text incorporates real examples from published studies to demonstrate concepts and approaches in action.
The book balances theoretical foundations with hands-on, tactical advice for executing qualitative research projects. Specific topics include sampling strategies, interviewing techniques, observation protocols, coding procedures, and strategies for ensuring research quality.
This text explores the relationship between research design choices and the ultimate credibility and impact of qualitative findings. The frameworks presented emphasize alignment between research goals, methods, and analytical approaches to produce meaningful contributions to knowledge.
👀 Reviews
This appears to be an error - Michael Quinn Patton wrote "Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods," while "Designing Qualitative Research" was written by Catherine Marshall, Gretchen B. Rossman, and Gregory D. Bliesner.
For Marshall & Rossman's "Designing Qualitative Research":
Readers highlight the book's step-by-step approach and practical examples for conducting research. Students find the proposal writing guidance valuable.
Likes:
- Clear organization and structure
- Accessible writing style for beginners
- Detailed proposal templates and examples
- Coverage of newer research methods
Dislikes:
- Dense academic language in some sections
- High price point for a methods text
- Some repetitive content between chapters
- Limited coverage of data analysis
Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.8/5 (89 ratings)
Amazon: 4.4/5 (168 reviews)
Several reviewers note it works better as a reference text than a cover-to-cover read. One PhD student called it "indispensable for proposal writing but overwhelming at first."
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🤔 Interesting facts
🔍 Michael Quinn Patton has conducted fieldwork in over 50 countries across six continents, bringing global perspectives to qualitative research methodology.
📚 The book emphasizes "purposeful sampling" - a term Patton coined that revolutionized how researchers select study participants in qualitative research.
🎓 Patton developed the "Utilization-Focused Evaluation" approach, which has become one of the most influential frameworks in program evaluation worldwide.
📖 Each edition of "Designing Qualitative Research" incorporates real-world case examples from Patton's extensive consulting work with organizations like the World Health Organization and United Nations.
🔬 The book introduced the concept of "methodological triangulation" to qualitative research, which combines multiple research methods to strengthen study validity and is now standard practice in the field.