Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials

Book excerpt: Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials, Third Edition is the third volume of the paperback versions of The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, Third Edition. This portion of the handbook considers the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting empirical materials, and comprises the Handbook's Parts IV ( SMethods of Collecting and Analyzing Empirical Materials ) and V ( SThe Art and Practices of Interpretation, Evaluation, and Presentation ). Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials, Third Edition introduces the researcher to basic methods of gathering, analyzing and interpreting qualitative empirical materials. Part I moves from interviewing to observing, to the use of artifacts, documents and records from the past; to visual, and autoethnographic methods. It then takes up analysis methods, including computer-assisted methodologies, as well as strategies for analyzing talk and text. Key Feature of the Third Edition • Contains a new Reader's Guide prepared by the editors that helps students and researchers navigate through the chapters, locating the different methodologies, methods, techniques, issues, and theories relevant to their work. Presents an abbreviated Glossary of terms that offer students and researchers a ready resource to help decode the language of qualitative research. Offers recommended Readings that provide readers with additional sources on specific topic areas linked to their research. Intended Audience This text is designed for graduate students taking classes in social research methods and qualitative methods as well as researchers throughout the social sciences and in some fields within the humanities.