Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods

This Second Edition of a well established textbook remains an authoritative textbook by providing readers with step-by-step practical guidance to carrying out qualitative research in psychology. It's been completely freshened up, contains one extra chapter, and now has extended pedagogical coverage reinforcing good practice using the methods described. Covering all the main qualitative approaches now used in psychology today, each chapter is written in a lively and accessible style by international experts – many of them key figures in either the inception or development of their chosen method.

Intended as a textbook for undergraduates and beginning graduate students, this guide to qualitative research covers all the major approaches, detailing each step in the process. Eleven chapters concentrate on topics like phenomenology, grounded theory, narrative psychology, conversation analysis, discourse analysis, focus groups, cooperative inquiry, validity, and the history of qualitative psychology. The authors include sociologists, psychologists, and researchers in education and women's studies. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Jonathan A. Smith is Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck University of London. His main interests lie in the application of qualitative methods in psychology. He has edited a number of books in this area. He has also developed a particular qualitative approach, interpretative phenomenological analysis, and employed it in a wide range of research projects in psychology.