Qualitative Research in Social Work and Practice Research
Qualitative Research Forum
Graham R. Gibbs, Susanne Friese, Wilma C. Managabeira. Forum: Qualitative Social Research. The Use of New Technology in Qualitative Research. Introduction to Issue 3(2). As society transforms and is transformed by new technology, so there are new ways in which qualitative researchers collect and analyse data and new forms of data to collect. This paper sets in context the contributions in this issue of FQS by examining these developments. The spread of video and photographic technology means that images can be used both as sources of data and as tools for data collection. The digital form much audio and video data now takes makes possible new ways of creating, processing and analysing such data. The parallel growth of the Internet also makes available new ways of collecting qualitative data and new settings in which to collect it. However, such developments raise issues about the way researchers collect, process and publish data and how they produce high quality analyses. Digital technology has also meant that new ways of analysing data through computer assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) are now possible. There is now a range of such software and, in response to demand, developers are still adding new features and functions that researchers need to understand. The diversity of software means that there is a need for standards for storing and exchanging qualitative data and analyses. Nevertheless, there is still much debate about the degree to which CAQDAS can itself produce qualitative analysis or merely assist with its development by human researchers. At the same time there is now evidence of analytic developments made possible by the use of new technology.
URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs020287
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The relationship between theory and practice, research and action, is fundamental to all fields of applied social science. Should research findings and knowledge be useful for science, practice, and policy? If so, how should such research be designed, carried out and disseminated to achieve the twin goals of rigor and relevance? These challenges are particularly relevant in the applied areas of management and organization studies where there is a distinct responsibility for researchers to engage with the "real world". In this carefully crafted and thoughtful book, leading management researcher Andrew Van de Ven both presents the broad intellectual challenge of "engaged scholarship", and also sets out a clear framework and guidelines for carrying out soundly based and useful research for advancing both science and practice.
At a time when some may question the value and status of academic knowledge; and others, contrastingly, urge a closer relationship between researchers and research users--be they businesses, governments or other institutions--the challenge of engaged scholarship is as relevant as ever, and there is a real need for the thoughtful and considered approach offered by Van de Ven. The book both provides a manifesto for engaged scholarship in the social sciences, and clear framework for research design and methodology. It will be an invaluable reference point and guide for academics, researchers and graduate students across the social sciences concerned with rigorous and relevant research in the contemporary world.
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Written in an engaging and informative style, Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research invites readers to embark on a journey of discovery to explore new forms of inquiry, including participant observation, intensive interviewing, and the use of documents and archival materials. This new text provides a practical "how-to" approach to learning qualitative methods tailored to the needs of social work students as well as established researchers who want to expand their knowledge of qualitative methodologies. Beginning with a description of the social science origins of the diverse family of qualitative methods, the author takes the reader through the basic stages of qualitative inquiry: choosing a topic and designing the study, entering the field of sampling, data collection, data management and analysis, and writing up the study. Strategies to enhance the rigor of a qualitative study and approaches to multimethod evaluation research are discussed as well. The book contains a number of features to enhance the practice of qualitative methods, including classroom and field exercises, a list of computer software programs for qualitative data analysis, and a recommended reading list of monographs by noted qualitative researchers. Special attention is given to the needs and concerns of the social work researcher, including a discussion of important distinctions between qualitative research and social work practice, the importance of researcher/respondent difference in ethnicity, gender, age, social class, and ethical issues associated with carrying out qualitative research methods. The epilogue offers suggestions for enhancing the inclusion of qualitative methods in social work research education. Though intended for social work students and researchers, this text is also useful for a wide audience of clinicians and professionals interested in the qualitative alternative to research.
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Qualitative Social Work provides a forum for those interested in qualitative research and evaluation and in qualitative approaches to practice.The journal includes the following regular special features:
Response and Commentary: Responses to previous articles in the journal or contributions that initiate discussion of current research and practice issues.
Practice and Teaching of Qualitative Social Work: Critical 'how-to' accounts and reflections on the methodology and practice of qualitative social work.
New Voices: Articles by oppressed voices that often have been silenced, and from authors working in contexts that are new to publishing on qualitative research and practice and are exploring new possibilities for the use of qualitative research and practice. We welcome articles from practitioners, new researchers and others who are finding creative ways to work with and write about qualitative research and practice. Articles maytake the form of concise reviews, syntheses, reports, innovative writing forms, or reflective analyses based on dissertations and theses completed or in process, conference papers or practice accounts. Normally 10-15 pages. (2750-4000 words).
Technical Applications: Reviews of developments that impact on qualitative research and practice such as qualitative analysis software and voice activated recording devices.
"Qualitative Social Work has become an extraordinary resource for social scientists and practitioners alike" Catherine Kohler Riessman, Boston College, USA
"QSW is a key reference source both for substansive studies and for methodological papers." Mike Fisher, Social Car Institute for Excellence, UK
"In five short years Qualitative Social Work has become a pre-eminent journal, showcasing the range, usefulness and forms of qualitative social work research. This journal has been long-overdue."
Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
"Qualitative Social Work bridges the theory-practice divide by providing up-to-date field-based research that develops and tests the theoretical foundations of social work practice. Equally important, it brings the rigorous thinking of research to bear in investigating scholarly work on social work practice and issues. Both scholars and practitioners need access to this important resource."
Michael Q. Patton, Ph.D.
"Qualitative Social Work provides a truly international forum for academics and practitioners to explore the interrelationship between qualitative research and knowledge practice in social work and related disciplines. In encouraging reflection on both the outcomes and processes of research and practice it will contribute to internationally relevant knowledge creation and quality practice. A journal of this stature is most welcome and long overdue." Joan Orme Glasgow University


Selected Readings
Berg, Bruce L. 2009. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Emerson, Robert M, Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 1995. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.
Lofland, John, David A. Snow, Leon Anderson, and Lyn H. Lofland. 2006. Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: W adsworth.
Richards, Lyn. 2010. Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed. London: Sage. Wolcott., Harry F. 2009. Writing up Qualitative Research, Third Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.Eckert, Andreas and Adam Jones (2002). Introduction: Historical Writing about Everyday Life. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 15(1):5-16.
Eggan, Fred (1954). Social Anthropology and the Method of Controlled Comparison. American Anthropologist, New Series, 56(1):743-763.
Ellwood, Charles A. (1924). Scientific Methods of Studying Human Society. Journal of Social Forces, 2(3):328-332.
Van Maanen, John (1979). Reclaiming Qualitative Methods for Organizational Research: A Preface. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(4):520-526.
Adams St. Pierre, Elizabeth and Kathryn Roulston (2006). The state of qualitative inquiry: a contested science. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(6):673-684.
Buthe, Tim (2002). Taking Temporality Seriously: Modeling History and the Use of Narratives as Evidence. The American Political Science Review, 96(3):481-493.
Coast, Ernestina (2003). An Evaluation of Demographer’s Use of Ethnographies. Population Studies, 57(3):337-346.
Le Compte, Margaret D. and Judith Preissle Goetz (1982). Problems of Reliability and Validity in Ethnographic Research. Review of Educational Research, 52(1):31-60.
Phillips, Bernard (2002). Comment [From Bernard Phillips]. Contemporary Sociology, 23(2):266.
 Tillman, Linda C. (2002). Culturally Sensitive Research Approaches: An African-American Perspective. Educational Researcher, 31(9):3-12.
Carter, Joya Anastasia (2002). A Dialogue with Divas: Issues Affecting a Scholarly Agenda in Special Education, from Africana Feminist Perspectives. The Journal of Negro Education, 71(4):297-312.
Davison, Kevin G. (2007). Methodological Instability and the Disruption of Masculinities. Men and Masculinities, 9(3):379-391.
Moon, Seungsook (2006). Immigration and Mothering: Case Studies from Two Generations of Korean Immigrant Women. Gender and Society, 17(6):840-860.
Nuñez, Sarmiento, Marta (2003). Gender Studies in Cuba: Methodological Approaches, 1974-2001. Gender and Society, 17(1):7-32.
Rudolph, Lloyd I. and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph (2003). Engaging Subjective Knowledge: How Amar Singh's Diary Narratives of and by the Self Explain Identity Formation. Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 1(4): (Dec) 681-694.
Van Langingham, Mark and Lea Trujillo (2002). Recent Changes in Heterosexual Attitudes, Norms and Behaviors among Unmarried Thai Men: A Qualitative Analysis. International Family Planning Perspectives, 28(1):6-15.
Werbner, Pnina (2007). Veiled Interventions in Pure Space: Honour, Shame and Embodied Struggles among Muslims in Britain and France. Theory, Culture & Society, 24(2):161–186.
Brown, Phil (2003). Qualitative Methods in Environmental Health Research. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111(14):1789-1798.
Butera-Prinzi, Franca and Amaryll Perlesz (2003). Through children’s eyes: children’s experience of living with a parent with an acquired brain injury. Brain Injury, 18(1):83-101.
Culley, Marci R. and Holly L. Angelique (2003). Women’s Gendered Experiences as Long-Term Three Mile Island Activists. Gender and Society, 17(3):445-461.
Lane Scheppele, Kim (2002). Cultures of Facts. Perspectives on Politics, 1(2):363-368.
Sapir, Edward (1927). Speech as a Personality Trait. The American Journal of Sociology, 32(6):892-905.
Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine and Dvora Yanow (2002). “Reading” “Methods” “Texts”: How Research Methods Texts Construct Political Science. Political Science Quarterly, 55(2):457-486.
Tilley, Susan A. and Kelly D. Powick (2002). Distanced Data: Transcribing Other People’s Research Tapes. Canadian Journal of Education, 27(2/3):291-310.
Tuchscherer, Konrad (2002). Cherokee and West Africa: Examining the Origins of the Vai Script. History of Africa, 29: 427-486.
Burawoy, Michael (2003). Revisits: An Outline of a Theory of Reflexive Ethnography. American Sociological Review, 68(5):645-679.
Dudley Jenkins, Laura (2002). Another “People of India” Project: Colonial and National Anthropology. The Journal of Asian Studies, 62(4):1143-1170.
Isaacman, Allen (2003). Legacies of Engagement: Scholarship Informed by Political Commitment. African Studies Review, 46(1):1-41.
Marcus, George E. (1995). Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-sited Ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24:95-117.
Robertson, Jennifer (2002). Reflexivity Redux: A Pithy Polemic on “Positionality”. Anthropological Quarterly, 75(4):785-792.