Book Review
Qualitative research in practice: Stories from the field
Yvonne Darlington and Dorothy Scott
ISBN: 978-0-335211-47-0; 2002; 224 pages; Open University Press;
Nicholas G Procter
Professor and Chair: Mental Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide SA
This book is an introduction to qualitative research for anyone with an interest in the area. It specifically targets students and practitioners in health and human services using stories from the field to help show how others have dealt with various aspects of qualitative research practice.
The book is divided into 9 chapters beginning with an exploration of how to generate a research question and how qualitative design might help illuminate the topic under scrutiny. From there the reader is taken on a journey through ethical issues in research, data collection methods including observation, interviewing and document analysis, mixing qualitative and quantitative methods where it is argued that the more information from various viewpoints might be a favourable means of understanding and interpreting the research question. The final chapter is concerned with data analysis processes that are frequently used in qualitative research. These include analysing observational data and in-depth interviews using a deductive approach. As the book progresses the reader is also taken into discussion on how best to present findings - either for publication or formal report suitable for the work setting.
The strength of this book is in the way that it gives readers the 'human factor' of doing research - both as a researcher and participant. It does this by having the voices of researchers in the text rather than creating a monologic singular master process. This is done by including excerpts from interviews in strategic points of the book. This gives transparency about what the researchers were saying, thinking and doing. This innovation brings many spin offs creating a engaging text that inevitably helps bring readers in. It helps to identify various connecting points for readers to make meaning when doing research - something that is likely to help generate new insights for researchers and students alike. At the same time this approach will be reassuring for students and practitioners entering the field for the first time.
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