From diaries and letters to surveys and interview transcripts, documents are a cornerstone of social science research. This book guides you through the documentary research process, from choosing the best research design, through data collection and analysis, to publishing and sharing research findings. Using extensive case studies and examples, it situates documentary research within a current context and empowers you to use this method to meet new challenges like digital research and big data head on. In a jargon-free style perfect for beginner researchers, this book helps you to: · Interrogate documentary material in meaningful ways · Choose the best research design for your project, from literature reviews to policy research · Understand a range of approaches, including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. Accessible, clear and focused, this book gives you the tools to conduct your own documentary research and celebrates the importance of documentary analysis across the social sciences.

This text provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the European tradition of qualitative research. The editors define qualitative to refer to a broad range of procedures and operations used by sociologists and anthropologists in their interpretation and explanation of social and ethnographic data.

Qualitative Methods in Public Health is a comprehensive resource that presents practical strategies and methods for using qualitative research and includes the basic logic and rationale for making qualitative research decisions. This important book outlines the complexities, advantages, and limitations of qualitative methods and offers information and step-by-step procedures for every phase of research3⁄4from theory to study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, and dissemination. Written for faculty, students, and practitioners in public health research, promotion, and education Qualitative Methods in Public Health will help those with prior research experience expand their repertoire to include qualitative methods. The book also contains up-to-date illustrations from a wealth of topics such as reproductive choice, sexual risk and protection, gender relations, and other areas critical to understanding population, health, and disease. Qualitative Methods in Public Health includes Examples of mixed qualitative-quantitative research design Guidelines for discussions, sample budgets, and caveats for planning and implementing focus groups Sample agenda for training interviewers A summary of needed critical appraisal skills Tips on where to publish the results Sample brochure to share qualitative study findings with participating communities A comprehensive index

`This clearly written and user-friendly book is ideal for students or researchers who wish to get a basic, but solid grasp of a topic and see how it fits with other topics. By following the links a student can easily and efficiently build up a clear conceptual map of social research′ - Malcolm Williams, Reader in Sociology, Cardiff University `This is a really useful book, written in an accessible manner for students beginning their study of social research methods. It is helpful both as an introductory text and as a reference guide for more advanced students. Most of the key topics in methods and methodology are covered and it will be suitable as a recommended text on a wide variety of courses′ - Clive Seale, Brunel University At last, an authoritative, crystal-clear introduction to research methods which really takes account of the needs of students for accessible, focused information to help with undergraduate essays and exams. The key concepts discussed here are based on a review of teaching syllabi and the authors′ experience of many years of teaching. Topics range over qualitative and quantitative approaches and combine practical considerations with philosophical issues. They include several new topics, like internet and phone polling, internet searches, and visual methods. Each section is free-standing, can be tackled in order, but with links to other sections to enable students to cross-reference and build up a wider understanding of central research methods. To facilitate comprehension and aid study, each section begins with a definition. It is followed by a summary of key points with key words and guides to further reading and up-to-date examples. The book is a major addition to undergraduate reading lists. It is reliable, allows for easy transference to essays and exams and easy to use, and exceptionally clearly written for student consumption. The book answers the needs of all those who find research methods daunting, and for those who have dreamt of an ideal introduction to the subject.