Preface Is this book for me?

Are you searching for resources that you can easily adopt to jumpstart or reignite your qualitative research – at school, at work, or in the community? Do you want to solve problems, provide actionable advice, and build grounded, beautiful, and storied explanations of how social phenomena unfold? If you could benefit from step‐by‐step advice for traveling through a qualitative project from beginning to end – and accessing digestible learning materials along the way, this book (and its accompanying free instructional materials) are for you. From the first pages of the text, readers can begin designing (or reimagining) their qualitative research project, understanding how certain theories can provide foundational support, and learning how to logistically move through data collection, analysis, theorizing, writing, and crafting a research product that impacts practice, builds wisdom, and advances theory.

This book provides a chronological discussion of practicing qualitative research, which makes it especially valuable for people to review (and return to) as they journey through a project. The book is specifically designed so that readers can holistically learn by competently and ethically practicing qualitative research from the first chapter onward. This is facilitated by key activities and new “Project Building Block” assignments that motivate inquisitive, ethical, and creative research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and representation from start to finish.

One of my ongoing aims is to provide clear explanation of qualitative research in commonsense terms, understandable both to newcomers and to those well versed in qualitative methods. Although students have a wealth of available pedagogical resources on methodological philosophies, research design, data collection, and writing, those new to research still struggle with finding appropriate instruction of what to do in between the time they collect data and the time they craft it into a polished representation. This book provides supportive coaching along with relevant examples, backstage stories, visual images, and discussion.

Over the years, my approach to qualitative research has evolved into one I call “phronetic iterative qualitative data analysis” (PIQDA). This approach is designed to provide practical and actionable wisdom toward addressing and transforming contextual problems. The nuts and bolts of PIQDA unfold through a series of analytic practices that connect with yet are distinct from other popular qualitative approaches such as grounded theory and critical thematic analysis. This third edition book provides extended examples on how to practice PIQDA, such as how to incorporate critical notions of power and intersectionality, using a blend of various analysis practices, crafting claims that build theory, and creating research representations that meaningfully impact core stakeholders. It also describes seven specific types of advanced qualitative data analysis, instruction on qualitative data analysis software, and how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts data analysis practices.

The book is accessible to advanced undergraduate and master’s students while providing the depth appropriate for doctoral students, advanced scholars, and practitioners. Indeed, researchers may return to the book multiple times – as introductory material becomes actionable at a deeper level after completing several research projects. Students new to qualitative research will hear backstage stories of my own joys and frustrations – marked as they are by twists and turns, celebrations, and disappointments – as a method to make the research process memorable, poignant, and occasionally humorous. Graduate students will find this book valuable as they write their theses and dissertations, and faculty may find it useful for ongoing reference. And, although this book was originally designed for an academic audience, this edition includes new material significant to qualitative professionals engaging in corporate ethnography, user experience research, consulting, and community activism.

This book is applicable to various disciplines and classes and can be adapted for one‐semester/quarter and to two‐semester/quarter classes (note: undergraduate courses often skip advanced analysis in Chapter 10). The book can be a useful resource for courses in research methods, qualitative research, interpretive methods, ethnography, textual analysis, critical research methods, digital ethnography, cultural studies, media analysis, grounded approaches to research, naturalistic inquiry, autoethnography, performance studies, narrative methods, and fieldwork. Examples and illustrations reach beyond my home field of communication to other disciplines, such as health sciences, education, management/organization studies, sociology, social work, psychology, anthropology, criminology, leisure studies, and ethnic and gender studies.

This third edition is updated and revised in several primary ways. It includes 30% more visuals – many that were designed and commissioned specifically for this book – all in full color. These visuals illustrate core concepts, theories, and practices in a vivid, memorable, and user‐friendly manner. In addition to updated sections on fieldwork and interviewing, this edition provides the latest thinking on textual, media, visual, and digital analysis, including techniques for scraping social media data, using AI and ChatGPT, ethically examining online behavior, adopting digital and traditional archival approaches, and exploring the role of cultural studies and digital fieldwork in qualitative research. Furthermore, this edition pays close attention to ethics, social justice, race, intersectionality, dis/ability, and neurodiversity in terms of research design, data collection, and analysis. Citations and examples exemplify research across disciplines, identities, and nationalities, with incorporation of Indigenous approaches, decolonial and postcolonial research, Africanfuturism, use of multiple languages, and creative/artistic research genres.

The book reviews seven primary genres of qualitative research including case study, grounded theory, ethnography/ethnography of speaking, phenomenology, participatory action research, narrative inquiry and autoethnography, and creative, performative, and arts‐based approaches. Throughout, readers can use the new “Project Building Blocks” to journey through their own qualitative research project. In response to readers’ questions, this edition further clarifies (1) how to write research questions; (2) the crucial differences between a literature review and conceptual framework; (3) techniques for digital ethnography, virtual interviewee recruitment, and managing concerns with fraudulent participation; (4) clarifying when practices like data saturation and intercoder reliability are valuable and when “positivism creep” moves them to problematic proxies for rigor; and (5) ethical considerations for how to return findings to the participants. Finally, I have added scores of the most relevant examples and updated references.

A summary of the chapters and notations about new features in this edition are as follows:

• Chapter 1 introduces the unique impact and power of qualitative methods and the importance of critical self‐reflexivity, intersectionality, context, and thick description. It also provides tips for choosing a topic, ensuring ethical compatibility, and devising guiding research questions. New features include:
  • A visual contrasting qualitative from quantitative research methods.
  • Discussion and visual of intersectionality and the value of collaborating with those who have different backgrounds.
  • A section on the importance of considering personality, privileges, demographic background, traits, and preferences – including reflections on researching with neurodivergent populations.
  • Expanded discussion on research questions, including a brainstorming exercise.
  • Additional examples of qualitative research in professional and private sector work including a new word cloud depicting qualitative job positions.
• Chapter 2 introduces the unique framework of PIQDA and its abductive logic, introduces key terminology, provides a sampling of theoretical approaches that commonly use qualitative methods, and concludes with historical matters and current conversations. New features include:
  • Visuals depicting sensemaking theory and structuration theory.
  • Additional discussion of social justice concerns in the history of qualitative research.
  • New developments in qualitative research in the professional sector and industry.
  • Material on AI tools like ChatGPT and how they are impacting qualitative research.
  • A text box that discusses diverse bodyminds in qualitative research and the unique way dis/abled people perceive, experience, and know the world.
• Chapter 3 overviews four primary research paradigms and how qualitative research is situated in each. The chapter also covers seven genres of qualitative research: case study, grounded theory, ethnography and ethnography of communication, phenomenology, participatory action research, narrative inquiry and autoethnography, and creative, performative, and arts‐based research. New features include:
  • Vivid description and photos of the difference between a qualitative researcher’s “frog’s eye view” and a more distant “bird’s eye view” of...