Naturalistic inquiry is about studying people in everyday circumstances by ordinary means. It strives to blend in, to respect people in their daily lives, to take their actions and experiences seriously, and to build on these carefully. Doing Qualitative Research: The Craft of Naturalistic Inquiry offers guidance, combining thoughtful reflection with practical tips. It is written for undergraduate and graduate students in social science; for practitioners in social work, healthcare, policy advice, and organizational consultancy; and for all who have a genuine interest in society and its members.
- Contents
- List of boxes
- Box 1. Naturalistic inquiry: art, craft, or recipe?
- Box 2. The Heider-Simmel experiment
- Box 3. Positivism and interpretivism as academic social facts
- Box 4. The problem of terminology
- Box 5. Grounded theory in practice: A didactic case study
- Box 6. The case of Senegalese boat migrants
- Box 7. Observation broadly defined
- Box 8. Observational categories for the study of primates
- Box 9. The student, the fish, and Agassiz
- Box 10. Applying Merton and Kendall’s four criteria
- Box 11. Mass observation in Great Britain
- Box 12. Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
- Box 13. An example of naturalistic social network analysis
- Box 14. Coding example: The lady in red
- Box 15 The use of coding software
- List of figures
- Figure 1. The arc of naturalistic inquiry
- Figure 2. Place of naturalistic inquiry in social research
- Figure 3. Description, interpretation, and explanation
- Figure 4. A still from the Heider-Simmel experiment
- Figure 5. Definitions of the situation and social facts
- Figure 6. Observation in social research
- Figure 7. Textual levels within field notes
- Figure 8. Domains and stages in a life course and focus of interviewer
- Figure 9. Non-fiction image: young child at work
- Figure 10. Still from Yasujiro Ozu, Tokyo Story
- Figure 11. Example of a simple social network
- Figure 12. Thin description, thick description, and theory writing
- Figure 13. The arc of naturalistic inquiry, with hermeneutic steps
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: The arc of naturalistic inquiry
- Naturalistic inquiry and qualitative research
- Genesis and audience of the book
- Outline
- 1. On naturalistic inquiry: Key issues and practices
- 1.1. Positivism and interpretivism: Auguste Comte versus Max Weber
- 1.2. Describing, understanding, and explaining
- 1.3. Definitions of situations and social facts
- 1.4. Positivist and naturalistic designs
- 1.5. Qualitative versus quantitative methods?
- 1.6. Validity and reliability in naturalistic inquiry
- 2. Theorizing society: Grounded theory in naturalistic inquiry
- 2.1. Dissatisfaction with structural functionalism and grand theory
- 2.2. The intellectual pedigree of symbolic interactionism
- 2.3. Grounded theory in naturalistic inquiry: The problem of generalization and inference
- 2.4. Conclusion
- 3. Looking at society: Observing, participating, interpreting
- 3.1. Enlightenment roots
- 3.2. Observations in social research: Positivism and naturalistic inquiry
- 3.3. Naturalistic observations: Looking at everyday life
- 3.4. The observer as participant
- 3.5. Practical methodology in looking at society
- 3.6. Conclusion
- 4. Talking about society: Interviewing and casual conversation
- 4.1. From workers’ inquiry to social survey
- 4.2. The open interview
- 4.3. The life history interview
- 4.4. The creative or active interview
- 4.5. Practical methodology in interviewing
- 4.6. Conclusion: Casual conversation
- 5. Reading society: Texts, images, things
- 5.1. Texts
- 5.2. Images: Drawings, paintings, maps, photographs, film
- 5.3. Things
- 5.4. Practical methodology in reading society
- 5.5. Conclusion
- 6. Disentangling society: The analysis of social networks
- 6.1. The analysis and theory of social networks
- 6.2. A note on key thinkers: Roles, sociogenesis, and transactions
- 6.3. Applications of social network analysis in naturalistic inquiry
- 6.4. Practical methodology in disentangling society
- 6.5. Conclusion
- 7. Not getting lost in society: On qualitative analysis
- 7.1. Text and interpretation
- 7.2. Practical methodology: Qualitative analysis in six steps
- 7.3. Conclusion
- 8. Telling about society: On writing
- 8.1. Thick description and social theory
- 8.2. Writing as Verstehen
- 8.3. Contested issues: The ‘I’, literary technique, composite cases
- 8.4. Practical methodology in telling about society
- 8.5. Conclusion
- Epilogue: Present and future of naturalistic inquiry
- Naturalistic inquiry in social research
- Accountability in naturalistic inquiry
- The future
- References
- Index of names
- Index of subjects