AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH FOURTH EDITION SAGE © U w e Flick 2009 This f o u r t h edition first published 2009 First edition published 1998 Second edition published 2002 T h i r d edition published 2006 R e p r i n t e d 2010 Originally published as Qualitative Forschung in the 'rowohlts enzyklopadie' series C o p y r i g h t © 1995 R o w o h l t Taschenbuch Verlag G m b H , R e i n b e k bei H a m b u r g Apart f r o m any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as p e r m i t t e d u n d e r the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any f o r m , or by any means, only w i t h the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance w i t h the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers SAGE Publications Ltd Oliver's Yard 55 City R o a d L o n d o n EC1Y ISP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller R o a d T h o u s a n d Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B / 1 M o h a n Cooperative Industrial A r e a Mathura Road N e w Delhi 110 044 SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 33 Pekin Street #02-01 Far East Square Singapore 048763 Library of Congress Control Number 2008933314 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this b o o k is available f r o m the British Library ISBN - - 8 - 3 - I S B N - - 8 - - (pbk) Typeset by C & M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britian by Ashford C o l o u r Press Ltd., Gosport, Hants Printed on paper f r o m sustainable resources SUMMARY OF CONTENTS PART 1 FRAMEWORK Guide to This Book Qualitative Research: Why and How to Do It Qualitative and Quantitative Research Ethics of Qualitative Research PART F R O M T H E O R Y TO T E X T Making Use of the Literature in Qualitative Research Theoretical Positions Underlying Qualitative Research Epistemological Background: Construction and Understanding of Texts PART 10 11 12 The Qualitative Research Process Research Questions Entering the Field Sampling How to Design Qualitative Research: An Overview PART 13 14 15 16 11 23 35 45 47 56 74 87 89 97 105 114 127 VERBAL DATA 147 Interviews Narratives Focus Groups Verbal Data: An Overview 149 176 194 210 PART 17 18 19 20 21 RESEARCH DESIGN O B S E R V A T I O N A N D MEDIATED D A T A Observation and Ethnography Visual Data: Photography, Film, and Video Using Documents as Data Qualitative Online Research: Using the Internet Observation and Mediated Data: An Overview 219 221 239 254 263 281 vi AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PART 22 23 24 25 26 27 F R O M T E X T TO T H E O R Y Documentation of Data Coding and Categorizing Analyzing Conversation, Discourse, and Genres Narrative and Hermeneutic Analysis Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis Text Interpretation: An Overview PART GROUNDING AND WRITING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 28 Quality Criteria in Qualitative Research 29 The Quality of Qualitative Research: Beyond Criteria 30 Writing Qualitative Research PART QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATION A N D OUTLOOK 291 293 305 333 345 358 373 381 383 400 413 425 31 Qualitative Research at Work I: Grounded Theory 32 Qualitative Research at Work II:Triangulation 33 Qualitative Research: State of the Art and the Future 427 443 454 Glossary References Author Index Subject Index About the Author 467 476 492 496 505 CONTENTS List of Boxes List of Figures List of Tables List of Case Studies Preface to the Fourth Edition PART FRAMEWORK xv xvii xviii xix xxi 1 G u i d e to This B o o k Approach of the Book Structure of the Book Special Features of the Book H o w to Use this Book 4 10 Qualitative R e s e a r c h : w h y a n d H o w t o D o I t The Relevance of Qualitative Research Limits of Quantitative Research as a Starting Point Essential Features of Qualitative Research A Brief History of Qualitative Research Qualitative Research at the End of Modernity 11 12 12 14 17 20 Qualitative a n d Quantitative R e s e a r c h Relations of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Linking Qualitative and Quantitative Research in One Design Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Data Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Linking Qualitative and Quantitative Results Research Evaluation and Generalization Current Discussions about Qualitative and Quantitative Research Appropriateness of the Methods as a Point of Reference 23 24 25 29 29 30 30 31 32 Ethics of Qualitative Research 35 A Need for Ethics in Research and the Ethical Dilemmas of Qualitative Research 36 viii AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Codes of Ethics—An Answer to AH Questions? Ethics Committees—A Solution? How to Act Ethically in Your Qualitative Research Qualitative Research Ethics—Necessary for Better Research PART FROM T H E O R Y TO T E X T 36 39 40 43 45 M a k i n g Use of the Literature in Qualitative R e s e a r c h How and When to Use the Literature How to Use the Theoretical Literature about the Topic of Your Study The Use of Theories How to Use the Empirical Literature about Earlier Research in the Same Field or Similar Fields How to Use the Methodological Literature How to Use the Literature W h e n Writing about Your Study How and Where to Find the Literature 51 52 52 53 T h e o r e t i c a l Positions U n d e r l y i n g Qualitative R e s e a r c h Research Perspectives in the Field of Qualitative Research Subjective Meaning: Symbolic Interactionism The Making of Social Realities: Ethnomethodology Cultural Framing of Social and Subjective Reality: Structuralist Models Rivalry of Paradigms or Triangulation of Perspectives Common Features of the Different Positions Feminism and Gender Studies Positivism and Constructionism 56 57 57 59 62 64 65 67 69 Epistemological B a c k g r o u n d : C o n s t r u c t i o n a n d U n d e r s t a n d i n g of T e x t s Text and Realities Text as World Making: First-Degree and Second-Degree Constructions Social Constructions as Starting Points World Making in the Text: Mimesis Mimesis: Biography and Narrative 74 75 76 77 78 81 PART 87 RESEARCH DESIGN T h e Qualitative R e s e a r c h Process Research as Linear Process The Concept of Process in Grounded Theory Research 47 48 48 49 89 90 90 CONTENTS Linearity and Circularity of the Process Theories in the Research Process as Versions of the World 92 93 Research Questions Cutting Questions to Size Specifying an Area of Interest and Delimiting the Issue Sensitizing Concepts and the Triangulation of Perspectives Types of Research Questions 97 98 100 100 101 10 Entering the Field Expectations of Qualitative Researchers and the Problem of Access Role Definitions in Entering an Open Field Access to Institutions Access to Individuals Strangeness and Familiarity 105 106 106 107 109 110 11 Sampling Sampling Decisions in the Research Process A Priori Determination of the Sample Structure Gradual Definition of the Sample Structure: Theoretical Sampling Gradual Selection as a General Principle in Qualitative Research Purposive Sampling Width or Depth as Aims of Sampling Case Constitution in the Sample 114 115 115 12 H o w to D e s i g n Qualitative Research: An Overview H o w to Plan and Construct Designs in Qualitative Research Short Cut Strategies Basic Designs Case Studies Comparative Studies Retrospective Studies Snapshots: Analysis of State and Process at the Time of the Investigation Longitudinal Studies Starting Points for Selecting a Research Design First Point of Reference: Criteria-Based Comparison of the Approaches 127 117 120 122 123 124 128 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 140 141 ix x AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Second Point of Reference: The Selection of the Design and Checking its Application Third Point of Reference: Appropriateness of the Approach to the Issue Fourth Point of Reference: Fitting the Approach into the Research Process PART VERBAL DATA 141 141 145 147 13 Interviews The Focused Interview The Semi-Standardized Interview The Problem-Centered Interview The Expert Interview The Ethnographic Interview Conducting Interviews: Problems of Mediation and Steering 149 150 156 161 165 169 170 14 Narratives The Narrative Interview The Episodic Interview Narratives between Biography and Episode 176 177 185 191 15 Focus Groups Group Interviews Group Discussions Focus Groups Joint Narratives 194 195 196 203 206 16 Verbal D a t a : An Overview First Point of Reference: Criteria-Based Comparison of the Approaches Second Point of Reference: The Selection of the Method and Checking its Application Third Point of Reference: Appropriateness of the Method to the Issue Fourth Point of Reference: Fitting the Method into the Research Process 210 PART OBSERVATION A N D MEDIATED D A T A 17 Observation and Ethnography Non-participant Observation 211 211 216 216 219 221 222 CONTENTS Participant Observation Ethnography 226 233 18 Visual D a t a : P h o t o g r a p h y , F i l m , a n d V i d e o Photos as Instrument and Object of Research Film Analysis as an Instrument of Research Using Video in Qualitative Research 239 240 246 249 19 U s i n g D o c u m e n t s as D a t a What Are Documents? Using Documents as Data: More than Analyzing Texts Selecting Documents , Constructing a Corpus T h e Practicalities of Using Documents 254 255 257 257 258 259 20 Q u a l i t a t i v e O n l i n e R e s e a r c h : U s i n g t h e I n t e r n e t T h e Internet as an Object of Research Preconditions of Qualitative Online Research Transferring Qualitative Research and Methods to the Internet Online Interviewing Online Focus Groups Virtual Ethnography: Interaction and Communication 263 264 265 in the Internet Analyzing Internet Documents Limits and Perspectives of Qualitative Online Research 272 276 278 21 Observation and Mediated Data: An Overview First Point of Reference: Criteria-Based Comparison of the Approaches Second Point of Reference: T h e Selection of the Method and Checking its Application Third Point of Reference: Appropriateness of the Method to the Issue Fourth Point of Reference: Fitting the Method into the Research Process 281 PART 291 FROM TEXT TO T H E O R Y 22 Documentation of Data N e w Ways and Problems of Recording Data Field Notes 265 266 269 282 283 286 288 293 294 296 xi xii AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Research Diary 297 Documentation Sheets Transcription Reality as Text: Text as N e w Reality 298 299 302 23 C o d i n g a n d C a t e g o r i z i n g Grounded Theory Coding Thematic Coding Qualitative Content Analysis Global Analysis 305 306 318 323 328 24 A n a l y z i n g C o n v e r s a t i o n , D i s c o u r s e , a n d G e n r e s Conversation Analysis Discourse Analysis Genre Analysis 333 334 338 341 25 N a r r a t i v e a n d H e r m e n e u t i c Analysis Analyzing Narratives Objective Hermeneutics Social Science Hermeneutics and Hermeneutic Sociology of Knowledge 345 346 350 26 U s i n g C o m p u t e r s in Q u a l i t a t i v e Analysis N e w Technologies: Hopes, Fears, and Fantasies Ways of Using Computers W h y Use Software for Analyzing Qualitative Data? 358 359 360 355 Hopes and Expectancies Types of Software for Analyzing Qualitative Data Software for Analyzing Qualitative Data: H o w to Choose? Examples: ATLAS Ti, N U D * I S T / N V i v o , and MAXqda H o w to Use Software in Qualitative Research Software's Impact on Qualitative Research: Examples 361 362 363 366 367 369 27 Text Interpretation: An Overview First Point of Reference: Criteria-Based Comparison of the Approaches Second Point of Reference: T h e Selection of the Method and Checking its Application Third Point of Reference: Appropriateness of the Method to the Issue Fourth Point of Reference: Fitting the Method into the Research Process 373 374 375 375 379 ... Ethics of Qualitative Research 35 A Need for Ethics in Research and the Ethical Dilemmas of Qualitative Research 36 viii AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Codes of Ethics? ?An Answer to AH Questions?... 20 Qualitative a n d Quantitative R e s e a r c h Relations of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Linking Qualitative and Quantitative Research in One Design Combining Qualitative and Quantitative... constructionist qualitative research using text as empirical material 6 AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH In Part on research design we come to the more practical issues of how to plan qualitative research: