Jane Beaglehole Ritchie - Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers

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Rachel Ormston, Liz Spencer, Matt Barnard and Dawn Snape
Jane Ritchie and Rachel Ormston
Jane Lewis and Carol McNaughton Nicholls
Stephen Webster, Jane Lewis and Ashley Brown
Jane Ritchie, Jane Lewis, Gilliam Elam, Rosalind Tennant and Nilufer Rahim
Sue Arthur, Martin Mitchell, Jane Lewis and Carol McNaughton Nicholls
Alice Yeo, Robin Legard, Jill Keegan, Kit Ward, Carol McNaughton Nicholls and Jane Lewis
Jane Lewis, Caroline Turley and Helen Finch
Carol McNaughton Nicholls, Mehul Kotecha and Lisa Mills
Liz Spencer, Jane Ritchie, Rachel Ormston, William OConnor and Matt Barnard
Liz Spencer, Jane Ritchie, William OConnor, Gareth Morrell and Rachel Ormston
Rachel Ormston, Jane Ritchie, Jane Lewis and Gareth Morrell
Clarissa White, Kandy Woodfield, Jane Ritchie and Rachel Ormston

First edition published 2003

Reprinted 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 (twice), 2011, 2012. 2013

This edition published 2014

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013938039

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

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ISBN 978-1-4462-0911-0
ISBN 978-1-4462-0912-7 (pbk)

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NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

NatCen Social Research (the National Centre for Social Research) is one of Britains largest and leading independent social research organisations. It was established in 1969 and is registered as a non-profit, independent educational charity. NatCen Social Research has a staff of over 250 and offices in Edinburgh (ScotCen Social Research), London and Essex. It carries out quantitative and qualitative research across all major social policy areas, with a focus on five key substantive themes: children and young people, society and social change, crime and justice, health and well-being, and income and work. NatCen Social Research specialises in the development and application of rigorous social research methods, with work commissioned by central government departments, public bodies, and funded by research councils and grant-giving foundations. NatCen Learning disseminates this expertise via short courses provided to external organisations and researchers working in government, academia and other settings.

In 1985 a specialist Qualitative Research Unit (QRU) was established within NatCen Social Research, which was at the forefront of developing high-quality qualitative methods for social and public policy research. Since 2010, rather than forming a specialist methodological unit, qualitative research experts at NatCen Social Research are based within one of the five substantive research teams outlined above. Qualitative researchers at NatCen Social Research continue to be committed to high-quality applied qualitative research. At the same time, qualitative work evolves to reflect changing landscapes, such as the advent of new digital and online technology, and the increasing use of participatory methods and community engagement.

All the authors are current or past staff members of NatCen Social Research and are committed to the capability and advancement of qualitative social research.

Editors

Jane Ritchie is a psychologist and worked exclusively in social policy research throughout her career. She founded the Qualitative Research Unit at NatCen Social Research in 1985 and was the Units Director until 1998. She was one of the originators of the qualitative analytic tool, Framework, and teaches and writes about qualitative methods.

Jane Lewis was Director of the Qualitative Research Unit at NatCen Social Research from 19982007, and then Director of Research and Evaluation at the National Childrens Bureau. Her career has since focused on research utilisation and implementation in child and family services. She ran the national support agency for evidence-informed practice Research in Practice and is now centrally involved in the development of UK implementation science and practice as a Director at the Colebrooke Centre for Evidence and Implementation.