Written in a lively, accessible style, this step-by-step guide provides answers to all the questions students ask when beginning their first research project. David Silverman demonstrates how to learn the craft of qualitative research by applying knowledge about different methodologies to actual data. He provides practical advice on key issues, such as: defining `originality' and narrowing down a topic; keeping a research diary and writing a research report; and presenting research to different audiences.
Packed with case studies and examples of students' experiences, the book has many features to aid study, including overviews, summaries of key skills and a glossary of terms. Each stage in the research process is grounded
David Silverman trained as a sociologist at the London School of Economics and the University of California, Los Angeles. He taught for 32 years at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he is now Emeritus Professor in the Sociology Department as well as Visiting Professor in the Business Schools, King’s College, London, Leeds University and University of Technology Sydney and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology. He is interested in conversation and discourse analysis and he has researched medical consultations, shelters for homeless people and HIV-test counselling.
He is the author of Doing Qualitative Research (sixth edition, 2022) and A Very Short, Fairly Interesting, Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research (second edition, 2013c). He is the editor of Qualitative Research (fifth edition, 2021) and the Sage series Introducing Qualitative Methods. In recent years, he has offered short, hands-on workshops in qualitative research for universities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Now retired from full-time work, he aims to watch 100 days of county cricket a year. He also enjoys spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandsons as well as voluntary work in an old people’s home where he chats and sings with residents.
Amir B. Marvasti is Associate Professor of Sociology at Pennsylvania State University, Altoona. His research focuses on the social construction of deviant identities in everyday life. He is the author of Being Homeless: Textual and Narrative Constructions (Lexington Books 2003), Qualitative Research in Sociology (Sage 2003), Middle Eastern Lives in America (with Karyn McKinney, Rowman and Littlefield 2004), and Doing Qualitative Research: A Comprehensive Guide (with David Silverman, Sage 2008). His articles have been published in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Qualitative Inquiry, Symbolic Interaction, and Critical Sociology.