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Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook
The Third Edition of Miles & Huberman′s classic research methods text is updated and streamlined by Johnny Saldaña, author of The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers . Several of the data display strategies from previous editions are now presented in re-envisioned and reorganized formats to enhance reader accessibility and comprehension. The Third Edition’s presentation of the fundamentals of research design and data management is followed by five distinct methods of exploring, describing, ordering, explaining, and predicting. Miles and Huberman′s original research studies are profiled and accompanied with new examples from Saldaña′s recent qualitative work. The book′s most celebrated chapter, "Drawing and Verifying Conclusions," is retained and revised, and the chapter on report writing has been greatly expanded, and is now called "Writing About Qualitative Research." Comprehensive and authoritative, Qualitative Data Analysis has been elegantly revised for a new generation of qualitative researchers.
408 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1984
133 people are currently reading
697 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 12, 2011
This books helps me a lot in understanding qualitative data analysis. Good book. Highly recommended for beginners.
August 7, 2012
Miles and Huberman address the question of how to draw meaning from qualitative data by examining and discussing varieties of qualitative research and analysis of qualitative data. They discuss focusing and bounding the collection of data, early steps in analysis, within-case displays, cross-case displays, matrix displays, drawing and verifying conclusions, and ethical issues in analysis. They suggest qualitative research designs do exist, although some are more deliberate than others.
June 11, 2007
they've done lots of impressive work, though i'm finding it a real chore to get through this
June 18, 2012
Hard to get your head around but I finally got the idea of stacked tables and truth tables
July 11, 2020
This is one of the bible’s of qualitative research. It is referred to in most other qualitative research texts. It lives up to it’s title and subtitle as a fairly comprehensive sourcebook on the many issues confronting qualitative researchers, in particular the issue of analyzing qualitative data. This is not a book for beginners however.
March 20, 2022
Will remain a resource for several years to come, I am certain!
April 15, 2022
Professionally, I work a lot with quantitative data, through mathematics/biostatistics, building software, and research design. The world of words has long been a domain that has enchanted me even though symbols have comprised my main language. Recently, my wife has started graduate work using qualitative methods. I decided to fill my deficits in this world by reading this book. I am by no means expert or even experienced in it, but I merely have an interest.
This book seems to be the seminal work in its field. The authors share their wisdom and experiences in this accessible textbook, now in a fourth edition. They cover the entire process from design and data collection to building a theory. They talk at length about coding as well as how to present your data. They even have a chapter on writing, with many encouragements to not be boring!
The graphics and illustrations in this book are excellent and inspirational. I am always interested in creating visualizations to communicate research data effectively, and this book provided many muses in that regard. They talked about converting written accounts into concept maps and linking those to address “influences and affects” of a weak sort of causality. This book helped slow my mind down about the many moving parts in qualitative research so that I can focus more on a work’s reality and substance.
This book is obviously geared towards researchers, whether new or old. The writing and presentation are accessible enough so that graduate students would be well-served by reading this work. Practitioners, of course, can benefit as well, but they likely would have read one of the prior three editions of this book. Those who, like me, are involved in other parts of the research enterprise can learn about their colleagues’ work, too. Finally, those who spend significant time building visuals to communicate concepts can learn from these authors’ analytical techniques.
After finishing this work, I’m inspired about the myriad of ways non-quantitative data can be analyzed and concisely communicated to readers – especially in ways that aren’t written prose. Poetry, artful presentations, summarizing graphics, and matrix-tables together can create a mosaic to comport meaningful and accurate understanding to readers. My personal bar has been raised, and I suspect many other readers’ bars will be, too.
This book seems to be the seminal work in its field. The authors share their wisdom and experiences in this accessible textbook, now in a fourth edition. They cover the entire process from design and data collection to building a theory. They talk at length about coding as well as how to present your data. They even have a chapter on writing, with many encouragements to not be boring!
The graphics and illustrations in this book are excellent and inspirational. I am always interested in creating visualizations to communicate research data effectively, and this book provided many muses in that regard. They talked about converting written accounts into concept maps and linking those to address “influences and affects” of a weak sort of causality. This book helped slow my mind down about the many moving parts in qualitative research so that I can focus more on a work’s reality and substance.
This book is obviously geared towards researchers, whether new or old. The writing and presentation are accessible enough so that graduate students would be well-served by reading this work. Practitioners, of course, can benefit as well, but they likely would have read one of the prior three editions of this book. Those who, like me, are involved in other parts of the research enterprise can learn about their colleagues’ work, too. Finally, those who spend significant time building visuals to communicate concepts can learn from these authors’ analytical techniques.
After finishing this work, I’m inspired about the myriad of ways non-quantitative data can be analyzed and concisely communicated to readers – especially in ways that aren’t written prose. Poetry, artful presentations, summarizing graphics, and matrix-tables together can create a mosaic to comport meaningful and accurate understanding to readers. My personal bar has been raised, and I suspect many other readers’ bars will be, too.
May 11, 2020
I read parts of this book for an introductory graduate class in qualitative research methods. I read the rest of the book because I thought it would be beneficial. While reading the whole thing felt like a slog at moments, it was definitely beneficial.
It felt like a slog at times because the book is thorough and very detailed about so many aspects of the process of qualitative research. Also, I found it challenging to grasp many of the ideas because I have so little experience in research. I found that I understood the concepts in the book better as I worked on my class project and gained experience. That makes me think that this book should be revisited often as I continue to develop as a researcher so that I can incorporate more of the wisdom in this book.
I think that the authors summed it up so well in their "final thoughts":
"We believe that methodological quagmires, mazes, and dead ends are not necessarily a product of researcher incapacity but of qualitative data themselves. Like the phenomena they mirror, they are usually complex, ambiguous, and sometimes downright contradictory. Doing qualitative analysis means living for as long as possible with that complexity and ambiguity, coming to terms with it, and passing on your conclusions to the reader in a form that clarifies and deepens understanding. It’s not surprising that the mechanics of analysis seem formidable or elusive even to experienced analysts—and that researchers have often shied away from making them fully explicit."
It's not easy and it never will be. But we can get better at it.
It felt like a slog at times because the book is thorough and very detailed about so many aspects of the process of qualitative research. Also, I found it challenging to grasp many of the ideas because I have so little experience in research. I found that I understood the concepts in the book better as I worked on my class project and gained experience. That makes me think that this book should be revisited often as I continue to develop as a researcher so that I can incorporate more of the wisdom in this book.
I think that the authors summed it up so well in their "final thoughts":
"We believe that methodological quagmires, mazes, and dead ends are not necessarily a product of researcher incapacity but of qualitative data themselves. Like the phenomena they mirror, they are usually complex, ambiguous, and sometimes downright contradictory. Doing qualitative analysis means living for as long as possible with that complexity and ambiguity, coming to terms with it, and passing on your conclusions to the reader in a form that clarifies and deepens understanding. It’s not surprising that the mechanics of analysis seem formidable or elusive even to experienced analysts—and that researchers have often shied away from making them fully explicit."
It's not easy and it never will be. But we can get better at it.
April 26, 2023
I am primarily a quantitative researcher and almost all of my methods training in grad school was in statistics and survey research. In recent times, my job has required more and more qualitative work so I thought it was time to actually learn how to do that work well, rather than just trying to figure it out as I go. This book has been extremely helpful for that purpose. I am by no means now suddenly a qualitative research expert, but I at least know what I am doing, understand best practices in the field, and am familiar with a broad range of qualitative analytical techniques. I also have a thorough reference book to go back to when I need a refresher on any particular point. This book was well-written and easy to understand for someone familiar with social science research in general but a newcomer to qualitative research specifically.
July 2, 2017
As a new comer to qualitative research, I really liked part 1 of the book. I was looking for quick intro to coding and found chapter 4 to be a great intro. Besides that, it provides a good high-level overview of and aspects to considered in qualitative research. As for part 2 and 3, I started reading them and then started to skim thru them as I figured they structured more like catalogs -- come back to them when you are looking for a solution that meets the requirements. My only gripe about the book was the examples used in the book seemed a bit distant; probably, there wasn't much context provided for them or I missed them :-O
April 23, 2023
I found this book immensely helpful in strategizing my data analysis techniques. Thinking through desired outcomes and reporting strategies helped me to design my data collection process to ensure that I obtain what I need up-front to do the reporting analysis I would like to incorporate. Working through the book while planning my research project worked well. I don't know how the book would read stand-alone. I suspect that it would be pretty dry as the immediate application would not be possible.
September 7, 2018
This book is an absolute must for anyone undertaking qualitative research and is equally important for anyone who is reading or reviewing such research. It is a practical guide to organizing a study, collecting data, tabulating it, and making sense of it. I can't imagine conducting qualitative research without consulting this text.
May 18, 2014
Another must have for qualitative studies preparation. I actually really enjoyed this book and it gave me some great practical steps as I prepare to do my own study such as first and second coding, and various programs and tips to take it all one step at a time. Much needed and highly recommended.
December 1, 2014
Blech. A dry topic, but a valiant effort to make it less so. Data analysis seemed intuitive to me, since I do it on a regular basis through conferencing, and this book served to confirm some of my existing practices.
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October 6, 2015Elham/TIDAL had it - 7.23.15 -> returned
April 25, 2018
Great explanations with summaries, graphs, and charts which make it easy to understand.
June 30, 2019
A nice tour around the city of texts and meanings!
December 26, 2020
Clear and helpful, a useful primer on data analysis
April 9, 2021
So much to think about
August 16, 2022
This is an easy to read overall reference book for social science researchers.
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September 28, 2023Reference material.
October 29, 2023
I highly recommend this text for anyone doing qualitative or mixed method research. It was vitally helpful!!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews