The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research

The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, Third Edition, represents the state of the art for the theory and practice of qualitative inquiry. Built on the foundations of the landmark First and Second Editions (1994, 2000), the Third Edition moves qualitative research boldly into the 21st century. The editors and authors ask how the practices of qualitative inquiry can be used to address issues of social justice in this new century.

As with the Second Edition, the Third Edition represents virtually a new handbook. There are 14 totally new topics not touched upon in previous editions, including, among others, indigenous research, institutional review boards and human subject research, critical and performance ethnography, arts-based inquiry, narrative inquiry, Foucault, the ethics and strategies of on-line research, cultural and investigative poetics, and the politics of evaluation.More thanhalf of the 45 chapters are written by authors new to the Handbook. Returning authors have thoroughly revised and updated their chapters. The organization is clear and sensible, moving from the general to the specific and from the past to the present and the future.

The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research is far-reaching and comprehensive, featuring a virtual "Who's Who" in the human sciences. It is an absolutely essential text for any scholar interested in the art, science, and practice of qualitative research, as well as a critical resource for all academic and public libraries.

Praise for Previous Editions

“This book is a must for anyone teaching, or wishing to better understand, qualitative research. This handbook is destined to be a classic text in the field of qualitative research that belongs on every student’s and researcher’s bookshelf.”
-HARVARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW

“This may well be ‘the one book on qualitative research’ that one would want to take ‘to a desert island,’ as the editors hope.”
-JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY ETHNOGRAPHY

Just buy the book. I did, and I don't regret it for a moment. It's also nice in that it covers a wide variety of disciplines and contexts -- journalists, sociologists, communicologits, psychologists, and political scientists can all use the book with equal ease. One area, though, that I've heard the book is not as strong toward is anthropology. If you're an anthropologist, you may want to check out Holstein's interviewing methods book.