Overview
- Provides a guide to the possibilities of big qual and its relationship to qualitative research
- Prompts readers to think differently about the relationship between theory and evidence, research questions and data
- Enhanced by tried and tested linked multimedia resources, expert international case studies and bespoke teaching dataset
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About this book
This upper-level textbook presents a new approach to large scale qualitative analysis – the pioneering breadth-and-depth method. It covers the strengths and deployment of “big qual” as a distinct research methodology. The book will appeal to students and researchers across disciplines and methodological backgrounds.
The growing availability of large qualitative data sets presents exciting opportunities. Pooling multiple qualitative data sets enhances the possibility of theoretical generalisability and strengthens claims from qualitative research about understanding how social processes work.
Given the evolving possibilities that big data offers the humanities and social sciences, this book will be a must-have resource, building capacity and provoking new ways of thinking about qualitative research and its analysis.
Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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From Big Qual to the Breadth-and-Depth Method
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Front Matter
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An Enquiry-Led Overview of Qualitative Research Data Sets
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Front Matter
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Moving Between Breadth and Depth in Qualitative Analysis
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Front Matter
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Reflecting on the Implications of Large-Scale Qualitative Analysis
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“In Big Qual: A Guide to Breadth-and-Depth Analysis, Susie Weller, Emma Davidson, Rosalind Edwards, and Lynn Jamieson introduce a novel approach for working qualitatively with big datasets. Notably, big data has often been assumed to be quantitative in scope. Yet, in this book, Weller and colleagues aptly highlight the potentiality of qualitative inquirers working with big data sets. The authors importantly point to how big data in qualitative research has the potential of allowing for theoretical generalisability in compelling and much needed ways. In this timely book, the authors walk the reader through not just the value and importance of big qualitative data, but also how to access and create such datasets. Perhaps most significantly, this book discusses in great detail the ‘breadth-and-depth analysis’ approach to working with big qualitative data. This approach offers readers a way to think about how to analyze big qualitative data in meaningful and theoretically grounded ways. Weller et al.’s book is indeed long overdue and will serve as an important guidepost for the qualitative research community as we increasingly encounter and work with big qualitative datasets.” (Jessica Nina Lester, Professor of Qualitative Methodology, Indiana University Bloomington, USA)
“Big Qual: A Guide to Breadth-and-Depth Analysis is the ultimate guide for learning how to do big qualitative research. The rapidly expanding world of big data calls for new solutions to manage and analyse large volumes of qualitative data now becoming available to social scientists everywhere. Moving well beyond rhetoric, this book takes readers on a journey to discover the newly minted “breadth-and-depth analysis” method for big qualitative data analysis. It gives easy-to-follow steps, with excursions into data mining tools, and supported by rich, illustrative case studies. Big Qual will lead you on a rewarding quest to navigate qualitative data landscapes, from a birds-eye aerial reconnaissance to a detailed charting of the data terrain. Begin to unearth what hides beneath the surface of digital data assemblages, in an iterative journey to uncover and find meaning in a data-saturated social world.” (Kathy A. Mills, Australian Catholic University, Australia)
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Emma Davidson is Lecturer in Social Policy and Qualitative Research Methods at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Emma has written widely on qualitative research methods, research ethics and qualitative longitudinal approaches. Her work is largely focused on collaborative and creative approaches to researching with, and for, children and young people. Emma is co-founder of the Binks Hub, a network dedicated to co-production and creative methods, and is co-director at the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships.
Rosalind Edwards is Professor of Sociology and a Fellow of the National Centre for Research Methods at the University of Southampton, UK. Rosalind has researched and published widely on qualitative longitudinal research methods, and is a founding editor of the International Journal of Social Research Methodology.
Lynn Jamieson is Professor of the Sociology of Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh, UK. She is known for her research on intimacy, identity and social change and has researched a wide range of topics within the field of families and relationships. Lynn was the President of the British Sociological Association and is co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan series, Families and IntimateLife and Associate Editor of the Policy Press journal, Families Relationships and Societies.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Big Qual
Book Subtitle: A Guide to Breadth-and-Depth Analysis
Authors: Susie Weller, Emma Davidson, Rosalind Edwards, Lynn Jamieson
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36324-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-36323-8Published: 05 December 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-36324-5Published: 04 December 2023
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXV, 205
Number of Illustrations: 8 b/w illustrations, 24 illustrations in colour
Topics: Social Sciences, general, Statistics, general, Statistics, general