Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction

`This book is a milestone. At last a leading researcher has given us an authoritative account of ethnography as a way of doing social science, building a discipline and a body of theory. The standards set here will be benchmarks for years to come.' - Robert Dingwall, University of Nottingham

`This book, written by one of the master craftsmen of qualitative research, deals with the full gamut of problems and possibilities that routinely confront the researcher. It is absolutely brimming with ideas and suggestions for teachers, students and professional researchers, and will undoubtedly serve as an indispensable resource for years to come. Indeed, for anyone even vaguely interested in getting their students to engage with everyday social life, this book will prove to be an incomparable starting point.' - Lindsay Prior, University of Ulster

`A very useful addition to the literature, covering aspects of qualitative research in an admirably lucid and well-illustrated way.' - Paul Atkinson, University of Wales

`An excellent text. Silverman's earlier book set new standards for `thinking about' qualitative sociology; the present text adds to this by demonstrating the practical relevance of qualitative research as a way of doing social science. I doubt it will be surpassed for many years.' - Michael Emmison, University of Queensland

`Readable and likely to be a big success with students. I use especially the chapter on quantifying observational data.' - Maureen Cain, University of the West Indies

`Excellent book. With its useful exercises, just what is needed in teaching research methods.' - Helmi Jarvilouma, University of Tampere

`Excellent. Both learned and concrete enough for the student.' - Anssi Perakyla, University of Tampere

`Outstanding. Easily one of the best books integrating different and complementary qualitative methods. The focus on language and discourse is innovative.' - Douglas Maynard

`It would be insufficient to characterize David Silverman's provocative volume as an introductory methods text, for although it is most certainly that, the book accomplishes a great deal more. On one level, Silverman offers a balanced and substantive introduction to the theoretical foundations and analytic concerns of qualitative research. On another level, however, he offers an emphatic prescription for rigorous qualitative research as well as a direct challenge to qualitative analysts who ignore issues of reliability and validity, thus producing research that resemble[s] a disorganized stumble through a mass of data, full of 'insightful' observations of a mainly 'anecdotal' nature .... Silverman's book would serve anyone teaching an undergraduate or introductory graduate course in qualitative methods well. But this book should not be limited to those audiences - Silverman's challenge ought to be recommended reading for anyone engaged in qualitative research. If taken seriously, the standards of rigor he calls for will certainly contribute to an intelligent, empirically defensible body of social scientific knowledge.' - Discourse & Society

`As one would expect from Silverman, the book displays and introduces a wide range of methodological and theoretical perspectives. The reader who works through the book will come to appreciate the great diversity of issues that may inform and be informed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data.... It is therefore a particular strength of the text that a great many actual examples are used to develop and illustrate the argument. Silverman uses a mixture of his own published research and that of others. He also includes a number of very useful exercises for the student-reader. The combination of expositions, illustrations and exercises makes for a very lively... text which will prove extremely valuable in all qualitative methods courses. It reflects the author's intellectual biography, of course, in its combination of ethnographic, ethnomethodological and linguistic emphases. Throughout, there is a consistent discussion of sociological themes and ideas. The reader will gain insight into the analytic processes and characteristic outcomes informed by a wide-ranging sociological imagination.' - The Sociological Review

`There are useful features of this book that one does not always find in qualitative methodology texts. In the first chapter, for example, there is a helpful discussion of the formulation of research problems. Also included is an introduction to conversation analysis; and, towards the end, there is an instructive discussion of the `self-righteousness' of sociologists. Throughout the book, extensive use is made of examples, often from Silverman's own research; and frequent activities are introduced, along the lines of an Open University unit.... In many ways I am sympathetic to this text. I like the commitment to a rigorous approach, the way in which conversation analysis is used as a model for that rigour, the author's general openness to quantitative methods, and his insistence on value-neutrality as an ideal for social research. I also like the use of student exercises.... There is much of value in this text, and I will use it selectively with my own students.' - Sociology

`There are useful features of this book that one does not always find in qualitative methodology texts. In the first chapter, for example, there is a helpful discussion of the formulation of research problems. Also included is an introduction to conversation analysis; and, towards the end, there is an instructive discussion of the `self-righteousness' of sociologists. Throughout the book, extensive use is made of examples, often from Silverman's own research; and frequent activities are introduced, along the lines of an Open University unit.... In many ways I am sympathetic to this text. I like the commitment to a rigorous approach, the way in which conversation analysis is used as a model for that rigour, the author's general openness to quantitative methods, and his insistence on value-neutrality as an ideal for social research. I also like the use of student exercises' - Sociology

`Given its subject matter, I never expected this book to qualify as `light reading'; however Silverman must be congratulated on the skilful way in which the text has been written. The discussion draws heavily on both the author's own extensive repertoire of research and numerous other examples of classic and contemporary qualitative research. The emphasis is on interactive learning. As each chapter unfolds the reader is presented with a series of exercises designed to illustrate concepts and arguments. The writing is crisp, and the thoughtful use of signposts eases the reader's task considerably. David Silverman has produced a text destined to become required reading for all those engaged in teaching social science and/or seeking to produce their own `intelligent and disciplined' qualitative research' - British Educational Research Journal

`Silverman has made an invaluable addition to this literature. This book reflects Silverman's continuing commitment to sociological work which is both theoretically well informed and solidly empirically grounded, and to the principle that research must be learnt through doing.... As elsewhere, Silverman brings together a number of significant themes and deals with them cogently and stylishly. This is a text which I am sure will be widely used both by researchers in their craft and by those who teach research methods' - European Sociological Review

`Those who know David Silverman's research work across a range of health-care issues will need little incentive to get hold of his latest book. For those who do not, let me convince you. Silverman is, without doubt, one of the most challenging and demanding writers on qualitative research. If you have ever imagined that this kind of research is a soft option or that in qualitative research `anything goes', his work will soon disabuse you of those notions. The author concentrates on the hardest part of such research, the `what do I do with this data?' question. His approach is as rigorous as ever, warning the potential analyst that merely reproducing people's account or experiences and calling these `authentic' or `explanations' is wholly inadequate. This book is a masterly synthesis of theory and practical wisdom, in which every chapter is packed with insights and suggestions that would strengthen any qualitative study. Especially valuable are the chapters on `validity and reliability' and `the practical relevance of qualitative research'. Nurses no longer need to make a case for using qualitative research approaches. That battle was won long ago. What we do need to do is produce qualitative research that is every bit as imaginative, rigorous and carefully thought out as any statistical study. For all nurses who are considering, planning or currently working on qualitative research studies, this book will prove indispensable' - Nursing Times

`This is not a how-to cookbook, but throughout the book there are concrete examples designed to illustrate particular points of the text plus exercises designed to help the reader develop practical skills for data analysis. The book is replete with tables, effective at summarizing text. The tables are clear.... In summary, this is a complex, detailed text appropriate for an intermediate to advanced qualitative researcher. Readers should be well versed in both method and common debates in social science research before using this book. The tone cautions the reader to avoid politics and instead looks at practical application of research methods. Above all else, researchers should never depart from rigour. What is most appealing about this book is that Silverman holds no romantic notion of qualitative research and is down-to-earth about its practicality and the usefulness of every type of research' - The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation