Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. Revised and Expanded from 'Case Study Research in Education.'

This book offers a resource guide for qualitative researchers in education, discussing data collection techniques, data analysis, reporting, and the issues of validity, reliability, and ethics. Part 1 reviews the nature and design of qualitative research; it discusses various types of qualitative research (including case studies), and how to design a qualitative study, including problem formation and sample selection. Differentiating case study techniques from other qualitative approaches, the book discusses concepts, theories, and techniques taken from anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology. Part 2 covers the collection of qualitative data; chapters cover conducting effective interviews, being a careful observer, mining data from documents, and the interactive nature of data collection in case studies. Part 3 covers the analysis and reporting of qualitative data, and discusses analytic techniques and data management, levels of analysis, the increasing role of computers, and strategies for dealing with validity, reliability, and ethics. A final chapter looks at writing up research results, with emphasis on the particular requirements of the case study report. (Contains approximately 325 references.) (BF)