Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research - Softcover

Rossman, Gretchen B; Rallis, Sharon F

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1412980488 ISBN 13: 9781412980487

Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2011

Synopsis

This popular text is a true introduction to qualitative research, leading the new researcher into the field by explaining the core concepts through theory, research, and applied examples. The authors introduce each chapter with discussions among three characters-Ruth, Marla, and Anthony-students whose research projects demonstrate the challenges and excitement of qualitative research. Woven into the chapters and the characters' stories are three themes that are the heart of the book: First, research is about learning; second, research can and should be useful; and finally, a researcher should practice the highest ethical standards to ensure that a study is trustworthy.

About this title

About the Author

Gretchen B. Rossman is Professor of International Education at the Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her PhD in education from the University of Pennsylvania with a specialization in higher education administration. She has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Prior to coming to the University of Massachusetts, she was Senior Research Associate at Research for Better Schools in Philadelphia. With an international reputation as a qualitative methodologist, she has expertise in qualitative research design and methods, mixed- methods monitoring and evaluation, and inquiry in education. Over the past 30+ years, she has coauthored numerous books, two of which are editions of major qualitative research texts (this fourth edition of Learning in the Field, with Sharon Rallis, and Designing Qualitative Research, 6th edition, with Catherine Marshall―both widely used guides to qualitative inquiry). She has authored or coauthored more than 45 articles, book chapters, and technical reports focused on methodological issues in qualitative research syntheses, validity in qualitative research, mixed-methods evaluation practice, and ethical research practice, as well as the analysis and evaluation of educational reform initiatives both in the United States and internationally.

Professor Rossman has served as principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on several international projects in such countries as Azerbaijan, India, Malawi, Palestine, Senegal, Tanzania, and the Gambia, as well as external evaluator on several domestic projects, including a Department of Education–funded reform initiative, a National Science Foundation–funded middle-grades science initiative, and a number of projects implementing more inclusive practices for students with disabilities. She regularly presents papers at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association and the Comparative and International Education Society. 

Review

“I have reviewed a large number of qualitative research books. You learn quickly to decipher when a book’s authors are simply writing conceptually versus when they are writing from solid fieldwork experience. Rossman and Rallis, out of their depth of real-world experience, illuminate qualitative research as the integration of science and art.” Author: Michael Quinn Patton

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1412980488
• ISBN 13: 9781412980487
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 392