Context and Method in Qualitative Research

Providing a critical examination of the principles and practice of qualitative research and the interplay between context and method, Context & Method in Qualitative Research addresses methodological and practical issues central to the concerns of qualitative researchers: • The validity and credibility of qualitative methods • The problems encountered using specific techniques in a range of social settings • The discussion of moral issues raised in qualitative research Leading international researchers from North America, the United Kingdom, and France focus on the thoughtful, project-like character of high-quality qualitative research. They reflect on their experiences and on the methods and strategies they have used to study everyday life, also making practical suggestions to readers on why and how they conducted their own studies. These all-star contributors go beyond "cookbook-like" discussions on subjects such as how to enter social settings, manage one′s research subjects, and ask good questions while formulating research strategies. Context & Method in Qualitative Research is a coherent, wide-ranging, and practical collection that will be an invaluable resource for both the experienced and beginning researcher, practitioner, and student of qualitative research.

Robert Dingwall is a consulting sociologist through Dingwall Enterprises Ltd and part-time Professor of Sociology at Nottingham Trent University. 

He draws on more than forty years’ experience as an academic researcher studying health care, legal services, and science and technology policy at the Universities of Aberdeen, Oxford and Nottingham. Over that time, he has held grants and contracts worth more than £7 million (at 2017 prices) in total from the Leverhulme and Wellcome Trusts, ESRC, NERC, MRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, the EU, the UK Department of Health and various NHS/NIHR programmes, the Ministry of Justice, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Food Standards Agency. These have resulted in 30 books and more than 100 scientific papers. Robert Dingwall is also an experienced manager: he served for five years as head of a large social science department and founded and directed what was one of Europe’s leading research institutes in science and technology studies for 12 years. 

Robert has been a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences since 2002 and an Honorary Member of the Faculty of Public Health since 2014. He was awarded the 2019 Prize for Contributions to the Socio-Legal Community by the Socio-Legal Studies Association.