Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches

In the revised Fourth Edition of the best selling text, John W. Creswell and new co author Cheryl N. Poth explore the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Preserving Creswell′s signature writing style, the authors compare the approaches and relate research designs to each of the traditions of inquiry in a highly accessible manner. Featuring new content, articles, pedagogy, references, and expanded coverage of ethics throughout, the Fourth Edition is an ideal introduction to the theories, strategies, and practices of qualitative inquiry.

John W. Creswell, PhD, is a Professor of Family Medicine and Senior Research Scientist of

the Michigan Mixed Methods Program. He has authored numerous articles and 34 books on

mixed methods research, qualitative research, and research design. While at the University of

Nebraska–Lincoln, he held the Clifton Endowed Professor Chair, served as Director of the

Mixed Methods Research Office, co-founded SAGE’s Journal of Mixed Methods Research, and

was an Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan and a consultant to

the Veterans Administration Health Services Research Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was

a Senior Fulbright Scholar to South Africa in 2008 and to Thailand in 2012. In 2011, he co-led

a National Institutes of Health working group on the “best practices of mixed methods research

in the health sciences,” served as a Visiting Professor at Harvard’s School of Public Health and

received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. In 2014, he was

the founding President of the Mixed Methods International Research Association. In 2015, he

joined the staff of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan to Co-Direct the Michigan

Mixed Methods Program. In 2017, he coauthored the American Psychological Association

“standards” on qualitative and mixed methods research. The fourth edition of this book on

Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design won the 2018 McGuffey Longevity Award from the U.S.

Textbook & Academic Authors Association. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he gave virtual

keynote presentations to many countries from his office in Osaka, Japan. Updates on his work

can be found on his website at johnwcreswell.com.

Cheryl N. Poth, PhD, is a Professor in the Faculty of Education and faculty member of the

research-intensive Centre for Research and Applied Measurement and Evaluation at the

University of Alberta. In this role, she has developed and taught graduate-level research methods

and program evaluation courses in addition to supervising and mentoring students, faculty,

and local as well as global community members in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods

research. She is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, three books as well as

numerous book chapters. Her work has been recognized by the American Educational Research

Association with the Division D Significant Contributions to Research Methodology Award

in 2023 (with Peggy Shannon-Baker) and by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association

with the Most Promising New Textbook Award in 2020 and the McGuffey Longevity Award

for Qualitative Research book in 2018 (with John Creswell). She served as Editor of the SAGE

Handbook of Mixed Methods Research (2023) and as Guest Coeditor of several journal special

issues, including the International Journal of Qualitative Methods. In addition to more than

40 invited talks and 150 conference presentations, she has led research methods workshops

with diverse audiences on four continents. She served as an Advisory Board Member of the

International Institute of Qualitative Methodology (2014–2020); the President of the Mixed

Methods International Research Association (2017–2018); a Research Fellow at the University

of South Africa (2018–2020); a Helen Glass Scholar in the College of Nursing within the Rady

Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba (2022); and as a MERIT Visiting

Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University (2023–2025). In 2009, she

cofounded the interdisciplinary Alberta Clinical and Community-Based Evaluation Research

Team to advance innovative community–university research partnership supports for program

planning and impact assessments of service delivery for individuals with complex needs. She

serves as the Methodologist on several cross-disciplinary research teams and has led federally,

provincially, and locally funded research projects. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of

Mixed Methods Research and is an editorial board member of several journals. Updates on her

work can be found on her website at https://sites.google.com/ualberta.ca/cheryl-poth/.