Qualitative Organizational Research : Core Methods and Current Challenges

This comprehensive text brings together in one volume the range of methods available for undertaking qualitative data collection and analysis.

Qualitative Organizational Research contains 27 chapters, each focusing on a specific technique. The first part of the volume looks at contemporary uses of qualitative methods in organizational research, outlining each method and illustrating practical application through case studies. The second part of the volume goes on to consider the broader issues in qualitative methods, examining key contemporary debates in each area as well as providing practical advice for those undertaking organizational research.

Written by Gillian Symon and Catherine Casse internationally renowned experts in qualitative research methods, this text is an accessible and essential resource for students and researchers in the areas of organization studies, management research and organizational psychology.

What every qualitative researcher needs! This handbook provides both breadth and depth. Breadth is important because the range of qualitative methods and techniques keeps on growing -- the handbook will help researchers make informed choices about which methods to use in their work. Depth is important for researchers to move beyond the traditional qualitative/quantitative divide and to learn more about the complexity of theoretical assumptions that underlie different qualitative work
Cynthia Hardy
Laureate Professor of Management, University of Melbourne, Australia

Catherine Cassell and Gillian Symon have over the years pioneered a new way of writing about qualitative research methods that transforms the concept of method from a turgid instrument of discipline into a boundless treasure trove of resources available to social scientists. They and their contributors in this volume offer an exciting array of resources, demonstrating that rigour is not incompatible with imagination and that research can indeed be fun. Their collection is an invaluable aid to the craft of the qualitative researcher
Yiannis Gabriel
Chair of Organizational Theory, University of Bath, UK

For almost two decades Cathy Cassell and Gillian Symon have been to the forefront of encouraging management and organizational scholars to critically engage with qualitative methods. This has evolved through at least two books, a series of scholarly articles, and the founding of the journal Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. In the process they have embraced and been embraced by leading scholars in the field of qualitative methods to produce a collection that is a simply `must read.′ The sheer talent brought together in this latest edition of Qualitative Organizational Research guarantees a collection more than up to the task of presenting "core methods and current challenges
Albert J. Mills
Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary′s University, Canada

This very welcome book is packed with accessible coverage of the complex and fascinating conceptual issues underlying the various forms of qualitative research. It also provides plenty of engaging practical examples of qualitative research in action. The book is therefore an invaluable resource that provides both width and depth in this important area
Professor John Arnold
Professor of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK