Writing Up Qualitative Research

"Harry Wolcott′s book is one of those little must-have, must-read gems. The voice of experience is unmistakable. It′s great fun to read, and chock full of helpful, how-to-do-it advice."

-H. Russell Bernard, University of Florida and author of Social Research Methods

How do you select what to write up from all the qualitative data you′ve collected? How can you best tell the story of your study? Wolcott has thoroughly revised the book that has provided a solution to this conundrum as well as inspired thousands of readers with their writing. Using lively examples from his and other researchers′ experiences, friendly, practical tips, and a warm, reflective writing style, Wolcott offers readers suggestions for when and where to begin, how to keep the momentum going once writing is underway, suggestions for tightening things up, alternatives for handling questions of theory and method, how to proceed with the mechanics of preparing a manuscript from the table of contents to the index, and how to get published. Designed in a new format to make it easier to locate and review key ideas, this second edition has been completely updated and includes new features, such as: *Chapter 4 on Linking Up: Provides readers with thoughtful guidelines as to how and where to use theory, what needs to be said about method, some thoughts about the "traditional" literature review (as well as how to decide whether or not to include this material!) *Applications: Give readers the opportunity to put into practice some of Wolcott′s tips to improve or jump-start their own writing *Bulleted Reviews: Highlight the key points to remember from each chapter Read the book that will not only enable you to better tell the story of your research in the article, monograph, or dissertation you need to write but also help you to incorporate writing into the essential role it must play in a professional research career.

Harry F. Wolcott (Ph.D. Stanford) taught at the University of Oregon, serving on both the faculties of education and anthropology. He authored several ethnographic texts that included his experiences among the Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia and with the African Beer Gardens of Bulawayo, Rhodesia, as well on ethnographic method and on writing itself, with a focus on qualitative research. His publications included: Transforming Qualitative Data (SAGE 1994); Art of Fieldwork (2nd ed., Altamira Press 2005); Ethnography: A Way of Seeing (2nd ed., Altamira Press 2008); Writing Up Qualitative Research (3rd ed., SAGE 2009); Sneaky Kid and Its Aftermath: Ethics and Intimacy in Fieldwork (Altamira 2002), and Ethnography Lessons: A Primer (Left Coast Press, 2010).