Qualitative Methods for Public Administration

Overview This section is a very partial attempt to outline common qualitative methods which have been employed in social science research. It is at a rudimentary stage and comments and suggestions are welcome (send to david_garson@ncsu.edu).

Contents Links Bibliography

Links

• Specific qualitative methods are linked from the main Statnotes menu page.
• American Political Science Association Section on Qualitative Methods

Bibliography

• Bryman, Alan E. (2007). Qualitative research 2. Sage Benchmarks in Social Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Addresses quality criteria in relation to qualitative research. Part of a four-volume series.
• Collier, David & Brady, Henry E., eds. (2004). Rethinking social inquiry: Diverse tools, shared standards. Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
• Cresswell, John (1997). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Covers biography, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case studies.
• Cresswell, John W. (2002). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Second ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Esterberg, Kristin G. (2001). Qualitative methods in social research. NY: McGraw-Hill.
• George, Alexander L. & Bennett, Andrew (2005). Case studies and theory development in the social sciences. BCSIA Studies in International Security. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• King, Gary, Keohane, Robert O., and Verba, Sidney (1994). Designing social inquiry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. A controversial attempt to extend the logic of quantitative methods to the domain of qualitative methodology, attempting to create a unified social science. Rejected by many qualitative methodologists.
• McNabb, David (2002). Research Methods in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management: Quantitative and Qualitative. NY: M.E. Sharpe. Focus on case studies, grounded theory, ethnography, and action research.
• Patton, Michael Quinn (1987). How to use qualitative methods in evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Patton, Michael Quinn (2001). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Third Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Perecman, Ellen & Curran, Sara R. (2006). A handbook for social science field research: Essays & bibliographic sources on research design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Silverman, David (2005). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. Second ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Silverman, David (2006). Interpreting qualitative data: Methods for analyzing talk, text and interaction. Third ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.