Qualitative Research in Practice

This book is a hands-on guide to three of the most essential qualitative research tools-shadowing, focus groups, and qualitative interviews. Offering a clear and practical framework, it equips researchers with the methodological understanding needed to design, conduct, and analyse qualitative research.

Serena Quarta is Associate Professor at the Department of Political and Social Studies at the University of Salerno, where she teaches social research methodology and techniques and social science methodology. She is also Head of the Applied Social Research Methodology Laboratory (ME.R.S.A) at the University of Salerno. Her research interests concern social inclusion processes and the phenomenon of poverty, with particular reference to younger generations. Her latest publications include The Role of Emotions in Ethnographic Research: Comparing Subjectivities (2024) and For an Empirical Study of Social Love (2022) (with M. Palmieri and G. Pellegrini).

Introduction Ch 1. A Glance at Qualitative Research as a Dialogue Between Subjectivities Ch 2. Shadowing: A Technique for Studying Life Worlds 'From the Inside' Ch 3. The Qualitative Interview as a Useful Tool for Analysing Biographical Paths Ch 4. The Focus Group as a Tool to Make the Diversity of Viewpoints a Dialogue