Longitudinal Qualitative Research - by Johnny Saldaña (Paperback)

About the Book

Professor Saldaña briefly discusses the basic elements of longitudinal qualitative data, examines time and change in longitudinal qualitative studies, and then offers sixteen specific questions through which researchers may approach the analysis of longitudinal qualitative data.

Book Synopsis

Professor Saldaña briefly discusses the basic elements of longitudinal qualitative data, examines time and change in longitudinal qualitative studies, and then offers sixteen specific questions through which researchers may approach the analysis of longitudinal qualitative data.

Review Quotes

I think [his] book on qualitative research-longitudinal or just 'commonplace' is GREAT. . . .There are so many excellent references, descriptions and discussions for texts, support books, articles, journals, monographs, etc. in [his] book, that any doctoral student preparing to do a dissertation could benefit from, I feel [his] book-wheteher someone is doing longitudinal qualitative research or not, is a valuable offering and should be read by qualitative researchers, even if they are not contemplating longitudinal research.

I...believe this to be a very good book and one that will be of use to anyone in any field who wished to do longitudinal research!

Johnny Saldaña is one of the most creative minds working in qualitative research today. Here he offers an important option to qualitative researchers, explained in a fresh, interesting way. Using examples from a background combining theatre and educational research, he shows how to approach long-term studies, what kinds of questions can be addressed that shorter research projects cannot, and how the passage of time affects how we research and what we learn.

Professor Saldaña's Longitudinal Qualitative Research explores the depth of information possible in longitudinal research as well as the potential pitfalls associated with these types of studies. It is a thoughtful book for those engaged in qualitative research.

The heart and soul of Longitudinal Qualitative Research is to produce a text that is 'a supplement to introductory texts in qualitative inquiry or as a handbook for researchers conducting long term research.' Ultimately, he succeeds. Saldaña has produced a book that is a very competent, interesting, and useful addition to other work in the field.

There is much [in the book] for an advanced researcher: in particular, how to think of and track change. . . . This volume is trying to bring rigor to a method that was somewhat ad hoc, whose details had not been previously spelled out. The steps Saldana provides us with to do this kind of work go beyond longitudinal research. Indeed, they are both handy and abstract anough to be worth considering by many of us doing a broad range of different forms of qualitative research.

This book discusses approaches for seeking, identifying, and describing the qualitative dynamics of the processes associated with change over time. It has a conceptual depth based on new thinking as well as unique views of some traditional thinking about longitudinal studies. Saldaña provides an exceptionally broad and inclusive structural framework for thinking about what to initially expect in various types of qualitative longitudinal studies and how to gather the information that informs your expectations. Scholars (qualitative as well as quantitative) will find this to be a valuable book.

This book is welcomed addition to the books on qualitative analysis, none of which to this time have given the in-depth attention to process that Saldaña has. The book not only makes the case for process but gives clear strategies for how to bring process into analysis. This will be a great aid to students of qualitative analysis.

About the Author

Johnny Saldaña is a professor of Theatre at Arizona State University.