Watch – Videos: Take masterclasses from other researchers – avoid common pitfalls, get encouragement, and ensure you’re going in the right direction with short videos that explore key terms and processes in qualitative research. Corresponding questions online help you internalize important lessons and apply them to your own project.

6.1 Narratives

I have been discussing how we can treat what people tell us in interviews, not as either true or false but as socially constructed narratives. For a helpful short video on this topic, where Corrine Squire explains the nature of narrative research, visit:

What are the main features of narrative research? What kind of research question is appropriate for narrative research?’

6.2 An example of narrative research

Ann Phoenix discusses the use of narrative data collection as a method for researching children. She explains research that relied on the narratives of adolescent boys and reveals how her team gathered rich data from this target group. Visit: 

What were the advantages of narrative research for Ann Phoenix’s research?

6.3 David on interviews.

To see me developing these points about interview data go to: 

In what situations do you think interview data will be most useful and least useful?

6.4 Goffman

For Stephen Fry’s brief introduction to the work of Erving Goffman, go to:

How might Goffman’s concept of the performed self apply to conducting qualitative research?

6.5 Shadowing

For a discussion of how ‘shadowing’ was used to gather data in a science lab, go to:

How do you think shadowing could be a useful research tool in other settings? What sort of methodologies might benefit from ‘shadowing’ to gather data?’

6.6 Foucault

For a brief video introduction to using Foucault in qualitative research, go to:

For what areas of research do you think Foucauldian discourse analysis will be most useful?

6.7 Introduction to CA

For a brief introduction to conversation analysis by Elizabeth Stokoe, go to:

What do you think are the main benefits and challenges of conversation analysis?

6.8 VISUAL data

For a five minute interview by Sarah Pink on ‘sensory ethnography’ which involves using visual data, go to:

How would you summarise the methods of sensory ethnography?

6.9 Mixed quantitative and qualitative methods

For a standard discussion of this, go to John Creswell’s talk at:

For a more detailed introduction to mixed methods, visit:

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of mixed methods research? For what kinds of research questions do you think mixed methods would be appropriate?