Welcome to the Companion Website

This site is intended to enhance your use of An Introduction to Qualitative Research, Fourth Edition, by Gretchen B. Rossman and Sharon F. Rallis. Please note that all the materials on this site are especially geared toward maximizing your understanding of the material. 

This popular text is a true introduction to qualitative research, leading the new researcher into the field by explaining the core concepts through theory, research, and applied examples. Woven into the chapters are three themes that are the heart of the book: First, research is about learning; second, research can and should be useful; and finally, a researcher should practice the highest ethical standards to ensure that a study is trustworthy. The Fourth Edition includes a much expanded discussion of ethics and ethical research practice, as well as an elaborate discussion of systematic inquiry—both leading to the central consideration of trustworthiness in research. Expanded discussion on the various genres in qualitative research includes more on oral history interviews and autoethnography. The authors provide a more nuanced discussion of conceptualizing and developing a conceptual framework, as their own insights into the virtues of early development of this thinking have grown. The discussion of data analysis and interpretation is also expanded, and there are more international examples.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Gretchen B. Rossman and Sharon F. Rallis for writing an excellent text and for reviewing the assets on this site. Special thanks are also due to Rachael Lawrence of University of Massachusetts Amherst for creating the ancillaries on this site.