The Qualitative Dissertation
A Guide for Students and Faculty
- Maria Piantanida - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA
- Noreen B. Garman - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA
Foreword by Frances Schoonmaker
Continuing Professional Development | Decision Making Tools | Leadership & Management
"The book is chock full of very practical advice and strategies for doing qualitative dissertation studies. But, unlike any other research methods text I know, it also exudes concern and support for those embarking on the research journey. The authors metaphorically hold the reader’s hand as they tell the reader how to produce a coherent, comprehensive, and rigorous document. Bravo!"
"The authors coach students through processes of conceptualizing the dissertation, treating it as an integral dimension of the journey of living. Moreover, they enable students to develop the dissertation into a line of inquiry that evolves and enriches a career in academe or practical leadership. Those who teach qualitative courses will find this book a guide that organizes and enriches their own strengths in guiding students through the qualitative dissertation experience.”
"While a number of books have appeared in the last few years to help students know about approaches to a qualitative dissertation in the social sciences and particularly in education, this book seeks to help staff and students know these processes in a different way: to know them as lived experiences. This text conveys what doing a dissertation in search of deep rather than surface learning is actually like, what it takes, and what it leads to."
"Piantanida and Garman provide an invaluable set of intellectual, experiental, and practical resources for both students and advisers to use to think about the complex tangle of doctoral text and identity work. They avoid formulaic prescriptions and offer instead an engaging and eminently readable guide to the interrelated processes of forming a scholarly self and a clearly situated and focused inquiry."
This book did serve as a good reference; however, the Bloomberg and Volpe 2016/7 book came out as we were making our decision and we favored the latter for our purposes.
Comprehensive and tremendously helpful for advanced qualitative student working on dissertations.
This is an easy to understand, well-written text which will be of great use to our students.
Excellent read! Practical & useful, especially Chapters 4 & & 7
Thorough and excellent review of writing a qualitative dissertation. I adopted this while working with doctoral students at my previous university. Unfortunately, I no longer teach doctoral students since my current university is master-level only. However, I recommend this book to every doctoral student I mentor or teach.
The second edition of The Qualitative Dissertation is a major revision of the book with the addition of new material, substantial reorganization of information, and the incorporation of new features.
The concept of "cycles of deliberation" served as the organizing principle of the first edition. While the recursive nature of interpretive inquiry remains an important message of the book, greater emphasis has been given to the concept of "self as instrument of inquiry" and the centrality of constructing texts in interpretive inquiry. Information has been added to clarify the nature of knowledge claims generated through interpretive studies. Additionally, more emphasis is placed on encouraging doctoral students to relate concepts of qualitative research to their own experience, beliefs, talents, and sensibilities. This has led to several new features in individual chapters as well as some reorganization of the book.
The contents of the book have been organized into four sections. The first three highlight phases of the dissertation journey—facing the journey, preparing for the journey, and living through the journey. Case Examples of interpretive dissertations have been removed from individual chapters and consolidated into a fourth section for easier reference. A key to the Case Examples is also included on the inside of the front cover. Many chapters have been given new titles to clarify the conceptual content being presented. In addition, the content of the book has been divided into shorter chapters to make complex concepts more accessible.
New features within chapters include a preliminary listing of key concepts to be discussed. The reference list has been updated and sidebars have been added in many chapters to help readers locate references of relevance to particular topics. A key feature is the addition of "Reflective Interludes" which prompt readers to think carefully about their own assumptions about, conceptions of, and capacities for interpretive dissertation research. Textboxes highlighting criteria for judging the merits of interpretive dissertations have been added. The Index has been greatly expanded and refined.