The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Sixth Edition Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support the dissemination of usable knowledge and educate a global community. SAGE publishes more than 1000 journals and over 600 new books each year, spanning a wide range of subject areas. Our growing selection of library products includes archives, data, case studies, and video. SAGE remains majority owned by our founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company’s continued independence. Los Angeles | London | New Delhi | Singapore | Washington DC | Melbourne The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Sixth Edition Edited by Norman K. Denzin University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Yvonna S. Lincoln Texas A&M University Michael D. Giardina Florida State University Gaile S. Cannella Independent Scholar This book is printed on acid-free paper. 23 24 25 26 27 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Acquisitions Editor: Helen Salmon Editorial Assistant: Paloma Phelps Production Editor: Astha Jaiswal Copy Editor: Gillian Dickens Typesetter: diacriTech Cover Designer: Scott Van Atta Marketing Manager: Victoria Velasquez FOR INFORMATION: SAGE Publications, Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 E-mail: order@sagepub.com SAGE Publications Ltd. 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London, EC1Y 1SP United Kingdom SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd Unit No 323-333, Third Floor, F-Block International Trade Tower Nehru Place New Delhi – 110 019 India SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd. 18 Cross Street #10-10/11/12 China Square Central Singapore 048423 Copyright © 2024 by SAGE Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted by U.S. copyright law, no part of this work may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All third-party trademarks referenced or depicted herein are included solely for the purpose of illustration and are the property of their respective owners. Reference to these trademarks in no way indicates any relationship with, or endorsement by, the trademark owner. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Control Number: 2023905608 ISBN: 978-1-0718-3674-3 ADVISORY BOARD Kakali Bhattacharya, University of Florida Svend Brinkmann, Aalborg University Susan Finley, Washington State University Uwe Flick, Freie Universitat Berlin Aitor Gomez, Universitat Rovira i Virgili Mirka Koro, Arizona State University Margaret Kovach, University of Saskatchewan Maggie MacLure, Manchester Metropolitan University D. Soyini Madison, Northwestern University Maria del Consuelo Chapela Mendoza, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana Jan Morse, University of Utah Jerry Rosiek, University of Oregon James Scheurich, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Hillevi Lenz Taguchi, Stockholm University Marek Tesar, University of Auckland BRIEF CONTENTS Advisory Board v Preface xxix Acknowledgments xliii Editor Bios xlv Contributor Bios xlvii Chapter 1 Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research 1 Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, Michael D. Giardina, and Gaile S. Cannella PART I LOCATING THE FIELD 29 Chapter 2 A History of Qualitative Inquiry in Social and Educational Research 33 Frederick Erickson Chapter 3 Ethics, Research Regulations, and Critical Qualitative Science 61 Gaile S. Cannella and Yvonna S. Lincoln Chapter 4 Paradigmatic Controversies, Contradictions, and Emerging Confluences, Revisited 75 Yvonna S. Lincoln, Susan A. Lynham, and Egon G. Guba PART II PHILOSOPHIES OF INQUIRY 113 Chapter 5 Feminist Inquiry 123 Bronwyn Davies Chapter 6 Critical Race Theory and the Postracial Imaginary 137 Jamel K. Donnor and Gloria Ladson-Billings Chapter 7 Intersectionality Methodology: A Qualitative Research Imperative for Black Women’s Lives 153 Chayla Haynes, Saran Stewart, and Lori D. Patton Chapter 8 Queer/Quare Theory: Worldmaking and Methodologies (Revisited) 167 Bryant Keith Alexander Chapter 9 Critical Disability Studies and Diverse Bodyminds in Qualitative Inquiry 209 Emily A. Nusbaum and Jessica Nina Lester viii The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Chapter 10 Critical Post-Intentional Phenomenological Inquiry (CRIT-PIP): Why It Matters and What It Can Do 223 Mark D. Vagle, Keitha-Gail Martin-Kerr, Jana LoBello Miller, Bisola Wald, and Hazen Fairbanks Chapter 11 Why We Do Indigenous Methodologies: Contemplations on Indigenous Protocol, Theory, and Method 241 Sweeney Windchief, Timothy San Pedro, and Margaret Kovach Chapter 12 Postcolonial and Decolonized Knowing: Speaking “Nearby”— A Letter to Rekha 259 Devika Chawla Chapter 13 Poststructural Engagements 273 Aaron M. Kuntz Chapter 14 Agential Realism, Intra-Action, and Diffractive Methodology 293 Serge F. Hein PART III PRACTICES OF INQUIRY 307 Chapter 15 Examining the “Inside Lives” of Research Interviews 317 Kathryn Roulston Chapter 16 Observation in a Surveilled World 333 Jack Bratich Chapter 17 Ethnographic Futures: Embodied, Diffractive, and Decolonizing Approaches 351 Michael D. Giardina and Michele K. Donnelly Chapter 18 Critical Situational Analysis After the Interpretive Turn 369 Adele E. Clarke, Carrie Friese, and Rachel Washburn Chapter 19 Thematic Analysis 385 Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke Chapter 20 Qualitative Social Media Methods: Netnography in the Age of Technocultures 403 Robert V. Kozinets and Ulrike Gretzel Chapter 21 Autoethnography as Becoming-with 421 Stacy Holman Jones and Tony E. Adams Chapter 22 Performance Shapes for Qualitative Inquiry 437 Johnny Saldaña Chapter 23 The Arts as Research: Nomadic Materiality and Possible Futures 453 Richard Siegesmund Chapter 24 Communicative Methodology: Working Together With the Roma Community for Improving Their Lives 467 Aitor Gómez González Chapter 25 Betweener Autoethnographies: Collaborative Inquiry from the Borderlands 481 Claudio Moreira and Marcelo Diversi Brief Contents ix PART IV EVIDENCE, POLITICS, AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION 497 Chapter 26 Qualitative Inquiry and Public Health Science: Case Studies From the COVID-19 Pandemic 501 Trisha Greenhalgh and Ama de-Graft Aikins Chapter 27 Science, Evidence, and the Development of Policy and Practice: Can Qualitative Research Make a Different Contribution? 519 Harry Torrance Chapter 28 Co-production and Impact: Challenges and Opportunities 535 Brett Smith and Kerry R. McGannon Chapter 29 The Elephant in the Living Room, or Extending the Conversation About the Politics of Evidence, Part 2 549 Norman K. Denzin Chapter 30 Backsliding Toward Illiberal Democracy and Authoritarianism: Qualitative Inquiry, Academic Freedom, and Technologies of Governance 567 Marc Spooner PART V INTO THE FUTURE 595 Chapter 31 Academic Survival: Qualitative Researchers in the Neoliberal Academy 599 Julianne Cheek Chapter 32 Publishing and Reviewing Qualitative Research 617 Mitchell Allen Chapter 33 Qualitative Inquiry and Posthuman Futures: Justice and Challenging the Human/Nonhuman Life Dichotomy 633 Mirka Koro and Gaile S. Cannella Chapter 34 The Future of Qualitative Research 647 Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, Michael D. Giardina, and Gaile S. Cannella PART VI HANDBOOK FOUNDATIONS* Chapter 35 Qualitative Methods: Their History in Sociology and Anthropology (from the First Edition) Arthur J. Vidich and Stanford M. Lyman Chapter 36 Ethics and Politics in Qualitative Research (from the Fifth Edition) Clifford G. Christians Chapter 37 Feminist Qualitative Research in the Millennium’s First Decade: Developments, Challenges, Prospects (from the Fourth Edition) Virginia Olesen *These chapters are available in the eBook versions of the Handbook x The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Chapter 38 On Tricky Ground: Researching the Native in the Age of Uncertainty (from the Third Edition) Linda Tuhiwai Smith Chapter 39 Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualitative Research (from the Second Edition) Joe L. Kincheloe and Peter McLaren Chapter 40 Qualitative Case Studies (from the Third Edition) Robert E. Stake Chapter 41 Focus Groups: Strategic Articulations of Pedagogy, Politics, and Inquiry (from the Third Edition) Greg Dimitriadis and George Kamberelis Chapter 42 Triangulation (from the Fifth Edition) Uwe Flick Chapter 43 Writing: A Method of Inquiry (from the Second Edition) Laurel Richardson Chapter 44 Post Qualitative Research: The Critique and the Coming After (from the Fourth Edition) Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre References 655 Index 733 DETAILED CONTENTS Advisory Board v Preface xxix Acknowledgments xliii Editor Bios xlv Contributor Bios xlvii Chapter 1 Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research 1 Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, Michael D. Giardina, and Gaile S. Cannella Interpretive Communities—Past, Present, and Into the Future 4 Mapping Qualitative Inquiry 4 History, Politics, and Paradigms 6 Toward a New Paradigm Dialog(s) 8 Performance, Affect, and the New Materialisms 9 Resistances to Qualitative Studies 11 Historical Moments 12 Definitional Issues: Research Versus Inquiry 14 The Qualitative Researcher-as-Bricoleur 16 Qualitative Research as a Site of Multiple Interpretive Practices 17 Politics and Reemergent Scientism 18 The Pragmatic Criticisms of Antifoundationalism 19 Qualitative Research as Process 19 The “Other” as Research Subject 20 Part I: Locating the Field 21 Part II: Philosophies of Inquiry 22 Part III: Practices of Inquiry 23 Part IV: Political Considerations 24 Part V: Into the Future 25 Notes 26 PART I LOCATING THE FIELD 29 Chapter 2 A History of Qualitative Inquiry in Social and Educational Research 33 Frederick Erickson Origins of Qualitative Research 33 The Emergence of Ethnography 35 Adding Point of View 37 xii The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research A “Golden Age” of Realist Ethnography 39 Crises in Ethnographic Authority 41 Qualitative Inquiry in Educational Research 48 The Current Scene 50 Conclusion 58 Discussion Questions 59 Note 59 Chapter 3 Ethics, Research Regulations, and Critical Qualitative Science 61 Gaile S. Cannella and Yvonna S. Lincoln Constructing Critical Ways of Being 64 Ethics, Critical Qualitative Science, and Institutionalized Forms of Governmentality 67 Transforming Regulations: Redefining the Technologies That Govern Us 71 Discussion Questions 73 Notes 74 Chapter 4 Paradigmatic Controversies, Contradictions, and Emerging Confluences, Revisited 75 Yvonna S. Lincoln, Susan A. Lynham, and Egon G. Guba Major Issues Confronting All Paradigms 76 Axiology 80 Accommodation, Commensurability, and Cumulation 98 Cumulation 99 The Call to Action 99 Control 100 Foundations of Truth and Knowledge in Paradigms 101 Validity: An Extended Agenda 103 Whither and Whether Criteria 105 Validity as Authenticity 106 Validity as Resistance and as Poststructural Transgression 107 Other “Transgressive” Validities 107 Validity as an Ethical Relationship 108 Voice, Reflexivity, and Postmodern Textual Representation 108 Voice 108 Reflexivity 109 Postmodern Textual Representations 110 A Glimpse of the Future 111 Notes 112 PART II PHILOSOPHIES OF INQUIRY 113 Chapter 5 Feminist Inquiry 123 Bronwyn Davies Why Is Feminist Inquiry and Feminist Action Still Necessary? 123 What Is Feminist Inquiry? 125 Current Frustrations/Actions/Protests/Joys 127 Detailed Contents xiii The Formation of Gendered Identities 128 Who Will Count as Human? 129 Six Principles for Asking Questions and Developing Strategies of Inquiry 131 New Developments and Perspectives (i.e., What Is Under Debate, Pending, and/or Unresolved in This Area?) 132 Conclusion—Where Might Feminist Inquiry Go in the Next Decade? 134 Discussion Questions 135 Chapter 6 Critical Race Theory and the Postracial Imaginary 137 Jamel K. Donnor and Gloria Ladson-Billings Introduction—Keeping It Real 137 The Moral Clarion Call 138 Race and the Work of Social Scientists 141 The Promise and Potential of Critical Race Theory 144 Challenges to Critical Race Theory 146 Just what exactly is critical race theory? 146 Critical race theory in education and the issue of rigor 148 Conclusion—Race Still Matters 149 Notes 152 Chapter 7 Intersectionality Methodology: A Qualitative Research Imperative for Black Women’s Lives 153 Chayla Haynes, Saran Stewart, and Lori D. Patton Introduction 153 Intersectionality Methodology: A Qualitative Research Imperative for Black Women’s Lives 155 Intersectionality: Black Feminism as Theory, Research, and Praxis 157 Intersectionality Methodology 158 IM Draws Upon Crenshaw’s Intersectionality 158 IM’s Features Enable Sophisticated Intersectional Analyses 159 IM Approach to Data Collection and Transformation 162 Envisioning a Future for Intersectionality Methodology 164 Discussion Questions 165 Note 166 Chapter 8 Queer/Quare Theory: Worldmaking and Methodologies (Revisited) 167 Bryant Keith Alexander Queering Queer Theory 171 Queer Worldmaking (or Raising and Lowering of Flags) 175 Unprecedented Times (or Queer Patriotism) (January 6, 2021) 180 Queer of Color Critique/Analysis 182 Tenets of Ferguson’s Queer of Color Critique/Analysis 186 Tenets of Johnson’s Quare Studies 188 xiv The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Theorems of Disidentification 192 Dear Jussie Smollet 199 Discussion Questions 205 Notes 206 Chapter 9 Critical Disability Studies and Diverse Bodyminds in Qualitative Inquiry 209 Emily A. Nusbaum and Jessica Nina Lester Introduction and Aims 209 Working at the Intersections: Disability and Critical Qualitative Research 210 Disability Studies: An Overview 212 Critical Disability Studies and the Key Conceptual Connections 214 Underlying Assumptions of Crip Horizons 216 Committing to and Doing the Work of Centering Disability 217 Conclusions and Musings 219 Notes 221 Chapter 10 Critical Post-Intentional Phenomenological Inquiry (CRIT-PIP): Why It Matters and What It Can Do 223 Mark D. Vagle, Keitha-Gail Martin-Kerr, Jana LoBello Miller, Bisola Wald, and Hazen Fairbanks Introduction 223 Historical Grounding of Phenomenology 223 Phenomenological Philosophy—30K Feet 224 Phenomenological Methodology—10K Feet 226 Phenomenological Methods—“On the Ground” 226 Post-Intentional Phenomenology (PIP): A Brief Overview of Key Principles 227 Important Shifts in PIP Toward the Critical 229 A Not-Tidy Conclusion: CRIT-PIP Directly Engaging the Social and Political 231 From Hazen 231 Land Acknowledgment 231 Background on Indigenous Frameworks 231 Native American Ten Commandments 232 What Crit-PIP Must Do 233 From Bisola 234 From Keitha-Gail 236 From Jana 237 Discussion Questions 239 Notes 239 Chapter 11 Why We Do Indigenous Methodologies: Contemplations on Indigenous Protocol, Theory, and Method 241 Sweeney Windchief, Timothy San Pedro, and Margaret Kovach Indigenous Dispossession and Resistance Arises Indigenous Methodologies 242 The Axiological Imperative of Indigenous Theory and Methodologies 244 A Letter From Sweeney 246 Intentionality 246 Some Important Questions 247 Detailed Contents xv Triangulation 248 Research Can Be Conscientized and Liberating 250 A Letter from Timothy San Pedro 250 Concluding Remarks 255 Discussion Questions 256 Notes 256 Chapter 12 Postcolonial and Decolonized Knowing: Speaking “Nearby”— A Letter to Rekha 259 Devika Chawla Discussion Questions 271 Chapter 13 Poststructural Engagements 273 Aaron M. Kuntz Introduction 273 Organizational Structure 274 Defining Poststructural/Theory 277 Fascist Problems (and Answers) 280 What Is “Post” Anyway? 282 Becoming-with Poststructuralism 283 Antimethod? 285 Poststructural Inquiry 287 What Is to Be Done? (and Something Must Be Done) 287 Conclusion: Enacting Poststructural Inquiry as Antimethod 289 Discussion Questions 290 Notes 290 Chapter 14 Agential Realism, Intra-Action, and Diffractive Methodology 293 Serge F. Hein Key Concepts in Barad’s Theory 294 Agential Realism, Intra-Action, Entanglement, and Agential Cut 294 Diffraction and Diffractive Methodology 296 Criticisms of Barad’s Theory 297 A Research Example 300 Methodological Issues Associated with the Use of Barad’s Theory 301 Future Directions for the Use of Barad’s Theory 303 Discussion Questions 304 Notes 304 PART III PRACTICES OF INQUIRY 307 Chapter 15 Examining the “Inside Lives” of Research Interviews 317 Kathryn Roulston Introduction 317 A Short History of Interviewing 317 Challenges of the Interview Method 319 xvi The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Examining the Seen-but-Unnoticed Features of Research Interviews 321 Examining Features of Interview Interaction 322 What Topics Have Researchers Studied? 326 New Developments 327 Conclusion 330 Discussion Questions 330 Acknowledgments 331 Note 331 Appendix: Transcription Conventions 331 Chapter 16 Observation in a Surveilled World 333 Jack Bratich Epistemology and Proximity 333 Current Context 335 History 337 Modern Observation as Academic Practice 337 Mediation and Method 338 Ethics of Proximity 341 Observing Observation, Differently 343 Practical Issues of Implementation 344 Developments in Observation and Surveillance 346 Emergent Issues, Tendencies, and Speculations About the Future 347 Discussion Questions 349 Notes 350 Chapter 17 Ethnographic Futures: Embodied, Diffractive, and Decolonizing Approaches 351 Michael D. Giardina and Michele K. Donnelly Proem 351 A Turn Toward the Body 356 A Turn Toward New Materialism and Diffraction 358 A Turn Toward Decolonization 362 Conclusion 364 Discussion Questions 365 Acknowledgments 365 Notes 365 Chapter 18 Critical Situational Analysis After the Interpretive Turn 369 Adele E. Clarke, Carrie Friese, and Rachel Washburn Introduction 369 Why “the Situation” and Not Just “Context”? 369 Theoretical Foundations 370 Detailed Contents xvii Methodological Approaches 371 Situational Maps 372 Mapping Relationality 373 Social Worlds/Arenas Maps 374 Positional Maps 377 Critical Affordances of SA Research 378 Recent Developments and Debates Regarding SA 381 New Directions in SA Research 383 Discussion Questions 384 Notes 384 Chapter 19 Thematic Analysis 385 Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke Introduction and Aims 385 Introducing Thematic Analysis: A Brief History 385 Three Key Debates Around Thematic Analysis 387 Epistemology and Ontology in (Reflexive) Thematic Analysis 389 Doing Reflexive Thematic Analysis: Theoretical and Methodological Guidance 390 Data Familiarization 391 Coding 393 Generating Initial Themes 395 Developing Themes: Reviewing, Refining, Defining, and Naming Themes 396 Writing the Report 397 New Developments and Applications 398 Concluding Thoughts 400 Discussion Questions 401 Notes 401 Chapter 20 Qualitative Social Media Methods: Netnography in the Age of Technocultures 403 Robert V. Kozinets and Ulrike Gretzel Introduction 403 Ethnographic Research on Social Media: Challenges and Opportunities 404 How Social Media and Netnography Coevolved 407 Methodology: Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology 408 Virtual Ethnography, Digital Ethnography, and Other Approaches 410 Five Advantageous Differences of Netnography 412 Steps and Priorities of Netnography 413 Conducting Ethical Research 416 Evolving Netnography 417 Discussion Questions 419 Notes 419 xviii The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Chapter 21 Autoethnography as Becoming-with 421 Stacy Holman Jones and Tony E. Adams Introduction: Autoethnography as Making Kin 421 Background and History: Autoethnography Then and Now 421 Core Assumptions: Autoethnography Is Onto-epistemological 423 Paying Attention to the Traces and Residue of the Personal 423 Being Curious About the Ineffable and the Tacit 424 Showing the Inseparability of Thought and Action 424 The Work of Autoethnography 424 Foregrounding Personal Experience in/as Research 425 Gaining Insight Into the Emotional, Embodied, and Relational 425 Grappling With the Subjective, Everyday, and Emergent 426 Composing a Common Liveable World 426 The Hows and the Whys of Autoethnography: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches 427 Missing Each Other 427 Monument to Rehearsal 428 Developments and Debates 429 Evaluating Autoethnography 430 Autoethnographic Ethics 431 Conclusion 432 Discussion Questions 432 Notes 433 Chapter 22 Performance Shapes for Qualitative Inquiry 437 Johnny Saldaña Introduction: Purpose, Terminology, and Goals 437 Brief Historic Background 437 Epistemological Assumptions of Performance 438 Performance Shapes for Qualitative Inquiry 438 The Research Studio 439 Improvisational Inquiry 439 Theatre of the Oppressed 442 Ethnodrama and Ethnotheatre 443 Transformation 445 Autoethnographic Performance 448 See Johnny Remember 449 New Developments and Perspectives 450 Conclusion 451 Discussion Questions 452 Chapter 23 The Arts as Research: Nomadic Materiality and Possible Futures 453 Richard Siegesmund Overview 454 The Arts as Inquiry Into Social Justice 454 Detailed Contents xix The Arts as Inquiry Into Materiality 455 The Arts as Personal Becoming 456 Conceptual Approaches to the Arts as Research 457 The Arts as Embodied Practice 457 Sullivan’s Artistic Domains 457 Guiding Questions for Embodied Practice 458 Aesthetic Approaches to Research 458 Visuality 458 Design as Social Intervention 460 Resistance to the Arts as Research 460 Narrative and Poetic Analysis 461 Performance 461 Ethical Questions Surrounding the Arts as Research 463 Conclusion 464 Discussion Questions 465 Chapter 24 Communicative Methodology: Working Together With the Roma Community for Improving Their Lives 467 Aitor Gómez González The Main Pillars of the Communicative Methodology 467 Dialogic Orientation 467 The Seven Postulates of the Communicative Methodology 468 The Universality of Language and Action 468 Individuals as Transformative Social Agents 469 Communicative Rationality 469 Common Sense 469 No Interpretative Hierarchy 469 Same Epistemological Level 470 Dialogic Knowledge 470 The Importance of the Interactions 470 Egalitarian Dialogue 470 Cultural Intelligence 471 Transformation 471 Instrumental Dimension 471 Creation of Meaning 471 Solidarity 472 Equality of Differences 472 Twenty-Five Years Working With and for the Roma Community 473 Communicative Organization 474 Communicative Data Collection Techniques 475 Communicative Data Analysis 476 Communicative Methodology and Social Impact Within the Roma Community 476 How the Social Impact Within the Roma Community Has Been Reached Using the Communicative Methodology 477 The Influence of the Communicative Methodology Applied in Workaló and the Integrated Plan of the Roma Community in Catalonia 478 Discussion Questions 479