Organizational

Book Review Research Methods

Volume 10 Number 2
April 2007 393-394
10.1177/1094428106290193
Maxwell, J. A. (Ed.). (2005) Qualitative research design: An interactive © 2007 Sage Publications
approach (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. http://orm.sagepub.com
hosted at
http://online.sagepub.com

This volume from the Applied Social Research Methods series is a practical, how-to text
useful for any researcher conducting qualitative research. Graduate students and researchers
new to qualitative methods are an obvious audience. However, researchers experienced in
using qualitative methods may find Maxwell’s approach useful, especially in writing pro-
posals (e.g., for grant funding) or perhaps when faced with a challenge in terms of position-
ing a qualitative project within a discipline dominated by quantitative methods.
If you have read the first edition (Maxwell, 1996) you will find the structure of the text
and many of the writing exercises and stories familiar. The additions to this edition provide
worthwhile expansion of core concepts in qualitative research, including the importance of
connecting with a research paradigm. Maxwell notes that qualitative research can be use-
ful to address a variety of questions and is not restricted to one ontological stance. He
writes from a realist perspective and is explicit about his position; however, the themes of
the book and the writing exercises are useful for qualitative research broadly, and thus, they
should not be disregarded by researchers whose stance differs from Maxwell’s position.
The book, like the original edition, consists of seven chapters packed with how-to advice
and exercises the reader can apply to his or her own research ideas. The book is based on
Maxwell’s model for qualitative research (which he calls the interactive approach), covered
in the first chapter. The model, which consists of five sets of concepts (goals, conceptual
framework, research questions, methods, and validity), forms the structure for the text.
Chapters 2, 3, and 4 highlight processes such as explicating the researchers’ goals, exam-
ining the conceptual framework for the study, and arriving at research questions that will
drive the research process. Chapter 5 addresses what the researcher actually will do—the
methods to be used in the study. Chapter 6 covers an explanation of how the concepts of
validity and generalization are approached in qualitative studies. The final chapter offers
advice on writing a qualitative-research proposal, an example of which is found in the
appendix.
The text is written very conversationally, as if the book is talking to the reader! For
example, chapter 2 is titled “Why Are You Doing This Study?” In this chapter, the
researcher is challenged to consider her or his personal, practical, and intellectual goals for
the study. Personal values and researcher identity are noted as important elements to con-
sider. The exercise for readers to complete in this chapter is to write a “researcher identity
memo” specific to the person and the project. This exercise is intended to help one see what
he or she brings as strengths and weaknesses to a particular project. Chapter 3 is titled
“What Do You Think Is Going On?” It teaches thought experiments to help clarify unstated
premises and assumptions brought to the project, and it champions the need to challenge
one’s own theories in use as a researcher planning a qualitative project. When tackling
the subject of research questions, Maxwell’s chapter 4 asks “What Do You Want To
Understand?” The distinction between research questions and hypotheses is made as is the
distinction between research questions and questions that end up on the interview guide (or
those used in the fieldwork generally). This leads nicely to the next chapter, on methods,

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which succinctly covers structured versus unstructured approaches, negotiation-research

relationships, and options for analysis. It was refreshing to see that Maxwell’s approach to
methods was very practical—for example, addressing the question “what do you do with
all those tape-recorded interviews?” And it was also refreshing to have “categorizing” ver-
sus “connecting” strategies for analysis covered in this chapter. Whereas categorizing often
is accomplished by coding snippets of data, connecting might involve cases, vignettes, nar-
rative analysis, or discourse analysis, for example. Maxwell rightly points out that the
research questions will drive choices of the appropriate methods in the field and methods
of analysis. Finally, in his advice about validity issues in qualitative research, Maxwell uses
chapter 6 to point out that a qualitative study can be particularistic (not meant to general-
ize to a larger population) and that validity in quantitative variance-testing research meth-
ods is not what qualitative researchers are seeking. However, he cautions that qualitative
researchers must be self-reflective and analyze their work to answer the question “How
might you be wrong?” A helpful checklist is provided, along with another thinking/writing
exercise.
The book ends with advice on qualitative proposal writing, noting that the challenge here
for qualitative research is that the research will evolve as it progresses. Maxwell carefully
spells out the purpose of the proposal and the relationship between research design and pro-
posal argument. A lot of material is packed into this little volume. One drawback of this
book for organizational researchers is that the examples in the book tend to be from other
disciplines (education, primarily). Regardless, the practical nature of the advice, the engag-
ing exercises for readers to use in their own research endeavors, and the conversational tone
of the text make it easy to recommend this volume to a broad audience.
Some researchers will seek out other resources for guidance, because Maxwell writes
from a realist perspective and does not engage any other possible stances. However, many
other approaches (such as interpretive, symbolic, critical perspectives) often lead researchers
to choose qualitative methods. Those who favor other approaches may find other resources
useful for specifics of qualitative methods suited to postmodern approaches, such as Denzin
and Lincoln’s (2000) The Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd ed., for a collection of infor-
mation and a comparison of various historical moments in the history of qualitative research.
Prasad’s (2005) Crafting Qualitative Research: Working in the Postpositivist Traditions
offers more specific insights that will inform postmodern ontological and methodological
preferences and choices.

Cynthia J. Bean, PhD

University of South Florida–St. Petersburg

References
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2000). Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Prasad, P. (2005). Crafting qualitative research. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.