Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods

This book was needed for class. I wouldn't have purchased it otherwise. The book came to me in excellent condition and a timely manner.

In all my years of schooling, this is the first text book that I actually read cover-to-cover and most of it twice. Patton has an accessible, human style of writing. He writes with the voice of a mentor and guide. The content is superb. Particularly useful is Patton's use of summarizing tables. These provide for a quick reference and side-by-side comparisons that help simplify, but not dumb down, complex issues such comparitive theory and sampling approaches. Patton's work is also a great jumping off point for more complex research because the book is well indexed and his references broad and authoritative. If I was only going to buy one qualitative research book, this would be it.

Nobody writes like Patton. He is very entertaining, and makes his points eloquently. If you have the time, it is a great book which is very informative. If you don't have the time, try Creswell.

Patton describes qualitative research design and data collection methods in a way that even the novice researcher can easily understand and utilize.

If you've been asked to gather qualitative research but you've never gathered qualitative research before, then this is the book for you. Unlike other qualitative research books that often focus more on a particular phase of research, this book covers all phases in depth, from conceptual issues and qualitative reseach design to analysis, interpretation, and reporting. If you were to read this book from cover to cover you would enjoy it, but you may yawn once or twice. To ease the boredom factor, the author was kind enough to include jokes and cartoons and sage anecdotes from research guru Halcolm. If you just want to use this book to answer particular research questions, then this is also the right book for you. I've looked at several other qualitative research books and this one seems to address all the major questions a researcher could possibly have. I highly recommend this book for any and all qualitative research neophytes.