What is Distinctive about Qualitative Social Work Research?
Qualitative Research and the Social Work Context
Researching the Social Work Field
Qualitative Methods in Social Work - a Review
Doing Qualitative Social Work Research
Reviewing Research
Qualitative Designs
Ethics in Qualitative Research
Asking Questions
Telling Stories
Traces and Deposits in Texts and Documents
Living in Place, Space and Time
Anticipating Analysis and Making Sense of Qualitative Data
Doing Qualitative Analysis
The Purposes of Qualitative Social Work Research
Researching and Evaluating Interventions and Outcomes
Social Justice
Qualitative Research and Practice
The Consequences of Qualitative Research

Dr. Ian Shaw is S R Nathan Professor of Social Work at National University of Singapore and Professor Emeritus at the University of York, England. He was the first chair of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and a founder editor of the journal Qualitative Social Work. He has authored almost 100 peer-reviewed papers, more than 20 books, 60 book chapters, and various research reports. He has written extensively in the journals on issues arising from the relationship between social work and sociology over the last century. His more recent books include Social Work Science (2016) and Research and the Social Work Picture (2018). He is pursuing a graduate programme in creative writing, which sits alongside his interests in gardening, his local church, volunteering in his village shop, playing badminton (badly), and Bob Dylan.

Bringing key developments and debates together in a single volume, this book provides an authoritative guide for students and practitioners embarking on qualitative research in social work and related fields. Frequently illustrated with contemporary and classic case examples from the authors' own empirical research and from international published work, and with self-directed learning tasks, the book provides insight into the difficulties and complexities of carrying out research, as well as sharing 'success' stories from the field.