This new version explores the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of each of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Using an accessible and engaging writing style, the author compares theoretical frameworks, ways to employ standards of quality, and strategies for writing introductions to studies, collecting data, analyzing data, writing a narrative, and verifying results. This Second Edition brings the philosophical and theoretical orientations to the beginning of the book: This grounds students in the foundational thinking behind these methods much earlier. The book gives broader coverage of narrative research: One of the original five approaches is expanded from "Biography" to "Narrative," thus exploring a wider range of narrative opportunities, biography still being one of them. It offers a much deeper discussion of interpretive approaches: There is much more emphasis on interpretive and postmodern perspectives such as feminism and critical theory. It provides more specific steps for doing research within each approach: The actual procedure for each approach is discussed and includes the sub-types of qualitative research within each of the five approaches. It illustrates phenomenology and ethnography: Two new, recent sample journal articles: one covering a phenomenological study; the other on an ethnographic study are included. Finally, the new edition includes additional examples: More examples from the human services add to the robust examples in education, sociology, and psychology already present in the text. An accompanying Instructor's Resource CD contains many useful resources including PowerPoint slides, syllabi, checklists, exercises, annotated references to SAGE journal articles, and relevant Web links. This is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in introductory qualitative research methods across the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences. This book divides into 11 chapters: (1) Introduction; (2) Philosophical, Paradigmatic, and Interpretive Frameworks; (3) Designing a Qualitative Study; (4) Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry; (5) Five Different Qualitative Studies; (6) Introducing and Focusing the Study; (7) Data Collection; (8) Data Analysis and Representation; (9) Writing a Qualitative Study; (10) Standards of Validation and Evaluation; and (11) "Turning the Story" and Conclusions. Appended are: (A) Glossary of Terms; (B) Narrative Research Study; (C) A Phenomenological Study; (D) An Ethnography; and (E) A Case Study.