Good research teaches us something we didn't know maybe that we didn't even realize we needed
to know. But how does a researcher setting out to do their work find those elusive
illuminating insights? How can you create a surprise? Sociologists Stefan Timmermans and Iddo
Tavory have been teaching young scholars how to do just that and in Data Analysis in
Qualitative Research they explore the foundations of conducting revelatory ethnographic
research. This book's predecessor Abductive Analysis teaches students how to uncover the
theoretical insights in their ethnographic work this book ensures that researchers will go
into the field ready to make the most out of the relationships and situations they encounter.
Timmermans and Tavory describe ways of engaging with theory that help the researcher note where
their findings meet and diverge from existing models. They discuss strategies for designing
research that zooms in on specific questions and zooms out to observe the interconnectedness of
social life. They walk the reader through coding data encouraging methods that defamiliarize
data after it's been collected. They highlight the single most promising path to take when
scholars are still not sure what is worth pursuing in their research project. They also take
readers through the writing and publishing process showing that writing is rife with
analytical decisions of what to include how to narrate how to respond to reviewers and how
to engage an academic audience--
