Book Review

Yin, R.K. (2016). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish, Second Edition. New
York: The Guilford Press. ISBN: 978-1-4625-1797-8. 386 pp.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to qualitative research. The author,

Dr. Robert K. Yin, is Chairman of the Board and CEO of COSMOS Corporation,
an applied research and social science firm that has been in operation since
1980. His research has covered primary, secondary, and postsecondary education,
health promotion, and neighborhood, community, and urban development.
Dr. Yin explains that the book has three themes: being practical, inductive,
and adaptive. The practical approach reveals how qualitative research is done at
the ground level. The inductive approach presents examples of successfully
completed and published qualitative studies. The adaptive approach presents
optional choices to enable the researcher to customize his or her qualitative
study.
The book includes 12 chapters, a glossary, and three appendices. At the end
of each chapter, there is a “recap” and an exercise for students. The first chapter
is titled “What Is Qualitative Research and Why Might You Consider Doing
Such Research?” Dr. Yin explains that qualitative research has five features: (i)
studying the meaning of people’s lives, (ii) representing the views and
perspectives of the participants in a study, (iii) accounting for real-world
contextual conditions, (iv) contributing insights from existing or new concepts
that may help to explain social behavior, and (v) acknowledging the potential
relevance of multiple sources of evidence.
Chapter 2 is titled “Getting Ready to Do Qualitative Research.” The five
subsections in this chapter are as follows: (i) personal attributes, (ii) managing
field-based research, (iii) acknowledging your research lens, (iv) ethical
standards of conduct, and (v) protecting human subjects. I am pleased that Dr.
Yin has emphasized ethical conduct and protecting human subjects. All
researchers need to be aware of the need to obtain approval from their
Institutional Review Board (IRB) for research that includes human subjects.
Chapter 3 is titled “How to Start a Qualitative Research Study.” The exercise
for Chapter 3 is to create a “study bank.” This would involve reviewing journals
and developing a list of topics and then identifying categories based on the
word tables. Chapter 4 is titled “Choices in Designing Qualitative Research
Studies.” The choices range from “Attending to Sampling” to “Being Concerned
with the Generalizability or Transferability of a Study’s Findings.” The exercise
asks students to select six articles from the list developed for Chapter 3 and
summarize the design features of the six studies. The design features are as
follows: (i) research questions, (ii) type and number of data collection units, (iii)
description of the sample, (iv) use of a research protocol, and (v) how the
findings might transfer to other situations.
Chapter 5 is titled “Doing Fieldwork.” The end-of-chapter exercise is to
shadow a person three times in a two-week period to learn about his or her job.
Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 44, No. 3, March 2016 324–325
DOI: 10.1111/fcsr.12144
© 2016 American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
324
BOOK REVIEW 325

After observing and taking notes, students are asked to summarize their
observations. Chapter 6 is titled “Data Collection Methods.” The methods
include the following: interviewing and conversing, observing, collecting and
examining, and feeling. Chapter 7 is titled “Recording Data.” This includes note-
taking and converting field notes into fuller notes, recording, and reviewing and
editing the recordings.
Chapter 8 is titled “Analyzing Qualitative Data, I: Compiling, Disassembling,
and Reassembling.” Chapter 9 continues with “Analyzing Qualitative Data, part
II: Interpreting and Concluding.” Chapter 10 is titled “Displaying Qualitative
Data.” This includes the following: narrative data, and tabular, graphic, pictorial,
and related presentations. There is a section on Creating Slides to Accompany
Oral Presentations.
Chapter 11 is titled “Composing Research to Share It with Others.” In the
exercise, students are asked to write a three page summary based on the field
observations in the exercise for Chapter 5. Students are expected to develop a
conceptual framework and a substantive conclusion. Chapter 12 is titled
“Broadening the Challenge of Doing Qualitative Work.” Dr. Yin explains the use
of mixed methods research. He asks students to consider developing a
quantitative survey based on their collection of qualitative information.
Appendix A is an “Illustrative Study Bank.” It is a list of 54 published articles
featuring qualitative research. Appendix B is titled “Two Levels of Data
Collection Units in Illustrative Qualitative Studies Cited in this Book.” Here is
an example: The topic of the article is white-collar employment. The broad level
is events and meetings of professional groups and the narrow level is
individuals. Appendix C is A Semester- or Year-Long Project with the topic of
Career Paths.
In summary, I recommend this book for teaching and conducting qualitative
research. It would be possible to follow Dr. Yin’s suggestions using the end-of-
chapter exercises to develop a course for one or two semesters. I have taught an
Introduction to Research course in which students accomplished a qualitative
project in one semester. I had to develop all of my assignments. This book
would be a great help for busy professors. Also, anyone reading the book would
have a framework for developing a qualitative study.

Sharon A. DeVaney Ph.D.

Purdue University
e-mail: sdevaney@purdue.edu