How do we know whether our development programmes are reducing poverty and empowering the most vulnerable people? What evidence do we have to support our theory of change? Qualitative research for development aims to build the research capacity of development practitioners so that their work benefits from the significant contributions offered by solid qualitative research. The book guides development practitioners through the process of planning, conducting and reporting on a qualitative study, whilst simultaneously highlighting the role of qualitative research in improving the impact, quality and accountability of development programmes. It covers in detail data collection methods such as Participatory Learning and Action, Photovoice, Individual Interviews, Focus Group Discussions and Observations. It demystifies qualitative research and builds the skills and confidence of development practitioners to use qualitative methods authoritatively, and to communicate findings to different audiences.
The book draws on considerable hands-on experience and incorporates case studies from Save the Children and other international organizations to illustrate 'good practice'. To facilitate learning, all the chapters include a series of practical activities that can help the reader to engage actively with the material.
This book is an indispensable learning tool for all development practitioners within NGOs and government departments, as well as researchers and students engaged with applied qualitative research in the context of development.

‘This book is a practical and informative addition to the existing text books on qualitative methods. The authors show the scope of qualitative research and the value of the approach to international development. Having a foot in both academia and development has enabled them to produce a valuable guide which addresses many of the questions raised by development organizations about how you do qualitative research, analyse and write up. I am delighted to see this valuable book!’
Janet Seeley, Professor of Anthropology and Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

‘Is there a need for yet another textbook on qualitative methods? At first sight, perhaps not, but after having read this volume there are good reasons to rethink that “gut response”. The debate between qualitative and quantitative methods is old and might be coming to an end. The understanding -- and lack of understanding -- of qualitative methods varies over time, and hence each period of time needs its own explanation of qualitative methods. The current volume sets the discussion squarely in current discussions around evidence, learning, rigour and performance management. While it is mainly directed at practitioners of qualitative research, I hope many others study its contents: project and programme managers, those who take decisions on the design and funding of research and evaluation, and in particular all who use research findings and who have opinions on whether a particular research process can be considered as “rigorous evidence”.’
Kim Forss, Expert Group for Aid Studies, Sweden

Morten Skovdal
Morten Skovdal is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen.

Flora Cornish
Flora Cornish is Associate Professor in the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics & Political Science.

‘Kasi curriculum’: what young men learn and teach about sex in a South African township

Hodes, Rebecca

Gittings, Lesley

Sex Education, Vol. 19 (2019), Iss. 4 P.436

https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2019.1606792 [Citations: 2]

Agency and governance in green infrastructure policy adoption and change

Gerlak, Andrea K.

Elder, Alison

Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitch

Zuniga-Teran, Adriana

Sanderford, Andrew R.

Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, Vol. 23 (2021), Iss. 5 P.599

https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2021.1910018 [Citations: 2]

Sustainability transition to organic agriculture through the lens of the multi-level perspective: case of Egypt

Kamel, Islam Mohamed

El Bilali, Hamid

(2022)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-022-00391-5 [Citations: 0]

Incidence of catastrophic expenditures linked to obstetric and neonatal care at 92 facilities in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2015

Ntambue, Abel Mukengeshayi

Malonga, Françoise Kaj

Cowgill, Karen D.

Dramaix-Wilmet, Michèle

Donnen, Philippe

BMC Public Health, Vol. 19 (2019), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7260-9 [Citations: 8]

The Handbook of Public Sector Communication

Measuring and Evaluating Audience Awareness, Attitudes, and Response

O'Neil, Glenn

2020

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119263203.ch26 [Citations: 0]

‘This is not what I want for my children’: agency and parenting in Danish asylum centres

Barghadouch, Amina

Skovdal, Morten

Norredam, Marie

Vitus, Kathrine

European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 32 (2022), Iss. 3 P.379

https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckac036 [Citations: 0]

“They have been neglected for a long time”: a qualitative study on the role and recognition of rural health motivators in the Shiselweni region, Eswatini

Walker, Caroline

Burtscher, Doris

Myeni, John

Kerschberger, Bernhard

Schausberger, Bernadette

Rusch, Barbara

Dlamini, Nosipho

Whitehouse, Katherine

Human Resources for Health, Vol. 18 (2020), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-020-00504-9 [Citations: 1]

Qualitative Assessment of Barriers and Facilitators of PrEP Use Before and After Rollout of a PrEP Program for Priority Populations in South-central Uganda

Ddaaki, William

Strömdahl, Susanne

Yeh, Ping Teresa

Rosen, Joseph G.

Jackson, Jade

Nakyanjo, Neema

Kagaayi, Joseph

Kigozi, Godfrey

Nakigozi, Gertrude

Grabowski, M. Kathryn

Chang, Larry W.

Reynolds, Steven J.

Nalugoda, Fred

Ekström, Anna Mia

Kennedy, Caitlin E.

AIDS and Behavior, Vol. 25 (2021), Iss. 11 P.3547

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03360-3 [Citations: 1]

Healthcare professionals’ experiences with highly qualified nurses working in acute care teams in primary healthcare settings

Udesen, Stine Emilie Junker

Lassen, Annmarie Touborg

Andersen, Nina

Østervang, Christina

Nielsen, Dorthe Suanne

Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, Vol. 39 (2021), Iss. 2 P.194

https://doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2021.1913903 [Citations: 1]

Capturing the voices of mothers: Delivery and content efficacy of a community attachment parenting program

Bonnett, Tina H.

McCorquodale, Lisa

Schouten, Karen R.

Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 49 (2021), Iss. 7 P.2330

https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22669 [Citations: 0]

The folk illness kimeo and “traditional” uvulectomy: an ethnomedical study of care seeking for children with cough and weakness in Dar es Salaam

Lange, Siri

Mfaume, Dorcas

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Vol. 18 (2022), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-022-00533-9 [Citations: 0]

The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa

Community-Based Mapping Methodology for Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study of Quarry Road West Informal Settlement, Durban, South Africa

Mazeka, Bahle

Sutherland, Catherine

Buthelezi, Sibongile

Khumalo, Duduzile

2019

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04873-0_3 [Citations: 4]

‘She is like my mother’: Community-based care of drug-resistant tuberculosis in rural Eswatini

Burtscher, Doris

Juul Bjertrup, Pia

Vambe, Debrah

Dlamini, Velibanti

Mmema, Nqobile

Ngwenya, Siphiwe

Rusch, Barbara

Kerschberger, Bernhard

Global Public Health, Vol. 16 (2021), Iss. 6 P.911

https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1808039 [Citations: 1]

Research Anthology on Service Learning and Community Engagement Teaching Practices

Grounding Institutions of Higher Learning as Learning Organizations for Developing Intellectual-Knowledge Society

Tshishonga, Ndwakhulu Stephen

2022

https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-3877-0.ch062 [Citations: 0]

Case selection for robust generalisation: lessons from QuIP impact evaluation studies

Copestake, James

Development in Practice, Vol. 31 (2021), Iss. 2 P.150

https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2020.1828829 [Citations: 0]

Community-based maternal, newborn, and child health surveillance: perceptions and attitudes of local stakeholders towards using mobile phone by village health volunteers in the Kenge Health Zone, Democratic Republic of Congo

Diese, Mulamba

Kalonji, Albert

Izale, Bibiche

Villeneuve, Susie

Kintaudi, Ngoma Miezi

Clarysse, Guy

Ngongo, Ngashi

Ntambue, Abel Mukengeshayi

BMC Public Health, Vol. 18 (2018), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5186-2 [Citations: 7]

‘You need to know in order to help’: how HIV-related stigma obstructs pastoral care in Kenyan primary schools

Brainin, Frederik

Merrild, Klara

Rueskov, Vivian

Skovdal, Morten

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, Vol. 15 (2020), Iss. 2 P.171

https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2019.1668582 [Citations: 0]

Uncertainties, work conditions and testing biases: Potential pathways to misdiagnosis in point-of-care rapid HIV testing in Zimbabwe

Skovdal, Morten

Beckmann, Nadine

Maswera, Rufurwokuda

Nyamukapa, Constance

Gregson, Simon

Nelson, Julie AE

PLOS ONE, Vol. 15 (2020), Iss. 8 P.e0237239

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237239 [Citations: 1]

“It's because they care”: understanding pathways to classroom concentration problems among HIV-affected children and youth in Western Kenya

Skovdal, Morten

AIDS Care, Vol. 28 (2016), Iss. sup2 P.42

https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2016.1159651 [Citations: 4]

Attributing Development Impact

CHAPTER 1 Introducing the causal attribution challenge and the QuIP

Copestake, James

Remnant, Fiona

Morsink, Marlies

2019

https://doi.org/10.3362/9781780447469.001 [Citations: 1]

Unveiling hidden knowledge: discovering the hygiene needs of perimenopausal women

Bhakta, Amita

Fisher, Julie

Reed, Brian

International Development Planning Review, Vol. 41 (2019), Iss. 2 P.149

https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2018.34 [Citations: 1]

Scaling up context-tailored clinical guidelines and training to improve childbirth care in urban, low-resource maternity units in Tanzania: A protocol for a stepped-wedged cluster randomized trial with embedded qualitative and economic analyses (The PartoMa Scale-Up Study)

Maaløe, Nanna

Housseine, Natasha

Sørensen, Jane Brandt

Obel, Josephine

Sequeira DMello, Brenda

Kujabi, Monica Lauridsen

Osaki, Haika

John, Thomas Wiswa

Khamis, Rashid Saleh

Muniro, Zainab Suleiman Said

Nkungu, Daniel Joseph

Pinkowski Tersbøl, Britt

Konradsen, Flemming

Mookherji, Sangeeta

Mbekenga, Columba

Meguid, Tarek

van Roosmalen, Jos

Bygbjerg, Ib Christian

van den Akker, Thomas

Jensen, Andreas Kryger

Skovdal, Morten

L. Kidanto, Hussein

Wolf Meyrowitsch, Dan

Global Health Action, Vol. 15 (2022), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2034135 [Citations: 0]

Foreign investment in emerging legal medicinal cannabis markets: the Jamaica case study

Rychert, Marta

Emanuel, Machel Anthony

Wilkins, Chris

Globalization and Health, Vol. 17 (2021), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-021-00687-3 [Citations: 1]

“We give them threatening advice…”: expectations of adherence to antiretroviral therapy and their consequences among adolescents living with HIV in rural Malawi

Burns, Rose

Magalasi, Denview

Blasco, Philippe

Szumilin, Elisabeth

Pasquier, Estelle

Schramm, Birgit

Wringe, Alison

Journal of the International AIDS Society, Vol. 23 (2020), Iss. 3

https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25459 [Citations: 3]

Scaling up Locally Adapted Clinical Practice Guidelines for Improving Childbirth Care in Tanzania: A Protocol for Programme Theory and Qualitative Methods of the PartoMa Scale-up Study

Sørensen, Jane Brandt

Housseine, Natasha

Maaløe, Nanna

Bygbjerg, Ib Christian

Pinkowski Tersbøl, Britt

Konradsen, Flemming

Sequeira Dmello, Brenda

van Den Akker, Thomas

van Roosmalen, Jos

Mookherji, Sangeeta

Siaity, Eunice

Osaki, Haika

Khamis, Rashid Saleh

Kujabi, Monica Lauridsen

John, Thomas Wiswa

Wolf Meyrowitsch, Dan

Mbekenga, Columba

Skovdal, Morten

L. Kidanto, Hussein

Global Health Action, Vol. 15 (2022), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2034136 [Citations: 0]

New generation free trade agreements as a driver of institutional change: A case of Vietnam

Boguszewski, Mariusz

Stosunki Międzynarodowe – International Relations, Vol. 2 (2022), Iss. P.18

https://doi.org/10.12688/stomiedintrelat.17489.1 [Citations: 0]

Power to participants: methodological and ethical reflections from a decade of adolescent advisory groups in South Africa

Cluver, Lucie

Doubt, Jenny

Wessels, Inge

Asnong, Carine

Malunga, Samantha

Mauchline, Kerry

Vale, Beth

Medley, Sally

Toska, Elona

Orkin, Kate

Dunkley, Yasmin

Meinck, Franziska

Myeketsi, Noxolo

Lasa, Samkelo

Rupert, Caroline

Boyes, Mark

Pantelic, Marija

Sherr, Lorraine

Gittings, Lesley

Hodes, Rebecca

Kuo, Caroline

Chetty, Angelique N.

Thabeng, Mildred

AIDS Care, Vol. 33 (2021), Iss. 7 P.858

https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2020.1845289 [Citations: 2]

Public Discourses of Ebola Contagion and Courtesy Stigma: The Real Risk to International Health Care Workers Returning Home From the West Africa Ebola Outbreak?

Gee, Stephanie

Skovdal, Morten

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 28 (2018), Iss. 9 P.1499

https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732318759936 [Citations: 12]

Tactics employed by healthcare providers in Denmark to determine the vaccination needs of asylum-seeking children: a qualitative study

Nakken, Cathrine S.

Norredam, Marie

Skovdal, Morten

BMC Health Services Research, Vol. 18 (2018), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3661-1 [Citations: 4]

Gambling in Greenlandic adolescents

Udesen, Stine Emilie Junker

Lenskjold, Trine

Niclasen, Birgit

International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol. 78 (2019), Iss. 1 P.1577094

https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2019.1577094 [Citations: 1]

Using theories of practice to understand HIV-positive persons varied engagement with HIV services: a qualitative study in six Sub-Saharan African countries

Skovdal, Morten

Wringe, Alison

Seeley, Janet

Renju, Jenny

Paparini, Sara

Wamoyi, Joyce

Moshabela, Mosa

Ddaaki, William

Nyamukapa, Constance

Ondenge, Kenneth

Bernays, Sarah

Bonnington, Oliver

Sexually Transmitted Infections, Vol. 93 (2017), Iss. Suppl 3 P.e052977

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2016-052977 [Citations: 18]

Digital Science

Blockchain Technology Adoption in the South African Financial Service Sector: Perceived Advantages, Challenges and Potential Use Cases

Barrett, Lorian

Van Belle, Jean-Paul

2022

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93677-8_20 [Citations: 0]

The Formation of Intellectual Capital and Its Ability to Transform Higher Education Institutions and the Knowledge Society

Grounding Institutions of Higher Learning as Learning Organizations for Developing Intellectual-Knowledge Society

Tshishonga, Ndwakhulu Stephen

2019

https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8461-2.ch002 [Citations: 4]

Sustainable electricity for sustainable health? A case study in North-western Zambia

Caperon, Lizzie

Brand-Correa, Lina

Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, Vol. 31 (2020), Iss. 4 P.72

https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2020/v31i4a8362 [Citations: 1]

Dialogical Approaches and Tensions in Learning and Development

Toward a Dialogical and Sociocultural Method of Inquiry: Three Steps Participative Generalization and Reflection (3PGR)

Baucal, Aleksandar

Arcidiacono, Francesco

2021

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84226-0_6 [Citations: 0]

Encyclopedia of Organizational Knowledge, Administration, and Technology

Human Face to Data as a Contemporary Approach to Decision Making in the Development Sector

Wahid, Ishret Binte

Hasan, Mohammad Raquibul

Mwasaa, Walter

2021

https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-3473-1.ch039 [Citations: 0]

‘Now my life is stuck!’: Experiences of adolescents and young people during COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa

Gittings, Lesley

Toska, Elona

Medley, Sally

Cluver, Lucie

Logie, Carmen H.

Ralayo, Nokubonga

Chen, Jenny

Mbithi-Dikgole, Jane

Global Public Health, Vol. 16 (2021), Iss. 6 P.947

https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1899262 [Citations: 16]

Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team

Udesen, Stine Emilie Junker

Nielsen, Dorthe Susanne

Andersen, Nina

Østervang, Christina

Lassen, Annmarie Touborg

BMJ Open, Vol. 11 (2021), Iss. 8 P.e049945

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049945 [Citations: 0]