“Timmermans and Tavory have done the field of sociology a great service with their deep and probing exploration of methods of analyzing qualitative research data. Students will find the questions they are often asked answered here to everyone's satisfaction.”

Howard S. Becker, author of Writing for Social Scientists

“Timmermans and Tavory show us how to use abductive analysis through every stage of the research process to exploit the potential for theory construction that breaks new ground. They give qualitative researchers—beginning and experienced—new ways to think about what we do as we are doing it, as well as a set of new analytic practices.  In so doing, they also give us the ability to teach it.”

Diane Vaughan, author of Dead Reckoning

“In spite of its title, Data Analysis in Qualitative Research is as much about theory as it is about data. The authors make a case for theoretically informed qualitative research in which true discovery—or, as they put it, surprise—is key. At times irreverent in tone and informed by years of experience, the book will prove valuable to ethnographers and interviewers grappling with qualitative analysis.”

Mario Small, author of Someone To Talk To

"This book is a manifesto for a better sociology—one centered on explaining the inexplicable in a way that does not merely replicate what we know but empowers us to know more, know subversively, know better. I want to assign this book to every incoming grad student—both to instruct them on what sociology can be and also put in their minds the expectation that they too can create great sociology."

Jennifer Carlson, University of Arizona

“Data Analysis in Qualitative Research aims to show researchers how to collect, analyze, and write about their data in more theoretically fruitful ways. It presents a set of principles to guide and empower researchers to think more productively about the relation between theory and data. This approach is likely to induce the active engagement that will generate innovative research, rather than simply guiding readers to follow a recipe that would produce a merely passable piece of work.”

Carol Heimer, Northwestern University

"Timmermans and Tavory’s how-to guide provides tricks of the trade for researchers who hope to take excellent qualitative data and transform it into powerful scholarship. One focus is on how researchers can approach qualitative research in a way that will locate surprising findings that may lead to theoretical breakthroughs."

Law & Social Inquiry