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Each tab in this box focuses on one method of accessing/gathering/collecting qualitative data. This overview tab suggests general materials on qualitative research design.
Designing Qualitative Research by 
The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis by 
Doing Interviews by 
Doing Focus Groups by Focus groups are an ever popular method for collecting qualitative data in the social sciences. Doing Focus Groups provides practical advice on planning and organizing successful groups. Rose Barbour discusses the advantages and limitations of using group discussion and demonstrates effective methods for collecting and analysing data.
The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research by 
Doing Ethnographic and Observational Research by 
Women Fielding Danger by In a compelling exploration of an oft-hidden aspect of qualitative field research, Women Fielding Danger shows how identity performances can facilitate or block field research outcomes. The book asks questions that are crucial for all women engaged in field research. Do researchers enter their field site with a totally neutral identity? Can a researcher's own identity be at odds with how interviewees see her? Could a researcher be of the "wrong" gender, sexuality, nationality, or religion for those being studied? Must some of a researcher's identities be subsumed in certain research settings? How much identity disguise is possible before a researcher violates research ethics or loses herself? Together, these questions inform the book's themes of the centrality of gender, social and political danger, the negotiation of identities, and on-site ethics. Focusing on ethnographic research across a wide range of disciplines and world regions, this deeply informed book presents practical "to-dos" and technical research strategies. In addition, it offers unique illustrations of how the political, geographic, and organizational realities of field sites shape identity negotiations and research outcomes. Understanding these dynamics, the authors show, is key to surviving the ethnographic field.
Doing Conversation, Discourse and Document Analysis by 
Discourse Analysis by 
Using Visual Data in Qualitative Research by Computers are getting much better at transcribing human speech, but are still not perfect.
You will have to obtain IRB approval before collecting data from participants for research. You will have to describe how you will maintain data privacy and confidentiality and what kinds of data you will collect.
It is always important to treat data from participants with care, such that it stays private and confidential. However, there is some data that requires additional steps to protect, and may mean you cannot use some methods of data collection or storage. Consider whether you have