Five Master Classes in Qualitative Analysis, Frederick J. Wertz, Kathy Charmaz, Linda M. Mcmullen, Ruthellen Josselson, Rosemarie Anderson, and Emalinda McSpadden : book review

• Published in: Indo-Pacific journal of phenomenology Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 1 - 5
• Main Author: Ashworth, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Phenomenology Research Group 01-10-2011
• ISSN: 1445-7377; 1445-7377

This is a courageous book, and its success is due precisely to the openness and audacity of its authors. Surely the six writers had remarkable trust in each other, and especially in Dr Wertz, who seems to have initiated and chaired the enterprise. In the face of the real possibility of hostility, five authoritative methodologists have taken the same set of qualitative material and analysed it in their own way. Most significantly, they have each provided a detailed account of their workings in conducting their analysis. They have laid all of this bare to the other authors as well as to Emily McSpadden, the originator of the data. Perhaps even more courageously, Emily has allowed her harrowing experience to be the focus of attention of the five expert psychologists and of the readers. Emily has also written her own commentary on the five analyses, and the authors of these analyses have provided their reactions (which are remarkably lacking in defensiveness).