This work is unique in its genre both for the innovation represented by the proposals it makes, and for an attempt to account for the different perspectives, conceptions, approaches and tensions that characterize, in our days, qualitative research. This originality is also present in the exhibition carried out by the participating authors, who appeal to their own inquiries, linked to various fields of the social sciences.
Thus, in the first place, the characteristics of qualitative research (chapter 1) and the peculiarities of qualitative research design (chapter 2) are discussed, in order to continue with the development of the most relevant qualitative research or qualitative research strategies. Among them, the ethnographic approach (chapter 3), the theory based on the data (chapter 4), the life stories (chapter 5) and the case studies (chapter 6). Finally, it is concluded by referring to the use of the computer as an auxiliary to the analysis of qualitative data (chapter 7).

At a time when qualitative research is characterized by its rigor and flexibility, by its systematicity and creativity, by its methodological pluralism and critical self-reflection, the objective of this work is to demonstrate the seriousness of the task of qualitative research its demand, dedication and ethical commitment. Thus, the requirement to produce useful and relevant knowledge is added the need to clearly show each of the steps of the research process leading to the achievement of results: the selection and collection of data, its transcription and analysis, decisions and justifications of sampling, coding and establishing relationships between concepts, adaptation and / or modification and, finally, the creation of theory.