Collecting textual, media and virtual data in qualitative research

Qualitative research textbooks in the social and health sciences are dominated by a focus on data analysis – the uninitiated could imaging that data collection is simple, straightforward, and probably limited to interviewing either individuals or groups (the latter often referred to as ‘focus group’ discussions). This chapter outlines our rationale for focusing not only exclusively on data collection, but also on methods that are under-used within qualitative research, or that offer new and interesting angles for qualitative researchers. The chapter situates and overviews the chapters in the book, highlighting our focus on textual, media, and virtual modes of data collection. The pedagogical features of the book are outlined, and general introductory readings signalled.