Robert Dingwall is Professor and Director of the Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society at the University of Nottingham.

Elizabeth Murphy is Professor of Medical School and Head of the School of Sociology and Social Policy (from August 2006).

Ray De Vries is a member of the Bioethics Program, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the Department of Medical Education at the Medical School, University of Michigan.

Ivy Bourgeault is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Comparative Health Labour Policy at McMaster University.

Introduction
PART ONE: CONTRIBUTIONS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
There¿s More to Dying Than Death: Qualitative Research on the End-of-Life - Stefan Timmermans
Healer-Patient Interaction: New Mediations in Clinical Relationships - Arthur W. Frank, Michael K. Corman, Jessica A. Gish and Paul Lawton
Qualitative Contributions to the Study of Health Professions and Their Work - Johanne Collin
Why Use Qualitative Methods to Study Health-Care Organizations? Insights from Multilevel Case Studies - Carol A. Caronna
How Country Matters: Studying Health Policy in a Comparative Perspective - Sirpa Wrede
Exploring Social Inequalities in Health: The Importance of Thinking Qualitatively - Gareth Williams and Eva Elliott
PART TWO: THEORY
Theory Matters in Qualitative Health Research - Mita Giacomini
Ethnographic Approaches to Health and Development Research: The Contributions of Anthropology - Rebecca Prentice
What Is Grounded Theory and Where Does It Come from? - Dorothy Pawluch and Elena Neiterman
Qualitative Methods from Psychology - Helen Malson
Conversation Analysis and Ethnomethodology: The Centrality of Interaction - Timothy Halkowski and Virginia Teas Gill
Phenomenology - Carol L. McWilliam
Studying Organizations: The Revival of Institutionalism - Karen Staniland
History and Social Change in Health and Medicine - Claire Hooker
PART THREE: COLLECTING AND ANALYZING DATA
Qualitative Research Review and Synthesis - Jennie Popay and Sara Mallinson
Qualitative Interviewing Techniques and Styles - Susan E. Kelly
Focus Groups - Rosaline S. Barbour
Fieldwork and Participant Observation - Davina Allen
Video-Based Conversation Analysis - Ruth Parry
Practising Discourse Analysis in Healthcare Settings - Srikant Sarangi
Documents in Health Research - Lindsay Prior
Participatory Action Research: Theoretical Perspectives on the Challenges of Researching Action - Louise Potvin, Sherri L. Bisset and Leah Walz
Qualitative Research in Programme Evaluation - Isobel MacPherson and Linda McKie
Auto-Ethnography: Making Sense of Personal Illness Journeys - Elizabeth Ettore
Institutional Ethnography - Marie L. Campbell
Visual Methods for Collecting and Analysing Data - Susan E. Bell
Keyword Analysis: A New Tool for Qualitative Research - Clive Seale and Jonathan Charteris-Black
PART FOUR: ISSUES IN QUALITATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
Recognizing Quality in Qualitative Research - Kath M. Melia
Mixed Methods Involving Qualitative Research - Alicia O¿Cathain
A Practical Guide to Research Ethics - Laura Stark and Adam Hedgecoe
Using Qualitative Research Methods to Inform Health Policy: The Case of Public Deliberation - Julia Abelson
Cross National Qualitative Health Research - Carine Vassy and Richard Keller
PART FIVE: APPLYING QUALITATIVE METHODS
Researching Reproduction Qualitatively: Intersections of Personal and Political - Kereen Reiger and Pranee Liamputtong
Understanding the Shaping, Incorporation and Co-Ordination of Health Technologies through Qualitative Research - Tiago Moreira and Tim Rapley
Transgressive Pleasures: Undertaking Qualitative Research in the Radsex Domain - Dave Holmes, Patrick O¿Byrne and Denise Gastaldo
The Challenges and Opportunities of Qualitative Health Research with Children - Ilina Singh and Sinead Keenan
The Dilemmas of Advocacy: The Paradox of Giving in Disability Research - Ruth Pinder
Qualitative Approaches for Studying Environmental Health - Phil Brown