The editors have brought together 18 chapters, written by some of the world's leading researchers in their field. They begin with the importance of good project design and then move on to reflect on innovations and developments in data sources, such as netnographical methods, legal research methods, the use of news media, and historical research. They go on to outline innovations in data collection methods with particular pertinence to key HRM topics. Finally, the contributors explore innovative data analysis, looking at the importance of computer-supported qualitative research, causal cognitive mapping and deriving behavioural role descriptions from the perspectives of job-holders.

This Handbook is an invaluable tool for students, researchers and academics in the field of human resource management.

Contributors: P. Ackers, S. Branch, R. Cameron, C. Cassell, G. Clarkson, J. Cogin, J. Ewart, M.T. Hardin, M. Humphreys, R. Johnstone, M. Learmonth, D. Lewin, R. Loudoun, F. Malik, A. McDowall, J.L. Ng, W. Nienhüeser, L.S. Radcliffe, S. Ramsay, J. Richards, C. Rojon, S. Sambrook, M.N.K. Saunders, K. Townsend, K.L. Unsworth, R. Winter

'The editors of this compelling volume insist that contemporary HRM scholarship can be as profound and enduring as the classics in the study of work. A revamped vision of qualitative research, aiming to be ''innovative and timeless'', should drive this agenda. The book urges researchers to draw on older disciplines - history, philosophy, psychology, law, ethnography - in new ways and points to the promise of novel methods, from photo-elicitation to cognitive mapping, which could drive HRM research. This is a call to do new things now and old things differently.'
--Bradon Ellem, University of Sydney, Australia

'Townsend, Loudoun and Lewin have compiled a solid and insightful resource that engages in some very interesting qualitative research methodologies. The contributors assembled in this volume remind us that there is so much more to business and management research than the narrow positivist approaches favoured in many prescriptive business schools. Studies of the world of work and HRM will be much better from consulting this volume.'
--Tony Dundon, University of Manchester, UK

'This Handbook provides a much-needed fresh perspective on qualitative research methods. The editors and contributors to the book present convincing evidence that qualitative research can be both innovative and timeless when it is well designed and executed. The Handbook reminds us that recent technological developments, from mobile phones to transcription software, facilitate a much wider range of data collection than previously existed. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods can be a powerful source of progress in the social sciences. This Handbook is an essential reference for anyone undertaking qualitative research in HRM and will be an inspiration for current and future researchers.'
--Russell Lansbury, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia

Edited by Keith Townsend, Professor of Human Resources and Employment Relations, Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Rebecca Loudoun, Associate Professor, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia and David Lewin, Neil H. Jacoby Professor Emeritus of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, US