John Van Maanen introduces qualitative research through examples of its application in organizational research. Each article serves as an exemplar of well-written, substantively focused and theoretically relevant qualitative research. The articles represent a broad range of research styles, methods, topics and level of analysis, and the studies cover four areas of research: organizational process, groups in organizations, organizational identity and change, and the societal and institutional environment. Organizations studied include factories, churches, universities, engineering groups, fisheries, voluntary organizations, basketball teams and pop music recording firms.