"This field guide is based on an approach to doing team-based, collaborative qualitative research that has repeatedly proven successful in research projects sponsored by Family Health International (FHI) throughout the developing world. With its straightforward delivery of information on the main qualitative methods being used in public health research today, the guide speaks to the need for simple yet effective instruction on how to do systematic and ethically sound qualitative research. The aim of the guide is thus practical. In bypassing extensive discussion on the theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research, it distinguishes itself as a how-to guide to be used in the field. We have designed the guide as a tool for training the data collection staff members of multisite and team-based public health projects, but it easily has application for smaller-scale or multidisciplinary projects as well. It is also applicable to researchers spanning a wide range of expertise, from beginners to the more practiced – i.e., anyone wishing to learn or review the basics of qualitative data collection and management. We should point out, also, that even as our style of presenting the methods makes them accessible to people without an extensive background in qualitative research, we do not neglect important methodological nuances and details that can affect the quality of a project." (About this filed guide, page vi)