Scholarly interests

Mixed Methods Research, Women and Body Image, Feminist Theory and Methods, Qualitative Methods, Micro-computing and Qualitative Data Analysis, Women’s Health.

Academic profile

Sharlene Janice Nagy Hesse-Biber is Professor of Sociology and the Director of Women’s Studies & Gender Studies Program at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She has published widely on the impact of sociocultural factors on women’s body image, including her book Am I Thin Enough Yet? The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity (Oxford, 1996), which was selected as one of Choice magazine’s best academic books for 1996. She also published The Cult of Thinness (Oxford, 2007).

She has also written widely on methodological and methods issues, including the role of technology and emergent methods in social research. She is co-editor of Emergent Methods in Social Research (Sage, 2006). She is co-author of The Practice of Qualitative Research (Sage, 2006; second edition, 2010). She is editor of the Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis (Sage, 2007), which was selected as one of the Critics’ Choice Award winners by the American Education Studies Association, and was also chosen as one of Choice Magazine’s Outstanding Academic titles for 2007. She is co-editor of the Handbook of Emergent Methods (Guilford, 2008). She is a contributor to the Handbook of Grounded Theory (Sage, 2008) as well the Handbook of Mixed Methods Research (Sage 2nd edition, 2010). She is author of Mixed Methods Research: Merging Theory with Practice (Guilford Publications, 2010).

Professor Hesse-Biber is also co-developer of the software program HyperRESEARCH, a computer-assisted program for analyzing qualitative data, and the new transcription tool HyperTRANSCRIBE. A fully functional free demo of these programs is available at www.researchware.com. This website provides links to a free teaching edition for both programs.

Courses Typically Taught

SC710 - Social Inquiry Research Seminar
SC510 - Mixed Methods Research
SC558 - Qualitative Research
SC509 - Feminist Research
SC063 - Women and the Body
SC505 - Beauty Fictions

Professional Honors and Awards

Am I Thin Enough Yet? The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity. Selected by Choice Magazine as one of the Outstanding Academic Books for 1996.

The Handbook of Feminist Research. A Choice Magazine 2008 Outstanding Academic Title.

The Handbook of Feminist Research. Selected in 2007 as one of the Critics Choice Award Winners by the American Educational Studies Association.

Associate Editor, Journal of Mixed Methods Research.

Editorial Board, Sociological Methodologye.

Recently Published Books

Editor. Feminist Research: A Primer, 2nd Edition, Sage Publications, 2012 (forthcoming).

Editor. Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis 2nd Edition. Sage Publications 2012 (forthcoming).

Editor. Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Author. Mixed Methods Research: Merging Theory with Practice. Guilford, 2010.

Co-Author. The Practice of Qualitative Research 2nd Edition. Sage Publications, 2010.

Co-Editor. Handbook of Emergent Methods in Social Research (co-editor). Guilford, 2008.

Recently Published Articles

Hesse-Biber, S.N., Livingstone, S., Ramirez, D., E.B. Barko, & A.L. Johnson, (2010) “Racial Identity and Body Image Among Black Female College Students Attending Predominately While Colleges." Sex Roles, Volume 63, Numbers 9-10: 697-711.

Hesse-Biber, S.N. (Editor) Special Mixed Methods Issue, Qualitative Inquiry. June 2010.

Hesse-Biber, S.N. “Qualitative Approaches to Mixed Methods Practice." Qualitative Inquiry, July 2010 16: 455-468. Most downloaded article, Qualitative Inquiry for 2010.

Hesse-Biber, S.N. “Emerging Methodologies and Methods Practices in the Field of Mixed Methods Research." Qualitative Inquiry July 2010 16: 415-418.

Hesse-Biber, S.N. Feminist Approaches to Mixed Methods. In Tashakkori and Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of Mixed Methods Research. Second Edition. Sage, Forthcoming 2010.