This book provides a detailed and comprehensive introduction to situational analysis of qualitative data. Adele E Clarke personally created the situational analysis approach, no other book currently deals with it. She carefully situates herself and the situational analysis approach vis-à-vis other current approaches to grounded theory (specifically) and to qualitative data analysis (more generally).

Situational analysis is unique in that it both uses and extends grounded theory; it employs established coding and memoing strategies, while extending the method to include three new kinds of maps and analyses of the situation focused upon in one's research. This is also the first publication about using grounded theory with historical, visual, and discursive materials.