Art and Science of Portraiture

The Art and Science of Portraiture illuminates the origins, purposes, and features of portraiture - placing it within the larger discourse on social science inquiry and mapping it onto the broader terrain of qualitative research. It delineates the processes, methods, and strategies of research design, data collection, and analysis - underscoring the structure and improvisation, the order and the creativity. It also charts the development of the portrait and the shaping of the narrative, blending literary principles, artistic resonance, and scientific rigor. A landmark contribution to the field of research methodology and an indispensable resource for the social scientist, this lyric book will also provide general readers with a new and illuminating way of viewing the world.