QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
Involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data to
understand concepts, opinions, or experiences.
Can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate
new ideas for research.
Is the opposite of quantitative research.
Takes place in natural setting. The qualitative researcher often goes
to the site (home, office) of participants to conduct the research.
Uses multiple methods that are interactive and humanistic. The
methods of data collection are growing, and they increasingly
involve active participation by participants and sensitivity to the
participants in the study.
Is fundamentally interpretive. This means that the researcher makes
an interpretation of the data.
Is commonly used in the humanities and social sciences, in subjects
such as anthropology, sociology, education, health sciences,
history, etc.
Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research.
Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research.
Quantitative Data Collection Methods.
Surveys: List of closed or multiple choice questions that is
distributed to a sample (online, in person, or over the
phone).
Experiments: Situation in which variables are controlled
and manipulated to establish cause-and-effect
relationships.
Qualitative Data Collection Methods.
Interviews: Asking open-ended questions verbally to
respondents.
Focus groups: Discussion among a group of people about a
topic to gather opinions that can be used for further research.
Ethnography: Participating in a community or organization for an
extended period of time to closely observe culture and
behavior.
Literature review: Survey of published works by other authors.
Observations: Observing subjects in a natural environment where
variables can’t be controlled.
Quantitative research approach.
You survey 300 students at your university and ask them
questions such as: “on a scale from 1-5, how satisfied are
you with your professors?”
You can perform statistical analysis on the data and
draw conclusions such as: “on average students rated
their professors 4.4”.
Qualitative research approach.
You conduct in-depth interviews with 15 students and ask
them open-ended questions such as:
“How satisfied are you with your studies?”
“What is the most positive aspect of your study program?”
“What can be done to improve the study program?”
Based on the answers you get you can ask follow-up
questions to clarify things. You transcribe all interviews using
transcription software and try to find commonalities and
patterns.
Mixed Methods Approach.
In mixed methods research, you use both qualitative and
quantitative data collection and analysis methods to answer
your research question.
You conduct interviews to find out how satisfied students are with
their studies. Through open-ended questions you learn things you
never thought about before and gain new insights. Later, you
use a survey to test these insights on a larger scale.
It’s also possible to start with a survey to find out the overall
trends, followed by interviews to better understand the reasons
behind the trends.
Analyzing Quantitative Data.
Quantitative data is based on numbers. Simple math or more
advanced statistical analysis is used to discover commonalities or
patterns in the data. The results are often reported in graphs and
tables.
Applications such as Excel, SPSS, or R can be used to calculate
things like:
Average scores
The number of times a particular answer was given
The correlation or causation between two or more variables
The reliability and validity of the results
Analyzing Qualitative Data.
Qualitative data is more difficult to analyze than quantitative data. It
consists of text, images or videos instead of numbers.
Some common approaches to analyzing qualitative data include:
Qualitative content analysis: Tracking the occurrence, position
and meaning of words or phrases
Thematic analysis: Closely examining the data to identify the main
themes and patterns
Discourse analysis: Studying how communication works in social
contexts
Importance of Qualitative Research.
The aim of qualitative research is to understand the social reality of
individuals, groups and cultures as nearly as possible as its
participants feel it or live it. Thus, people and groups, are studied in
their natural setting.
Research following a qualitative approach is exploratory and seeks
to explain ‘how’ and ‘why’ a particular phenomenon, or behavior,
operates as it does in a particular context. It can be used to
generate hypotheses and theory from the data.
Qualitative research is concerned with developing explanations of
social phenomena.
it aims to help us to understand the social world in which we live
and why things are the way they are.
The Research Question.
Is a clear, focused, concise, complex, and arguable question
around which you center your research.
You should ask a question about an issue that you are genuinely
curious about.
Helps writers focus their research by providing a path through the
research and writing process.
The specificity of a well-developed research question helps
writers avoid the “all-about” paper that reads like a book report
and work toward supporting a specific, arguable thesis.
Introduction to Qualitative Research part 1
