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Types Of Qualitative Research

8 Types of Qualitative Research - Overview & Examples

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How to Write a Research Methodology for a Research Paper

Are you overwhelmed by the multitude of qualitative research methods available? It's no secret that choosing the right approach can leave you stuck at the starting line of your research.

Selecting an unsuitable method can lead to wasted time, resources, and potentially skewed results. But with so many options to consider, it's easy to feel lost in the complexities of qualitative research.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explain the types of qualitative research, their unique characteristics, advantages, and best use cases for each method.

Let's dive in!

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• 1. What is Qualitative Research?
• 2. Types of Qualitative Research Methods
• 3. Types of Data Analysis in Qualitative Research 

What is Qualitative Research?

Qualitative research is a robust and flexible methodology used to explore and understand complex phenomena in-depth. 

Unlike quantitative research , qualitative research dives into the rich and complex aspects of human experiences, behaviors, and perceptions.

At its core, this type of research question seek to answer for:

• Why do people think or behave a certain way?
• What are the underlying motivations and meanings behind actions?
• How do individuals perceive and interpret the world around them?

This approach values context, diversity, and the unique perspectives of participants. 

Rather than seeking generalizable findings applicable to a broad population, qualitative research aims for detailed insights, patterns, and themes that come from the people being studied.

Characteristics of Qualitative Research 

Qualitative research possesses the following characteristics: 

• Subjective Perspective: Qualitative research explores subjective experiences, emphasizing the uniqueness of human behavior and opinions.
• In-Depth Exploration: It involves deep investigation, allowing a comprehensive understanding of specific phenomena.
• Open-Ended Questions: Qualitative research uses open-ended questions to encourage detailed, descriptive responses.
• Contextual Understanding: It emphasizes the importance of understanding the research context and setting.
• Rich Descriptions: Qualitative research produces rich, descriptive findings that contribute to a nuanced understanding of the topic.

Types of Qualitative Research Methods

Researchers collect data on the targeted population, place, or event by using different types of qualitative research analysis.

Each qualitative research method offers a distinct perspective, enabling researchers to reveal concealed meanings, patterns, and valuable insights.

Below are the most commonly used qualitative research types for writing a paper.

Ethnographic Research Method 

Ethnography, a subfield of anthropology, provides a scientific approach to examining human societies and cultures. It ranks among the most widely employed qualitative research techniques.

In ethnographic field notes, researchers actively engage with the environment and live alongside the focus group. 

This immersive interaction allows researchers to gain insights into the objectives, motivations, challenges, and distinctive cultural attributes of the individuals under study.

Key cultural characteristics that ethnography helps to illustrate encompass:

• Geographical Location
• Religious Practices
• Tribal Systems
• Shared Experiences

Unlike traditional survey and interview-based research methods, ethnographers don't rely on structured questioning. 

Instead, they become observers within the community, emphasizing participant observation over an extended period. However, it may also be appropriate to complement observations with interviews of individuals who possess knowledge of the culture.

Ethnographic research can present challenges if the researcher is unfamiliar with the social norms and language of the group being studied. 

Furthermore, interpretations made by outsiders may lead to misinterpretations or confusion. Therefore, thorough validation of data is essential before presenting findings.

Narrative Method 

The narrative research design unfolds over an extended period to compile data, much like crafting a cohesive story. Similar to a narrative structure, it begins with a starting point and progresses through various life situations.

In this method, researchers engage in in-depth interviews and review relevant documents. They explore events that have had a significant impact on an individual's personality and life journey. Interviews may occur over weeks, months, or even years, depending on the depth and scope of the narrative being studied.

The outcome of narrative research is the presentation of a concise story that captures essential themes, conflicts, and challenges. It provides a holistic view of the individual's experiences, both positive and negative, which have shaped their unique narrative.

Phenomenological Method 

The term "phenomenological" pertains to the study of phenomena, which can encompass events, situations, or experiences. 

This method is ideal for examining a subject from multiple perspectives and contributing to existing knowledge, with a particular focus on subjective experiences.

Researchers employing the phenomenological method use various data collection techniques, including interviews, site visits, observations, surveys, and document reviews. 

These methods help gather rich and diverse data about the phenomenon under investigation.

A central aspect of this technique is capturing how participants experience events or activities, delving into their subjective viewpoints. Ultimately, the research results in the creation of a thematic database that validates the findings and offers insights from the subject's perspective.

Grounded Theory Method

A grounded theory approach differs from a phenomenological study in that it seeks to explain, provide reasons for, or develop theories behind an event or phenomenon. 

It serves as a means to construct new theories by systematically collecting and analyzing data related to a specific phenomenon.

Researchers employing the grounded theory method utilize a variety of data collection techniques, including observation, interviews, literature review , and the analysis of relevant documents. 

The focus of content analysis is not individual behaviors but a specific phenomenon or incident.

This method typically involves various coding techniques and large sample sizes to identify themes and develop more comprehensive theories.

Case Study Research 

The case study approach entails a comprehensive examination of a subject over an extended period, with a focus on providing detailed insights into the subject, which can be an event, person, business, or place.

Data for case studies is collected from diverse sources, including interviews, direct observation, historical records, and documentation.

Case studies find applications across various disciplines, including law, education, medicine, and the sciences. They can serve both descriptive and explanatory purposes, making them a versatile research methodology .

Researchers often turn to the case study method when they want to explore:

• 'How' and 'why' research questions
• Behaviors under observation
• Understanding a specific phenomenon
• The contextual factors influencing the phenomena

Historical Method

The historical method aims to describe and analyze past events, offering insights into present patterns and the potential to predict future scenarios. 

Researchers formulate research questions based on a hypothetical idea and then rigorously test this idea using multiple historical resources.

Key steps in the historical method include:

• Developing a research idea
• Identifying appropriate sources such as archives and libraries
• Ensuring the reliability and validity of these sources
• Creating a well-organized research outline
• Systematically collecting research data

The analysis phase involves critically assessing the collected data, accepting or rejecting it based on credibility, and identifying any conflicting evidence.

Ultimately, the outcomes of the historical method are presented in the form of a biography or a scholarly paper that provides a comprehensive account of the research findings.

Action Research 

Action research is a dynamic research approach focused on addressing practical challenges in real-world settings while simultaneously conducting research to improve the situation. 

It follows a cyclic process, starting with the identification of a specific issue or problem in a particular context.

The key steps in action research include:

• Planning and implementing actions to address the issue
• Collecting data during the action phase to understand its impact
• Reflecting on the data and analyzing it to gain insights
• Adjusting the action plan based on the analysis

This process may be iterative, with multiple cycles of action and reflection.

The outcomes of action research are practical solutions and improved practices that directly benefit the context in which the research is conducted. Additionally, it leads to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the issue under investigation.

Focus Groups 

Focus groups are a qualitative research method used to gather in-depth insights and perspectives on a specific topic or research question. 

This approach involves assembling a small group of participants who possess relevant knowledge or experiences related to the research focus.

Key steps in the focus group method include:

• Selecting participants
• Moderating the discussion
• Structuring the conversation around open-ended questions
• Collecting data through audio or video recordings and note-taking 

The discussion is dynamic and interactive, encouraging participants to share their thoughts, experiences, and opinions.

The analysis phase involves reviewing the data collected from the focus group discussion to identify common themes, patterns, and valuable insights. Focus groups provide rich qualitative data that offer a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the research topic or question.

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Types of Data Analysis in Qualitative Research 

Qualitative research employs different data analysis methods, each suited to specific research goals:

• Thematic Analysis: Identifies recurring themes or concepts within data.
• Content Analysis: Systematically categorizes and quantifies text or media content.
• Narrative Analysis: Focuses on storytelling and narrative elements in data.
• Grounded Theory Analysis: Develops or refines theories based on data.
• Discourse Analysis: Examines language and communication patterns.
• Framework Analysis: Organizes data using predefined categories.
• Visual Analysis: Interprets visual data like photos or videos.
• Cross-case Analysis: Compares patterns across multiple cases.

The choice depends on research questions and data type, enhancing understanding and insights.

Benefits of Qualitative Research 

Qualitative research offers valuable advantages, including:

• Flexibility: Adaptable to various research questions and settings.
• Holistic Approach: Explores multiple dimensions of phenomena.
• Theory Development: Contributes to theory creation or refinement.
• Participant Engagement: Fosters active participant involvement.
• Complements Quantitative Research: Provides a comprehensive understanding.

All in all, different types of qualitative research methodology can assist in understanding the behavior and motivations of people. Similarly, it will also help in generating original ideas and formulating a better research problem.

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• What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

Published on June 19, 2020 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.

Qualitative research is the opposite of quantitative research , which involves collecting and analyzing numerical data for statistical analysis.

Qualitative research is commonly used in the humanities and social sciences, in subjects such as anthropology, sociology, education, health sciences, history, etc.

• How does social media shape body image in teenagers?
• How do children and adults interpret healthy eating in the UK?
• What factors influence employee retention in a large organization?
• How is anxiety experienced around the world?
• How can teachers integrate social issues into science curriculums?

Table of contents

Approaches to qualitative research, qualitative research methods, qualitative data analysis, advantages of qualitative research, disadvantages of qualitative research, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about qualitative research.

Qualitative research is used to understand how people experience the world. While there are many approaches to qualitative research, they tend to be flexible and focus on retaining rich meaning when interpreting data.

Common approaches include grounded theory, ethnography , action research , phenomenological research, and narrative research. They share some similarities, but emphasize different aims and perspectives.

Note that qualitative research is at risk for certain research biases including the Hawthorne effect , observer bias , recall bias , and social desirability bias . While not always totally avoidable, awareness of potential biases as you collect and analyze your data can prevent them from impacting your work too much.

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Each of the research approaches involve using one or more data collection methods . These are some of the most common qualitative methods:

• Observations: recording what you have seen, heard, or encountered in detailed field notes.
• Interviews:  personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations.
• Focus groups: asking questions and generating discussion among a group of people.
• Surveys : distributing questionnaires with open-ended questions.
• Secondary research: collecting existing data in the form of texts, images, audio or video recordings, etc.
• You take field notes with observations and reflect on your own experiences of the company culture.
• You distribute open-ended surveys to employees across all the company’s offices by email to find out if the culture varies across locations.
• You conduct in-depth interviews with employees in your office to learn about their experiences and perspectives in greater detail.

Qualitative researchers often consider themselves “instruments” in research because all observations, interpretations and analyses are filtered through their own personal lens.

For this reason, when writing up your methodology for qualitative research, it’s important to reflect on your approach and to thoroughly explain the choices you made in collecting and analyzing the data.

Qualitative data can take the form of texts, photos, videos and audio. For example, you might be working with interview transcripts, survey responses, fieldnotes, or recordings from natural settings.

Most types of qualitative data analysis share the same five steps:

• Prepare and organize your data. This may mean transcribing interviews or typing up fieldnotes.
• Review and explore your data. Examine the data for patterns or repeated ideas that emerge.
• Develop a data coding system. Based on your initial ideas, establish a set of codes that you can apply to categorize your data.
• Assign codes to the data. For example, in qualitative survey analysis, this may mean going through each participant’s responses and tagging them with codes in a spreadsheet. As you go through your data, you can create new codes to add to your system if necessary.
• Identify recurring themes. Link codes together into cohesive, overarching themes.

There are several specific approaches to analyzing qualitative data. Although these methods share similar processes, they emphasize different concepts.

Qualitative research often tries to preserve the voice and perspective of participants and can be adjusted as new research questions arise. Qualitative research is good for:

• Flexibility

The data collection and analysis process can be adapted as new ideas or patterns emerge. They are not rigidly decided beforehand.

• Natural settings

Data collection occurs in real-world contexts or in naturalistic ways.

• Meaningful insights

Detailed descriptions of people’s experiences, feelings and perceptions can be used in designing, testing or improving systems or products.

• Generation of new ideas

Open-ended responses mean that researchers can uncover novel problems or opportunities that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

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Researchers must consider practical and theoretical limitations in analyzing and interpreting their data. Qualitative research suffers from:

• Unreliability

The real-world setting often makes qualitative research unreliable because of uncontrolled factors that affect the data.

• Subjectivity

Due to the researcher’s primary role in analyzing and interpreting data, qualitative research cannot be replicated . The researcher decides what is important and what is irrelevant in data analysis, so interpretations of the same data can vary greatly.

• Limited generalizability

Small samples are often used to gather detailed data about specific contexts. Despite rigorous analysis procedures, it is difficult to draw generalizable conclusions because the data may be biased and unrepresentative of the wider population .

• Labor-intensive

Although software can be used to manage and record large amounts of text, data analysis often has to be checked or performed manually.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Chi square goodness of fit test
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

There are five common approaches to qualitative research :

• Grounded theory involves collecting data in order to develop new theories.
• Ethnography involves immersing yourself in a group or organization to understand its culture.
• Narrative research involves interpreting stories to understand how people make sense of their experiences and perceptions.
• Phenomenological research involves investigating phenomena through people’s lived experiences.
• Action research links theory and practice in several cycles to drive innovative changes.

Data collection is the systematic process by which observations or measurements are gathered in research. It is used in many different contexts by academics, governments, businesses, and other organizations.

There are various approaches to qualitative data analysis , but they all share five steps in common:

• Prepare and organize your data.
• Review and explore your data.
• Develop a data coding system.
• Assign codes to the data.
• Identify recurring themes.

The specifics of each step depend on the focus of the analysis. Some common approaches include textual analysis , thematic analysis , and discourse analysis .

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What is Qualitative Research? Methods, Types, Approaches and Examples

Qualitative research is a type of method that researchers use depending on their study requirements. Research can be conducted using several methods, but before starting the process, researchers should understand the different methods available to decide the best one for their study type. The type of research method needed depends on a few important criteria, such as the research question, study type, time, costs, data availability, and availability of respondents. The two main types of methods are qualitative research and quantitative research. Sometimes, researchers may find it difficult to decide which type of method is most suitable for their study. Keeping in mind a simple rule of thumb could help you make the correct decision. Quantitative research should be used to validate or test a theory or hypothesis and qualitative research should be used to understand a subject or event or identify reasons for observed patterns.  

Qualitative research methods are based on principles of social sciences from several disciplines like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. In this method, researchers try to understand the feelings and motivation of their respondents, which would have prompted them to select or give a particular response to a question. Here are two qualitative research examples :  

• Two brands (A & B) of the same medicine are available at a pharmacy. However, Brand A is more popular and has higher sales. In qualitative research , the interviewers would ideally visit a few stores in different areas and ask customers their reason for selecting either brand. Respondents may have different reasons that motivate them to select one brand over the other, such as brand loyalty, cost, feedback from friends, doctor’s suggestion, etc. Once the reasons are known, companies could then address challenges in that specific area to increase their product’s sales.  
• A company organizes a focus group meeting with a random sample of its product’s consumers to understand their opinion on a new product being launched.  

Table of Contents

What is qualitative research? 1

Qualitative research is the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting non-numerical data. The findings of qualitative research are expressed in words and help in understanding individuals’ subjective perceptions about an event, condition, or subject. This type of research is exploratory and is used to generate hypotheses or theories from data. Qualitative data are usually in the form of text, videos, photographs, and audio recordings. There are multiple qualitative research types , which will be discussed later.  

Qualitative research methods 2

Researchers can choose from several qualitative research methods depending on the study type, research question, the researcher’s role, data to be collected, etc.  

The following table lists the common qualitative research approaches with their purpose and examples, although there may be an overlap between some.  

Types of qualitative research 3,4

The data collection methods in qualitative research are designed to assess and understand the perceptions, motivations, and feelings of the respondents about the subject being studied. The different qualitative research types include the following:  

• In-depth or one-on-one interviews : This is one of the most common qualitative research methods and helps the interviewers understand a respondent’s subjective opinion and experience pertaining to a specific topic or event. These interviews are usually conversational and encourage the respondents to express their opinions freely. Semi-structured interviews, which have open-ended questions (where the respondents can answer more than just “yes” or “no”), are commonly used. Such interviews can be either face-to-face or telephonic, and the duration can vary depending on the subject or the interviewer. Asking the right questions is essential in this method so that the interview can be led in the suitable direction. Face-to-face interviews also help interviewers observe the respondents’ body language, which could help in confirming whether the responses match.  
• Document study/Literature review/Record keeping : Researchers’ review of already existing written materials such as archives, annual reports, research articles, guidelines, policy documents, etc.  
• Focus groups : Usually include a small sample of about 6-10 people and a moderator, to understand the participants’ opinion on a given topic. Focus groups ensure constructive discussions to understand the why, what, and, how about the topic. These group meetings need not always be in-person. In recent times, online meetings are also encouraged, and online surveys could also be administered with the option to “write” subjective answers as well. However, this method is expensive and is mostly used for new products and ideas.  
• Qualitative observation : In this method, researchers collect data using their five senses—sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. This method doesn’t include any measurements but only the subjective observation. For example, “The dessert served at the bakery was creamy with sweet buttercream frosting”; this observation is based on the taste perception.  

Qualitative research : Data collection and analysis

• Qualitative data collection is the process by which observations or measurements are gathered in research.  
• The data collected are usually non-numeric and subjective and could be recorded in various methods, for instance, in case of one-to-one interviews, the responses may be recorded using handwritten notes, and audio and video recordings, depending on the interviewer and the setting or duration.  
• Once the data are collected, they should be transcribed into meaningful or useful interpretations. An experienced researcher could take about 8-10 hours to transcribe an interview’s recordings. All such notes and recordings should be maintained properly for later reference.  
• Some interviewers make use of “field notes.” These are not exactly the respondents’ answers but rather some observations the interviewer may have made while asking questions and may include non-verbal cues or any information about the setting or the environment. These notes are usually informal and help verify respondents’ answers.  

2. Qualitative data analysis 

• This process involves analyzing all the data obtained from the qualitative research methods in the form of text (notes), audio-video recordings, and pictures.  
• Text analysis is a common form of qualitative data analysis in which researchers examine the social lives of the participants and analyze their words, actions, etc. in specific contexts. Social media platforms are now playing an important role in this method with researchers analyzing all information shared online.   

There are usually five steps in the qualitative data analysis process: 5

• Prepare and organize the data  
• Transcribe interviews  
• Collect and document field notes and other material  
• Review and explore the data  
• Examine the data for patterns or important observations  
• Develop a data coding system  
• Create codes to categorize and connect the data  
• Assign these codes to the data or responses  
• Review the codes  
• Identify recurring themes, opinions, patterns, etc.  
• Present the findings  
• Use the best possible method to present your observations  

The following table 6 lists some common qualitative data analysis methods used by companies to make important decisions, with examples and when to use each. The methods may be similar and can overlap.  

Characteristics of qualitative research methods 4

• Unstructured raw data : Qualitative research methods use unstructured, non-numerical data , which are analyzed to generate subjective conclusions about specific subjects, usually presented descriptively, instead of using statistical data.  
• Site-specific data collection : In qualitative research methods , data are collected at specific areas where the respondents or researchers are either facing a challenge or have a need to explore. The process is conducted in a real-world setting and participants do not need to leave their original geographical setting to be able to participate.  
• Researchers’ importance : Researchers play an instrumental role because, in qualitative research , communication with respondents is an essential part of data collection and analysis. In addition, researchers need to rely on their own observation and listening skills during an interaction and use and interpret that data appropriately.  
• Multiple methods : Researchers collect data through various methods, as listed earlier, instead of relying on a single source. Although there may be some overlap between the qualitative research methods , each method has its own significance.  
• Solving complex issues : These methods help in breaking down complex problems into more useful and interpretable inferences, which can be easily understood by everyone.  
• Unbiased responses : Qualitative research methods rely on open communication where the participants are allowed to freely express their views. In such cases, the participants trust the interviewer, resulting in unbiased and truthful responses.  
• Flexible : The qualitative research method can be changed at any stage of the research. The data analysis is not confined to being done at the end of the research but can be done in tandem with data collection. Consequently, based on preliminary analysis and new ideas, researchers have the liberty to change the method to suit their objective.  

When to use qualitative research   4

The following points will give you an idea about when to use qualitative research .  

• When the objective of a research study is to understand behaviors and patterns of respondents, then qualitative research is the most suitable method because it gives a clear insight into the reasons for the occurrence of an event.  
• A few use cases for qualitative research methods include:  
• New product development or idea generation  
• Strengthening a product’s marketing strategy  
• Conducting a SWOT analysis of product or services portfolios to help take important strategic decisions  
• Understanding purchasing behavior of consumers  
• Understanding reactions of target market to ad campaigns  
• Understanding market demographics and conducting competitor analysis  
• Understanding the effectiveness of a new treatment method in a particular section of society  

A qualitative research method case study to understand when to use qualitative research 7

Context : A high school in the US underwent a turnaround or conservatorship process and consequently experienced a below average teacher retention rate. Researchers conducted qualitative research to understand teachers’ experiences and perceptions of how the turnaround may have influenced the teachers’ morale and how this, in turn, would have affected teachers’ retention.  

Method : Purposive sampling was used to select eight teachers who were employed with the school before the conservatorship process and who were subsequently retained. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with these teachers. The questions addressed teachers’ perspectives of morale and their views on the conservatorship process.  

Results : The study generated six factors that may have been influencing teachers’ perspectives: powerlessness, excessive visitations, loss of confidence, ineffective instructional practices, stress and burnout, and ineffective professional development opportunities. Based on these factors, four recommendations were made to increase teacher retention by boosting their morale.  

Advantages of qualitative research 1

• Reflects real-world settings , and therefore allows for ambiguities in data, as well as the flexibility to change the method based on new developments.  
• Helps in understanding the feelings or beliefs of the respondents rather than relying only on quantitative data.  
• Uses a descriptive and narrative style of presentation, which may be easier to understand for people from all backgrounds.  
• Some topics involving sensitive or controversial content could be difficult to quantify and so qualitative research helps in analyzing such content.  
• The availability of multiple data sources and research methods helps give a holistic picture.  
• There’s more involvement of participants, which gives them an assurance that their opinion matters, possibly leading to unbiased responses.   

Disadvantages of qualitative research 1

• Large-scale data sets cannot be included because of time and cost constraints.  
• Ensuring validity and reliability may be a challenge because of the subjective nature of the data, so drawing definite conclusions could be difficult.  
• Replication by other researchers may be difficult for the same contexts or situations.  
• Generalization to a wider context or to other populations or settings is not possible.  
• Data collection and analysis may be time consuming.  
• Researcher’s interpretation may alter the results causing an unintended bias.  

Differences between qualitative research and quantitative research 1

Frequently asked questions on qualitative research  

Q: how do i know if qualitative research is appropriate for my study  .

A: Here’s a simple checklist you could use:  

• Not much is known about the subject being studied.  
• There is a need to understand or simplify a complex problem or situation.  
• Participants’ experiences/beliefs/feelings are required for analysis.  
• There’s no existing hypothesis to begin with, rather a theory would need to be created after analysis.  
• You need to gather in-depth understanding of an event or subject, which may not need to be supported by numeric data.  

Q: How do I ensure the reliability and validity of my qualitative research findings?  

A: To ensure the validity of your qualitative research findings you should explicitly state your objective and describe clearly why you have interpreted the data in a particular way. Another method could be to connect your data in different ways or from different perspectives to see if you reach a similar, unbiased conclusion.   

To ensure reliability, always create an audit trail of your qualitative research by describing your steps and reasons for every interpretation, so that if required, another researcher could trace your steps to corroborate your (or their own) findings. In addition, always look for patterns or consistencies in the data collected through different methods.  

Q: Are there any sampling strategies or techniques for qualitative research ?   

A: Yes, the following are few common sampling strategies used in qualitative research :  

1. Convenience sampling  

Selects participants who are most easily accessible to researchers due to geographical proximity, availability at a particular time, etc.  

2. Purposive sampling  

Participants are grouped according to predefined criteria based on a specific research question. Sample sizes are often determined based on theoretical saturation (when new data no longer provide additional insights).  

3. Snowball sampling  

Already selected participants use their social networks to refer the researcher to other potential participants.  

4. Quota sampling  

While designing the study, the researchers decide how many people with which characteristics to include as participants. The characteristics help in choosing people most likely to provide insights into the subject.  

Q: What ethical standards need to be followed with qualitative research ?  

A: The following ethical standards should be considered in qualitative research:  

• Anonymity : The participants should never be identified in the study and researchers should ensure that no identifying information is mentioned even indirectly.  
• Confidentiality : To protect participants’ confidentiality, ensure that all related documents, transcripts, notes are stored safely.  
• Informed consent : Researchers should clearly communicate the objective of the study and how the participants’ responses will be used prior to engaging with the participants.  

Q: How do I address bias in my qualitative research ?  

  A: You could use the following points to ensure an unbiased approach to your qualitative research :  

• Check your interpretations of the findings with others’ interpretations to identify consistencies.  
• If possible, you could ask your participants if your interpretations convey their beliefs to a significant extent.  
• Data triangulation is a way of using multiple data sources to see if all methods consistently support your interpretations.  
• Contemplate other possible explanations for your findings or interpretations and try ruling them out if possible.  
• Conduct a peer review of your findings to identify any gaps that may not have been visible to you.  
• Frame context-appropriate questions to ensure there is no researcher or participant bias.

We hope this article has given you answers to the question “ what is qualitative research ” and given you an in-depth understanding of the various aspects of qualitative research , including the definition, types, and approaches, when to use this method, and advantages and disadvantages, so that the next time you undertake a study you would know which type of research design to adopt.  

References:  

• McLeod, S. A. Qualitative vs. quantitative research. Simply Psychology [Accessed January 17, 2023]. www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html    
• Omniconvert website [Accessed January 18, 2023]. https://www.omniconvert.com/blog/qualitative-research-definition-methodology-limitation-examples/  
• Busetto L., Wick W., Gumbinger C. How to use and assess qualitative research methods. Neurological Research and Practice [Accessed January 19, 2023] https://neurolrespract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42466-020-00059  
• QuestionPro website. Qualitative research methods: Types & examples [Accessed January 16, 2023]. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/qualitative-research-methods/  
• Campuslabs website. How to analyze qualitative data [Accessed January 18, 2023]. https://baselinesupport.campuslabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/204305675-How-to-analyze-qualitative-data  
• Thematic website. Qualitative data analysis: Step-by-guide [Accessed January 20, 2023]. https://getthematic.com/insights/qualitative-data-analysis/  
• Lane L. J., Jones D., Penny G. R. Qualitative case study of teachers’ morale in a turnaround school. Research in Higher Education Journal . https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1233111.pdf  
• Meetingsnet website. 7 FAQs about qualitative research and CME [Accessed January 21, 2023]. https://www.meetingsnet.com/cme-design/7-faqs-about-qualitative-research-and-cme     
• Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide. Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Northeastern University. https://course.ccs.neu.edu/is4800sp12/resources/qualmethods.pdf  

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Qualitative Research Methods: Types, Analysis + Examples

Qualitative research is based on the disciplines of social sciences like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Therefore, the qualitative research methods allow for in-depth and further probing and questioning of respondents based on their responses. The interviewer/researcher also tries to understand their motivation and feelings. Understanding how your audience makes decisions can help derive conclusions in market research.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is defined as a market research method that focuses on obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication .

This method is about “what” people think and “why” they think so. For example, consider a convenience store looking to improve its patronage. A systematic observation concludes that more men are visiting this store. One good method to determine why women were not visiting the store is conducting an in-depth interview method with potential customers.

For example, after successfully interviewing female customers and visiting nearby stores and malls, the researchers selected participants through random sampling . As a result, it was discovered that the store didn’t have enough items for women.

So fewer women were visiting the store, which was understood only by personally interacting with them and understanding why they didn’t visit the store because there were more male products than female ones.

Gather research insights

Types of qualitative research methods with examples

Qualitative research methods are designed in a manner that helps reveal the behavior and perception of a target audience with reference to a particular topic. There are different types of qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, ethnographic research, content analysis, and case study research that are usually used.

The results of qualitative methods are more descriptive, and the inferences can be drawn quite easily from the obtained data .

Qualitative research methods originated in the social and behavioral research sciences. Today, our world is more complicated, and it is difficult to understand what people think and perceive. Online research methods make it easier to understand that as it is a more communicative and descriptive analysis .

The following are the qualitative research methods that are frequently used. Also, read about qualitative research examples :

1. One-on-one interview

Conducting in-depth interviews is one of the most common qualitative research methods. It is a personal interview that is carried out with one respondent at a time. This is purely a conversational method and invites opportunities to get details in depth from the respondent.

One of the advantages of this method is that it provides a great opportunity to gather precise data about what people believe and their motivations . If the researcher is well experienced, asking the right questions can help him/her collect meaningful data. If they should need more information, the researchers should ask such follow-up questions that will help them collect more information.

These interviews can be performed face-to-face or on the phone and usually can last between half an hour to two hours or even more. When the in-depth interview is conducted face to face, it gives a better opportunity to read the respondents’ body language and match the responses.

2. Focus groups

A focus group is also a commonly used qualitative research method used in data collection. A focus group usually includes a limited number of respondents (6-10) from within your target market.

The main aim of the focus group is to find answers to the “why, ” “what,” and “how” questions. One advantage of focus groups is you don’t necessarily need to interact with the group in person. Nowadays, focus groups can be sent an online survey on various devices, and responses can be collected at the click of a button.

Focus groups are an expensive method as compared to other online qualitative research methods. Typically, they are used to explain complex processes. This method is very useful for market research on new products and testing new concepts.

3. Ethnographic research

Ethnographic research is the most in-depth observational research method that studies people in their naturally occurring environment.

This method requires the researchers to adapt to the target audiences’ environments, which could be anywhere from an organization to a city or any remote location. Here, geographical constraints can be an issue while collecting data.

This research design aims to understand the cultures, challenges, motivations, and settings that occur. Instead of relying on interviews and discussions, you experience the natural settings firsthand.

This type of research method can last from a few days to a few years, as it involves in-depth observation and collecting data on those grounds. It’s a challenging and time-consuming method and solely depends on the researcher’s expertise to analyze, observe, and infer the data.

4. Case study research

T he case study method has evolved over the past few years and developed into a valuable quality research method. As the name suggests, it is used for explaining an organization or an entity.

This type of research method is used within a number of areas like education, social sciences, and similar. This method may look difficult to operate; however , it is one of the simplest ways of conducting research as it involves a deep dive and thorough understanding of the data collection methods and inferring the data.

5. Record keeping

This method makes use of the already existing reliable documents and similar sources of information as the data source. This data can be used in new research. This is similar to going to a library. There, one can go over books and other reference material to collect relevant data that can likely be used in the research.

6. Process of observation

Qualitative Observation is a process of research that uses subjective methodologies to gather systematic information or data. Since the focus on qualitative observation is the research process of using subjective methodologies to gather information or data. Qualitative observation is primarily used to equate quality differences.

Qualitative observation deals with the 5 major sensory organs and their functioning – sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. This doesn’t involve measurements or numbers but instead characteristics.

Explore Insightfully Contextual Inquiry in Qualitative Research

Qualitative research: data collection and analysis

A. qualitative data collection.

Qualitative data collection allows collecting data that is non-numeric and helps us to explore how decisions are made and provide us with detailed insight. For reaching such conclusions the data that is collected should be holistic, rich, and nuanced and findings to emerge through careful analysis.

• Whatever method a researcher chooses for collecting qualitative data, one aspect is very clear the process will generate a large amount of data. In addition to the variety of methods available, there are also different methods of collecting and recording the data.

For example, if the qualitative data is collected through a focus group or one-to-one discussion, there will be handwritten notes or video recorded tapes. If there are recording they should be transcribed and before the process of data analysis can begin.

• As a rough guide, it can take a seasoned researcher 8-10 hours to transcribe the recordings of an interview, which can generate roughly 20-30 pages of dialogues. Many researchers also like to maintain separate folders to maintain the recording collected from the different focus group. This helps them compartmentalize the data collected.
• In case there are running notes taken, which are also known as field notes, they are helpful in maintaining comments, environmental contexts, environmental analysis , nonverbal cues etc. These filed notes are helpful and can be compared while transcribing audio recorded data. Such notes are usually informal but should be secured in a similar manner as the video recordings or the audio tapes.

B. Qualitative data analysis

Qualitative data analysis such as notes, videos, audio recordings images, and text documents. One of the most used methods for qualitative data analysis is text analysis.

Text analysis is a  data analysis method that is distinctly different from all other qualitative research methods, where researchers analyze the social life of the participants in the research study and decode the words, actions, etc. 

There are images also that are used in this research study and the researchers analyze the context in which the images are used and draw inferences from them. In the last decade, text analysis through what is shared on social media platforms has gained supreme popularity.

Characteristics of qualitative research methods

• Qualitative research methods usually collect data at the sight, where the participants are experiencing issues or research problems . These are real-time data and rarely bring the participants out of the geographic locations to collect information.
• Qualitative researchers typically gather multiple forms of data, such as interviews, observations, and documents, rather than rely on a single data source .
• This type of research method works towards solving complex issues by breaking down into meaningful inferences, that is easily readable and understood by all.
• Since it’s a more communicative method, people can build their trust on the researcher and the information thus obtained is raw and unadulterated.

Qualitative research method case study

Let’s take the example of a bookstore owner who is looking for ways to improve their sales and customer outreach. An online community of members who were loyal patrons of the bookstore were interviewed and related questions were asked and the questions were answered by them.

At the end of the interview, it was realized that most of the books in the stores were suitable for adults and there were not enough options for children or teenagers.

By conducting this qualitative research the bookstore owner realized what the shortcomings were and what were the feelings of the readers. Through this research now the bookstore owner can now keep books for different age categories and can improve his sales and customer outreach.

Such qualitative research method examples can serve as the basis to indulge in further quantitative research , which provides remedies.

When to use qualitative research

Researchers make use of qualitative research techniques when they need to capture accurate, in-depth insights. It is very useful to capture “factual data”. Here are some examples of when to use qualitative research.

• Developing a new product or generating an idea.
• Studying your product/brand or service to strengthen your marketing strategy.
• To understand your strengths and weaknesses.
• Understanding purchase behavior.
• To study the reactions of your audience to marketing campaigns and other communications.
• Exploring market demographics, segments, and customer care groups.
• Gathering perception data of a brand, company, or product.

LEARN ABOUT: Steps in Qualitative Research

Qualitative research methods vs quantitative research methods

The basic differences between qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods are simple and straightforward. They differ in:

• Their analytical objectives
• Types of questions asked
• Types of data collection instruments
• Forms of data they produce
• Degree of flexibility

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Qualitative Research: Characteristics, Design, Methods & Examples

Lauren McCall

MSc Health Psychology Graduate

MSc, Health Psychology, University of Nottingham

Lauren obtained an MSc in Health Psychology from The University of Nottingham with a distinction classification.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

Qualitative research is a type of research methodology that focuses on gathering and analyzing non-numerical data to gain a deeper understanding of human behavior, experiences, and perspectives.

It aims to explore the “why” and “how” of a phenomenon rather than the “what,” “where,” and “when” typically addressed by quantitative research.

Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on gathering and analyzing numerical data for statistical analysis, qualitative research involves researchers interpreting data to identify themes, patterns, and meanings.

Qualitative research can be used to:

• Gain deep contextual understandings of the subjective social reality of individuals
• To answer questions about experience and meaning from the participant’s perspective
• To design hypotheses, theory must be researched using qualitative methods to determine what is important before research can begin. 

Examples of qualitative research questions include: 

• How does stress influence young adults’ behavior?
• What factors influence students’ school attendance rates in developed countries?
• How do adults interpret binge drinking in the UK?
• What are the psychological impacts of cervical cancer screening in women?
• How can mental health lessons be integrated into the school curriculum? 

Characteristics 

Naturalistic setting.

Individuals are studied in their natural setting to gain a deeper understanding of how people experience the world. This enables the researcher to understand a phenomenon close to how participants experience it. 

Naturalistic settings provide valuable contextual information to help researchers better understand and interpret the data they collect.

The environment, social interactions, and cultural factors can all influence behavior and experiences, and these elements are more easily observed in real-world settings.

Reality is socially constructed

Qualitative research aims to understand how participants make meaning of their experiences – individually or in social contexts. It assumes there is no objective reality and that the social world is interpreted (Yilmaz, 2013). 

The primacy of subject matter 

The primary aim of qualitative research is to understand the perspectives, experiences, and beliefs of individuals who have experienced the phenomenon selected for research rather than the average experiences of groups of people (Minichiello, 1990).

An in-depth understanding is attained since qualitative techniques allow participants to freely disclose their experiences, thoughts, and feelings without constraint (Tenny et al., 2022). 

Variables are complex, interwoven, and difficult to measure

Factors such as experiences, behaviors, and attitudes are complex and interwoven, so they cannot be reduced to isolated variables , making them difficult to measure quantitatively.

However, a qualitative approach enables participants to describe what, why, or how they were thinking/ feeling during a phenomenon being studied (Yilmaz, 2013). 

Emic (insider’s point of view)

The phenomenon being studied is centered on the participants’ point of view (Minichiello, 1990).

Emic is used to describe how participants interact, communicate, and behave in the research setting (Scarduzio, 2017).

Interpretive analysis

In qualitative research, interpretive analysis is crucial in making sense of the collected data.

This process involves examining the raw data, such as interview transcripts, field notes, or documents, and identifying the underlying themes, patterns, and meanings that emerge from the participants’ experiences and perspectives.

Collecting Qualitative Data

There are four main research design methods used to collect qualitative data: observations, interviews,  focus groups, and ethnography.

Observations

This method involves watching and recording phenomena as they occur in nature. Observation can be divided into two types: participant and non-participant observation.

In participant observation, the researcher actively participates in the situation/events being observed.

In non-participant observation, the researcher is not an active part of the observation and tries not to influence the behaviors they are observing (Busetto et al., 2020). 

Observations can be covert (participants are unaware that a researcher is observing them) or overt (participants are aware of the researcher’s presence and know they are being observed).

However, awareness of an observer’s presence may influence participants’ behavior. 

Interviews give researchers a window into the world of a participant by seeking their account of an event, situation, or phenomenon. They are usually conducted on a one-to-one basis and can be distinguished according to the level at which they are structured (Punch, 2013). 

Structured interviews involve predetermined questions and sequences to ensure replicability and comparability. However, they are unable to explore emerging issues.

Informal interviews consist of spontaneous, casual conversations which are closer to the truth of a phenomenon. However, information is gathered using quick notes made by the researcher and is therefore subject to recall bias. 

Semi-structured interviews have a flexible structure, phrasing, and placement so emerging issues can be explored (Denny & Weckesser, 2022).

The use of probing questions and clarification can lead to a detailed understanding, but semi-structured interviews can be time-consuming and subject to interviewer bias. 

Focus groups 

Similar to interviews, focus groups elicit a rich and detailed account of an experience. However, focus groups are more dynamic since participants with shared characteristics construct this account together (Denny & Weckesser, 2022).

A shared narrative is built between participants to capture a group experience shaped by a shared context. 

The researcher takes on the role of a moderator, who will establish ground rules and guide the discussion by following a topic guide to focus the group discussions.

Typically, focus groups have 4-10 participants as a discussion can be difficult to facilitate with more than this, and this number allows everyone the time to speak.

Ethnography

Ethnography is a methodology used to study a group of people’s behaviors and social interactions in their environment (Reeves et al., 2008).

Data are collected using methods such as observations, field notes, or structured/ unstructured interviews.

The aim of ethnography is to provide detailed, holistic insights into people’s behavior and perspectives within their natural setting. In order to achieve this, researchers immerse themselves in a community or organization. 

Due to the flexibility and real-world focus of ethnography, researchers are able to gather an in-depth, nuanced understanding of people’s experiences, knowledge and perspectives that are influenced by culture and society.

In order to develop a representative picture of a particular culture/ context, researchers must conduct extensive field work. 

This can be time-consuming as researchers may need to immerse themselves into a community/ culture for a few days, or possibly a few years.

Qualitative Data Analysis Methods

Different methods can be used for analyzing qualitative data. The researcher chooses based on the objectives of their study. 

The researcher plays a key role in the interpretation of data, making decisions about the coding, theming, decontextualizing, and recontextualizing of data (Starks & Trinidad, 2007). 

Grounded theory

Grounded theory is a qualitative method specifically designed to inductively generate theory from data. It was developed by Glaser and Strauss in 1967 (Glaser & Strauss, 2017).

This methodology aims to develop theories (rather than test hypotheses) that explain a social process, action, or interaction (Petty et al., 2012). To inform the developing theory, data collection and analysis run simultaneously. 

There are three key types of coding used in grounded theory: initial (open), intermediate (axial), and advanced (selective) coding. 

Throughout the analysis, memos should be created to document methodological and theoretical ideas about the data. Data should be collected and analyzed until data saturation is reached and a theory is developed. 

Content analysis

Content analysis was first used in the early twentieth century to analyze textual materials such as newspapers and political speeches.

Content analysis is a research method used to identify and analyze the presence and patterns of themes, concepts, or words in data (Vaismoradi et al., 2013). 

This research method can be used to analyze data in different formats, which can be written, oral, or visual. 

The goal of content analysis is to develop themes that capture the underlying meanings of data (Schreier, 2012). 

Qualitative content analysis can be used to validate existing theories, support the development of new models and theories, and provide in-depth descriptions of particular settings or experiences.

The following six steps provide a guideline for how to conduct qualitative content analysis.

• Define a Research Question : To start content analysis, a clear research question should be developed.
• Identify and Collect Data : Establish the inclusion criteria for your data. Find the relevant sources to analyze.
• Define the Unit or Theme of Analysis : Categorize the content into themes. Themes can be a word, phrase, or sentence.
• Develop Rules for Coding your Data : Define a set of coding rules to ensure that all data are coded consistently.
• Code the Data : Follow the coding rules to categorize data into themes.
• Analyze the Results and Draw Conclusions : Examine the data to identify patterns and draw conclusions in relation to your research question.

Discourse analysis

Discourse analysis is a research method used to study written/ spoken language in relation to its social context (Wood & Kroger, 2000).

In discourse analysis, the researcher interprets details of language materials and the context in which it is situated.

Discourse analysis aims to understand the functions of language (how language is used in real life) and how meaning is conveyed by language in different contexts. Researchers use discourse analysis to investigate social groups and how language is used to achieve specific communication goals.

Different methods of discourse analysis can be used depending on the aims and objectives of a study. However, the following steps provide a guideline on how to conduct discourse analysis.

• Define the Research Question : Develop a relevant research question to frame the analysis.
• Gather Data and Establish the Context : Collect research materials (e.g., interview transcripts, documents). Gather factual details and review the literature to construct a theory about the social and historical context of your study.
• Analyze the Content : Closely examine various components of the text, such as the vocabulary, sentences, paragraphs, and structure of the text. Identify patterns relevant to the research question to create codes, then group these into themes.
• Review the Results : Reflect on the findings to examine the function of the language, and the meaning and context of the discourse. 

Thematic analysis

Thematic analysis is a method used to identify, interpret, and report patterns in data, such as commonalities or contrasts. 

Although the origin of thematic analysis can be traced back to the early twentieth century, understanding and clarity of thematic analysis is attributed to Braun and Clarke (2006).

Thematic analysis aims to develop themes (patterns of meaning) across a dataset to address a research question. 

In thematic analysis, qualitative data is gathered using techniques such as interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires. Audio recordings are transcribed. The dataset is then explored and interpreted by a researcher to identify patterns. 

This occurs through the rigorous process of data familiarisation, coding, theme development, and revision. These identified patterns provide a summary of the dataset and can be used to address a research question.

Themes are developed by exploring the implicit and explicit meanings within the data. Two different approaches are used to generate themes: inductive and deductive. 

An inductive approach allows themes to emerge from the data. In contrast, a deductive approach uses existing theories or knowledge to apply preconceived ideas to the data.

Phases of Thematic Analysis

Braun and Clarke (2006) provide a guide of the six phases of thematic analysis. These phases can be applied flexibly to fit research questions and data. 

Template analysis

Template analysis refers to a specific method of thematic analysis which uses hierarchical coding (Brooks et al., 2014).

Template analysis is used to analyze textual data, for example, interview transcripts or open-ended responses on a written questionnaire.

To conduct template analysis, a coding template must be developed (usually from a subset of the data) and subsequently revised and refined. This template represents the themes identified by researchers as important in the dataset. 

Codes are ordered hierarchically within the template, with the highest-level codes demonstrating overarching themes in the data and lower-level codes representing constituent themes with a narrower focus.

A guideline for the main procedural steps for conducting template analysis is outlined below.

• Familiarization with the Data : Read (and reread) the dataset in full. Engage, reflect, and take notes on data that may be relevant to the research question.
• Preliminary Coding : Identify initial codes using guidance from the a priori codes, identified before the analysis as likely to be beneficial and relevant to the analysis.
• Organize Themes : Organize themes into meaningful clusters. Consider the relationships between the themes both within and between clusters.
• Produce an Initial Template : Develop an initial template. This may be based on a subset of the data.
• Apply and Develop the Template : Apply the initial template to further data and make any necessary modifications. Refinements of the template may include adding themes, removing themes, or changing the scope/title of themes. 
• Finalize Template : Finalize the template, then apply it to the entire dataset. 

Frame analysis

Frame analysis is a comparative form of thematic analysis which systematically analyzes data using a matrix output.

Ritchie and Spencer (1994) developed this set of techniques to analyze qualitative data in applied policy research. Frame analysis aims to generate theory from data.

Frame analysis encourages researchers to organize and manage their data using summarization.

This results in a flexible and unique matrix output, in which individual participants (or cases) are represented by rows and themes are represented by columns. 

Each intersecting cell is used to summarize findings relating to the corresponding participant and theme.

Frame analysis has five distinct phases which are interrelated, forming a methodical and rigorous framework.

• Familiarization with the Data : Familiarize yourself with all the transcripts. Immerse yourself in the details of each transcript and start to note recurring themes.
• Develop a Theoretical Framework : Identify recurrent/ important themes and add them to a chart. Provide a framework/ structure for the analysis.
• Indexing : Apply the framework systematically to the entire study data.
• Summarize Data in Analytical Framework : Reduce the data into brief summaries of participants’ accounts.
• Mapping and Interpretation : Compare themes and subthemes and check against the original transcripts. Group the data into categories and provide an explanation for them.

Preventing Bias in Qualitative Research

To evaluate qualitative studies, the CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) checklist for qualitative studies can be used to ensure all aspects of a study have been considered (CASP, 2018).

The quality of research can be enhanced and assessed using criteria such as checklists, reflexivity, co-coding, and member-checking. 

Co-coding 

Relying on only one researcher to interpret rich and complex data may risk key insights and alternative viewpoints being missed. Therefore, coding is often performed by multiple researchers.

A common strategy must be defined at the beginning of the coding process  (Busetto et al., 2020). This includes establishing a useful coding list and finding a common definition of individual codes.

Transcripts are initially coded independently by researchers and then compared and consolidated to minimize error or bias and to bring confirmation of findings. 

Member checking

Member checking (or respondent validation) involves checking back with participants to see if the research resonates with their experiences (Russell & Gregory, 2003).

Data can be returned to participants after data collection or when results are first available. For example, participants may be provided with their interview transcript and asked to verify whether this is a complete and accurate representation of their views.

Participants may then clarify or elaborate on their responses to ensure they align with their views (Shenton, 2004).

This feedback becomes part of data collection and ensures accurate descriptions/ interpretations of phenomena (Mays & Pope, 2000). 

Reflexivity in qualitative research

Reflexivity typically involves examining your own judgments, practices, and belief systems during data collection and analysis. It aims to identify any personal beliefs which may affect the research. 

Reflexivity is essential in qualitative research to ensure methodological transparency and complete reporting. This enables readers to understand how the interaction between the researcher and participant shapes the data.

Depending on the research question and population being researched, factors that need to be considered include the experience of the researcher, how the contact was established and maintained, age, gender, and ethnicity.

These details are important because, in qualitative research, the researcher is a dynamic part of the research process and actively influences the outcome of the research (Boeije, 2014). 

Reflexivity Example

Who you are and your characteristics influence how you collect and analyze data. Here is an example of a reflexivity statement for research on smoking. I am a 30-year-old white female from a middle-class background. I live in the southwest of England and have been educated to master’s level. I have been involved in two research projects on oral health. I have never smoked, but I have witnessed how smoking can cause ill health from my volunteering in a smoking cessation clinic. My research aspirations are to help to develop interventions to help smokers quit.

Establishing Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research

Trustworthiness is a concept used to assess the quality and rigor of qualitative research. Four criteria are used to assess a study’s trustworthiness: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.

1. Credibility in Qualitative Research

Credibility refers to how accurately the results represent the reality and viewpoints of the participants.

To establish credibility in research, participants’ views and the researcher’s representation of their views need to align (Tobin & Begley, 2004).

To increase the credibility of findings, researchers may use data source triangulation, investigator triangulation, peer debriefing, or member checking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). 

2. Transferability in Qualitative Research

Transferability refers to how generalizable the findings are: whether the findings may be applied to another context, setting, or group (Tobin & Begley, 2004).

Transferability can be enhanced by giving thorough and in-depth descriptions of the research setting, sample, and methods (Nowell et al., 2017). 

3. Dependability in Qualitative Research

Dependability is the extent to which the study could be replicated under similar conditions and the findings would be consistent.

Researchers can establish dependability using methods such as audit trails so readers can see the research process is logical and traceable (Koch, 1994).

4. Confirmability in Qualitative Research

Confirmability is concerned with establishing that there is a clear link between the researcher’s interpretations/ findings and the data.

Researchers can achieve confirmability by demonstrating how conclusions and interpretations were arrived at (Nowell et al., 2017).

This enables readers to understand the reasoning behind the decisions made. 

Audit Trails in Qualitative Research

An audit trail provides evidence of the decisions made by the researcher regarding theory, research design, and data collection, as well as the steps they have chosen to manage, analyze, and report data. 

The researcher must provide a clear rationale to demonstrate how conclusions were reached in their study.

A clear description of the research path must be provided to enable readers to trace through the researcher’s logic (Halpren, 1983).

Researchers should maintain records of the raw data, field notes, transcripts, and a reflective journal in order to provide a clear audit trail. 

Discovery of unexpected data

Open-ended questions in qualitative research mean the researcher can probe an interview topic and enable the participant to elaborate on responses in an unrestricted manner.

This allows unexpected data to emerge, which can lead to further research into that topic. 

The exploratory nature of qualitative research helps generate hypotheses that can be tested quantitatively (Busetto et al., 2020).

Flexibility

Data collection and analysis can be modified and adapted to take the research in a different direction if new ideas or patterns emerge in the data.

This enables researchers to investigate new opportunities while firmly maintaining their research goals. 

Naturalistic settings

The behaviors of participants are recorded in real-world settings. Studies that use real-world settings have high ecological validity since participants behave more authentically. 

Limitations

Time-consuming .

Qualitative research results in large amounts of data which often need to be transcribed and analyzed manually.

Even when software is used, transcription can be inaccurate, and using software for analysis can result in many codes which need to be condensed into themes. 

Subjectivity 

The researcher has an integral role in collecting and interpreting qualitative data. Therefore, the conclusions reached are from their perspective and experience.

Consequently, interpretations of data from another researcher may vary greatly. 

Limited generalizability

The aim of qualitative research is to provide a detailed, contextualized understanding of an aspect of the human experience from a relatively small sample size.

Despite rigorous analysis procedures, conclusions drawn cannot be generalized to the wider population since data may be biased or unrepresentative.

Therefore, results are only applicable to a small group of the population. 

While individual qualitative studies are often limited in their generalizability due to factors such as sample size and context, metasynthesis enables researchers to synthesize findings from multiple studies, potentially leading to more generalizable conclusions.

By integrating findings from studies conducted in diverse settings and with different populations, metasynthesis can provide broader insights into the phenomenon of interest.

Extraneous variables

Qualitative research is often conducted in real-world settings. This may cause results to be unreliable since extraneous variables may affect the data, for example:

• Situational variables : different environmental conditions may influence participants’ behavior in a study. The random variation in factors (such as noise or lighting) may be difficult to control in real-world settings.
• Participant characteristics : this includes any characteristics that may influence how a participant answers/ behaves in a study. This may include a participant’s mood, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual identity, IQ, etc.
• Experimenter effect : experimenter effect refers to how a researcher’s unintentional influence can change the outcome of a study. This occurs when (i) their interactions with participants unintentionally change participants’ behaviors or (ii) due to errors in observation, interpretation, or analysis. 

What sample size should qualitative research be?

The sample size for qualitative studies has been recommended to include a minimum of 12 participants to reach data saturation (Braun, 2013).

Are surveys qualitative or quantitative?

Surveys can be used to gather information from a sample qualitatively or quantitatively. Qualitative surveys use open-ended questions to gather detailed information from a large sample using free text responses.

The use of open-ended questions allows for unrestricted responses where participants use their own words, enabling the collection of more in-depth information than closed-ended questions.

In contrast, quantitative surveys consist of closed-ended questions with multiple-choice answer options. Quantitative surveys are ideal to gather a statistical representation of a population.

What are the ethical considerations of qualitative research?

Before conducting a study, you must think about any risks that could occur and take steps to prevent them. Participant Protection : Researchers must protect participants from physical and mental harm. This means you must not embarrass, frighten, offend, or harm participants. Transparency : Researchers are obligated to clearly communicate how they will collect, store, analyze, use, and share the data. Confidentiality : You need to consider how to maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of participants’ data.

What is triangulation in qualitative research?

Triangulation refers to the use of several approaches in a study to comprehensively understand phenomena. This method helps to increase the validity and credibility of research findings. 

Types of triangulation include method triangulation (using multiple methods to gather data); investigator triangulation (multiple researchers for collecting/ analyzing data), theory triangulation (comparing several theoretical perspectives to explain a phenomenon), and data source triangulation (using data from various times, locations, and people; Carter et al., 2014).

Why is qualitative research important?

Qualitative research allows researchers to describe and explain the social world. The exploratory nature of qualitative research helps to generate hypotheses that can then be tested quantitatively.

In qualitative research, participants are able to express their thoughts, experiences, and feelings without constraint.

Additionally, researchers are able to follow up on participants’ answers in real-time, generating valuable discussion around a topic. This enables researchers to gain a nuanced understanding of phenomena which is difficult to attain using quantitative methods.

What is coding data in qualitative research?

Coding data is a qualitative data analysis strategy in which a section of text is assigned with a label that describes its content.

These labels may be words or phrases which represent important (and recurring) patterns in the data.

This process enables researchers to identify related content across the dataset. Codes can then be used to group similar types of data to generate themes.

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research involves the collection and analysis of non-numerical data in order to understand experiences and meanings from the participant’s perspective.

This can provide rich, in-depth insights on complicated phenomena. Qualitative data may be collected using interviews, focus groups, or observations.

In contrast, quantitative research involves the collection and analysis of numerical data to measure the frequency, magnitude, or relationships of variables. This can provide objective and reliable evidence that can be generalized to the wider population.

Quantitative data may be collected using closed-ended questionnaires or experiments.

What is trustworthiness in qualitative research?

Trustworthiness is a concept used to assess the quality and rigor of qualitative research. Four criteria are used to assess a study’s trustworthiness: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. 

Credibility refers to how accurately the results represent the reality and viewpoints of the participants. Transferability refers to whether the findings may be applied to another context, setting, or group.

Dependability is the extent to which the findings are consistent and reliable. Confirmability refers to the objectivity of findings (not influenced by the bias or assumptions of researchers).

What is data saturation in qualitative research?

Data saturation is a methodological principle used to guide the sample size of a qualitative research study.

Data saturation is proposed as a necessary methodological component in qualitative research (Saunders et al., 2018) as it is a vital criterion for discontinuing data collection and/or analysis. 

The intention of data saturation is to find “no new data, no new themes, no new coding, and ability to replicate the study” (Guest et al., 2006). Therefore, enough data has been gathered to make conclusions.

Why is sampling in qualitative research important?

In quantitative research, large sample sizes are used to provide statistically significant quantitative estimates.

This is because quantitative research aims to provide generalizable conclusions that represent populations.

However, the aim of sampling in qualitative research is to gather data that will help the researcher understand the depth, complexity, variation, or context of a phenomenon. The small sample sizes in qualitative studies support the depth of case-oriented analysis.

What is narrative analysis?

Narrative analysis is a qualitative research method used to understand how individuals create stories from their personal experiences.

There is an emphasis on understanding the context in which a narrative is constructed, recognizing the influence of historical, cultural, and social factors on storytelling.

Researchers can use different methods together to explore a research question.

Some narrative researchers focus on the content of what is said, using thematic narrative analysis, while others focus on the structure, such as holistic-form or categorical-form structural narrative analysis. Others focus on how the narrative is produced and performed.

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• What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

Published on 4 April 2022 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on 30 January 2023.

Qualitative research involves collecting and analysing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.

Qualitative research is the opposite of quantitative research , which involves collecting and analysing numerical data for statistical analysis.

Qualitative research is commonly used in the humanities and social sciences, in subjects such as anthropology, sociology, education, health sciences, and history.

• How does social media shape body image in teenagers?
• How do children and adults interpret healthy eating in the UK?
• What factors influence employee retention in a large organisation?
• How is anxiety experienced around the world?
• How can teachers integrate social issues into science curriculums?

Table of contents

Approaches to qualitative research, qualitative research methods, qualitative data analysis, advantages of qualitative research, disadvantages of qualitative research, frequently asked questions about qualitative research.

Qualitative research is used to understand how people experience the world. While there are many approaches to qualitative research, they tend to be flexible and focus on retaining rich meaning when interpreting data.

Common approaches include grounded theory, ethnography, action research, phenomenological research, and narrative research. They share some similarities, but emphasise different aims and perspectives.

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Each of the research approaches involve using one or more data collection methods . These are some of the most common qualitative methods:

• Observations: recording what you have seen, heard, or encountered in detailed field notes.
• Interviews:  personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations.
• Focus groups: asking questions and generating discussion among a group of people.
• Surveys : distributing questionnaires with open-ended questions.
• Secondary research: collecting existing data in the form of texts, images, audio or video recordings, etc.
• You take field notes with observations and reflect on your own experiences of the company culture.
• You distribute open-ended surveys to employees across all the company’s offices by email to find out if the culture varies across locations.
• You conduct in-depth interviews with employees in your office to learn about their experiences and perspectives in greater detail.

Qualitative researchers often consider themselves ‘instruments’ in research because all observations, interpretations and analyses are filtered through their own personal lens.

For this reason, when writing up your methodology for qualitative research, it’s important to reflect on your approach and to thoroughly explain the choices you made in collecting and analysing the data.

Qualitative data can take the form of texts, photos, videos and audio. For example, you might be working with interview transcripts, survey responses, fieldnotes, or recordings from natural settings.

Most types of qualitative data analysis share the same five steps:

• Prepare and organise your data. This may mean transcribing interviews or typing up fieldnotes.
• Review and explore your data. Examine the data for patterns or repeated ideas that emerge.
• Develop a data coding system. Based on your initial ideas, establish a set of codes that you can apply to categorise your data.
• Assign codes to the data. For example, in qualitative survey analysis, this may mean going through each participant’s responses and tagging them with codes in a spreadsheet. As you go through your data, you can create new codes to add to your system if necessary.
• Identify recurring themes. Link codes together into cohesive, overarching themes.

There are several specific approaches to analysing qualitative data. Although these methods share similar processes, they emphasise different concepts.

Qualitative research often tries to preserve the voice and perspective of participants and can be adjusted as new research questions arise. Qualitative research is good for:

• Flexibility

The data collection and analysis process can be adapted as new ideas or patterns emerge. They are not rigidly decided beforehand.

• Natural settings

Data collection occurs in real-world contexts or in naturalistic ways.

• Meaningful insights

Detailed descriptions of people’s experiences, feelings and perceptions can be used in designing, testing or improving systems or products.

• Generation of new ideas

Open-ended responses mean that researchers can uncover novel problems or opportunities that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Researchers must consider practical and theoretical limitations in analysing and interpreting their data. Qualitative research suffers from:

• Unreliability

The real-world setting often makes qualitative research unreliable because of uncontrolled factors that affect the data.

• Subjectivity

Due to the researcher’s primary role in analysing and interpreting data, qualitative research cannot be replicated . The researcher decides what is important and what is irrelevant in data analysis, so interpretations of the same data can vary greatly.

• Limited generalisability

Small samples are often used to gather detailed data about specific contexts. Despite rigorous analysis procedures, it is difficult to draw generalisable conclusions because the data may be biased and unrepresentative of the wider population .

• Labour-intensive

Although software can be used to manage and record large amounts of text, data analysis often has to be checked or performed manually.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to test a hypothesis by systematically collecting and analysing data, while qualitative methods allow you to explore ideas and experiences in depth.

There are five common approaches to qualitative research :

• Grounded theory involves collecting data in order to develop new theories.
• Ethnography involves immersing yourself in a group or organisation to understand its culture.
• Narrative research involves interpreting stories to understand how people make sense of their experiences and perceptions.
• Phenomenological research involves investigating phenomena through people’s lived experiences.
• Action research links theory and practice in several cycles to drive innovative changes.

Data collection is the systematic process by which observations or measurements are gathered in research. It is used in many different contexts by academics, governments, businesses, and other organisations.

There are various approaches to qualitative data analysis , but they all share five steps in common:

• Prepare and organise your data.
• Review and explore your data.
• Develop a data coding system.
• Assign codes to the data.
• Identify recurring themes.

The specifics of each step depend on the focus of the analysis. Some common approaches include textual analysis , thematic analysis , and discourse analysis .

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Pritha Bhandari

The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

• Introduction and overview
• What is qualitative research?

What is qualitative data?

• Examples of qualitative data
• Qualitative vs. quantitative research
• Mixed methods
• Qualitative research preparation
• Theoretical perspective
• Theoretical framework
• Literature reviews
• Research question
• Conceptual framework
• Conceptual vs. theoretical framework
• Data collection
• Introduction

When is qualitative research useful?

What are the different approaches to qualitative research, what are the most common qualitative research methods, focus groups.

• Observational research
• Case studies
• Ethnographical research
• Ethical considerations
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Power dynamics
• Reflexivity

Qualitative research methods, types & examples

In the next few sections, we will examine different methods common to qualitative research . Researchers may find the discussion on qualitative research methodologies important to laying the theoretical foundation for common practices in the qualitative research process.

Qualitative research methods often contrast with quantitative research methods , which are usually found in the hard sciences such as biology and chemistry. Both orientations are used in the social sciences and behavioral sciences methodology as they contribute to the empirical understanding of scientific knowledge. Quantitative methods tend to measure trends concerning a phenomenon, while qualitative research methods are well-suited to describing a given phenomenon in depth.

Think of how people might choose a smartphone and how many choices there are. The decision could be based on quantitative data, such as the phone's weight, storage size (e.g., how many photos or songs it can hold), and battery life. Customers can decide by comparing the numbers of different models.

On the other hand, the decision could be made based on qualitative data, such as customers' experiences regarding how easy it is to operate a smartphone or how visually appealing a smartphone is. These determinations are challenging to characterize numerically, requiring more extended descriptions to allow people to make reasonable comparisons.

Researchers conduct qualitative research to gather data on and answer questions about intricate social processes that are difficult to quantify. Qualitative methods can be used to conceptualize these processes and develop new theories that shed light on the complex social phenomena in our world.

Qualitative data refers to rich, in-depth, and nuanced information that captures the complexity and diversity of human experiences and social realities. Rather than focusing on quantities or measurements, qualitative data aims to understand the intricate nature of phenomena, uncovering the 'why' and 'how' rather than 'how much.'

It often includes words, descriptions, visual images, symbols, or personal narratives. This data is typically unstructured or semi-structured, featuring open-ended responses that allow for expressive, detailed, and context-specific responses. It explores subjective experiences, individual perceptions, emotions, beliefs, and behaviors in social and cultural contexts.

Qualitative data can reveal patterns, themes, and categories that reflect the depth of participants' experiences and the structures of their world. It can potentially capture unforeseen phenomena, leading to new insights or theories.

Whether collected directly from participants or indirectly from various artifacts or environmental observations, qualitative data provides an understanding of the complex interplay between individuals and their contexts. It aims to provide rich, holistic insights into people's experiences and societal phenomena.

Ultimately, qualitative data offers a rich canvas for researchers to paint a comprehensive and detailed picture of the subject of their inquiry beyond numerical metrics and predefined categories.

The qualitative data collection methods that researchers choose depend on their qualitative inquiry. Qualitative studies take on many forms, with the most common approaches listed below.

Case study research

The case study research approach provides a rich, detailed analysis of a specific 'case,' which can be a single individual, group, event, or organization. Researchers employing this method gather data using multiple sources, such as interviews , observations , and documents, which offer a more complete picture of the case under study. The inherent flexibility of case study research enables the exploration of complex issues in their real-world settings.

Case study research is particularly beneficial when researchers aim to answer 'how' and 'why' questions. It's about digging deep into the aspects often overlooked by other research methods. However, it's crucial to remember that findings from a single case study may not be generalizable to other cases. Some case study designs purposefully include multiple cases in their study design to allow for cross-case comparisons and the development of insights that are more transferable to different cases. Broadly, though, the method's strength lies not in replication but in its depth of understanding and insight.

Ethnographic research

Ethnographic research is a method deeply rooted in cultural anthropology, where the researcher immerses themselves in the everyday life of the group or community they are studying. It involves long-term engagement and close observation of the group, often through participation in their activities. The primary aim is to gain an insider's perspective of the group's social dynamics, beliefs, rituals, and behaviors.

Ethnographic research can be used in various fields, not limited to anthropology. For example, in user experience research, ethnographic methods can be employed to understand user behavior and needs in the context of their natural environment. Nevertheless, conducting ethnographic research requires extensive data collection time and a deep understanding and respect for the culture being studied.

Grounded theory research

Grounded theory research is a qualitative method that seeks to develop a theory rooted in the data. Rather than beginning with a hypothesis , researchers using grounded theory start with an area of study and collect data related to this area. The key feature of this method is its systematic procedure of data collection and analysis, which is designed to facilitate the development of theory that emerges from the data.

The process of grounded theory involves several stages, including open coding , axial coding , and selective coding, which assist in organizing data into categories, establishing relationships among categories, and forming a theoretical framework, respectively. This method is particularly useful when existing theories fail to explain a phenomenon adequately. Nonetheless, conducting grounded theory research requires significant time and analytical effort to ensure that the emerging theory is robust and grounded in the data.

Narrative research

Researchers who focus on narratives are centered on the stories that individuals tell about their experiences and life events. These narratives offer a window into individuals' perspectives, providing insights into their feelings, motives, and actions. Researchers utilizing this method collect narratives through interviews, autobiographies, oral histories, or diaries and analyze them to understand individuals' experiences and how they make sense of their world.

The second part of the narrative research process is the interpretation of these stories. Researchers analyze these narratives not only for their content but also for how they're structured and told, looking for patterns and themes that reveal more profound meanings. However, it's essential to remember that narratives are subjective and can change over time as people reinterpret their experiences and memories. Thus, narrative research provides a rich, nuanced understanding of individual experiences that are closely tied to the context in which the narrative was produced.

Phenomenological research

Phenomenological research focuses on understanding individuals' lived experiences concerning a particular phenomenon. The aim here is to grasp the essence of the experience or the underlying meanings and interpretations that individuals assign to their experiences. This method involves deep, often philosophically-rooted thinking, requiring the researcher to bracket their preconceptions to truly understand the participants' perspectives.

A phenomenological study involves detailed interviews , observations , or diary entries, allowing the researcher to delve into the intricate details of people's experiences and feelings. Analysis of the data seeks to identify themes or essences that capture the nature of the phenomenon under investigation. While phenomenological research can provide profound insights into human experiences, it is a complex and time-consuming process, requiring rigorous analysis and a high degree of reflexivity from the researcher.

Action research

Action research is a collaborative, participatory approach to research that aims to solve real-world problems. In this approach, researchers work closely with community members or stakeholders, who are actively involved in all stages of the research process, from identifying the problem to implementing and evaluating the solution. This makes action research a highly dynamic and iterative process.

This method is usually employed in educational, organizational, or community settings, where researchers and participants learn from each other and effect change together. Action research not only aims to generate knowledge but also to produce practical outcomes and empower participants. Despite its benefits, it requires a significant commitment of time and resources, and its success is dependent on the effective collaboration and active participation of all members involved.

Which approach to qualitative methods is best?

Choosing the best approach to qualitative research depends on various factors, including the nature of the research question , the context of the study, the researcher's familiarity with the approach, and ethical considerations . Here are some guiding questions:

• What is the main purpose of the study?
• What kind of data is needed to effectively answer the research question?
• What is the context in which the research is being conducted?
• What are the ethical considerations associated with each approach?
• Which approach aligns best with the researcher's skills and interests?

Understanding these aspects will allow the researcher to choose the most suitable approach for their particular study.

For instance, a grounded theory approach can be an appropriate choice for your research design when there is little theory to guide the analysis of a phenomenon and the data collection itself. For research in areas that have more guiding theory to help you, you can consider an approach like ethnography or case study research, depending on the scope of data you wish to collect. Finally, if you are conducting research because you are interested in enacting social change, then action research will most likely be the most appropriate approach for your study.

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Any research method that produces unstructured data can be considered a qualitative research method. However, three types of qualitative methods are commonly used today to conduct data collection.

Observations

The simplest way to study a phenomenon is to look at it. Research conducted through direct observation involves collecting data in field notes , recordings of audio and video, and images for data analysis .

This means that researchers can turn most forms of information into data that can be analyzed with qualitative methods. The illustrative examples qualitative research methods generate can help research audiences understand observed phenomena more clearly. ATLAS.ti can help with this process by allowing qualitative researchers to code major forms of data , including images and audio .

Interviews are a fundamental method in qualitative research, allowing researchers to gather in-depth information about individuals' thoughts, feelings, experiences, and interpretations. Interviews can take various forms, from highly structured with predetermined questions, to semi-structured with some guidance , to unstructured or 'open-ended' where the conversation evolves based on the interviewee's responses.

Conducting interviews offers a direct interaction with participants, enabling the researcher to probe deeper into the topics under discussion, clarify responses, and ask for elaborations. Interviews can yield rich, detailed data that provide a deep understanding of a person's perspective. However, they also require a significant investment of time and resources. Skilled interviewing and good rapport building are essential for collecting meaningful and accurate data.

A focus group consists of a group of participants collectively discussing a topic, speaking among themselves even more than they might speak to the researcher or focus group moderator. The aim is to inquire about people's perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards the topic of study, which could be a feature of social life, such as body art or a specific product, such as market research for a new campaign. Since the researcher can observe and speak with a group of people, focus groups are ideal for understanding the social construction of a phenomenon or how meaning is collectively co-constructed.

Focus groups are especially popular in market research. Still, qualitative researchers who want to observe how people interact with each other could consider conducting a focus group. For example, how people discuss their opinions and perspectives in groups is an essential inquiry in sociology and linguistics that focus groups can help explore.

Surveys in qualitative research often differ from those in quantitative research, because an important part of these surveys is the collection of open-ended responses that allow participants to provide detailed responses in their own words. Surveys can be a cost-effective and efficient method to collect data from a larger number of participants compared to other qualitative methods.

However, designing a good survey requires careful thought to ensure questions are clear, unbiased, and able to elicit rich, meaningful responses. Unlike interviews and focus groups, surveys do not provide an opportunity for the researcher to ask for clarifications or probe for more elaborate responses. Additionally, low response rates and self-selection bias can be potential challenges in survey research. Regardless, when designed and implemented effectively, surveys can provide valuable insights into participants' perspectives and experiences.

Document collection

Document collection is a versatile method in qualitative research that involves the analysis of existing texts. These texts can come in a variety of forms, such as official documents, newspapers, letters, diaries, transcripts, literary works, photographs, or even digital content like social media posts , blogs, and websites. The content of these documents can provide valuable insights into the phenomenon under investigation, contextual factors, and historical trends.

The strength of document analysis lies in its ability to provide a behind-the-scenes look at events, settings, or groups, often complementing the data obtained through other methods. For example, it can be useful for triangulating data in a mixed-methods study or providing a historical context in a case study. However, the researcher needs to be cautious about the authenticity, bias, and representativeness of the documents. Despite these challenges, when used effectively, document collection can enrich a study by providing a diverse range of data and a deeper understanding of the research subject.

Other research methods

Ultimately, the potential for qualitative data collection is broad as it encompasses any research method that collects unstructured data that can be systematically organized and analyzed. With that in mind, let's briefly look at other methods that are useful in qualitative research.

Participant observation - This is a method used frequently in ethnographic research. Researchers immerse themselves in the environment or culture they are studying, often participating in the activities of the group. This allows them to observe behaviors, interactions, and events as they naturally occur, leading to a deep understanding of the group's dynamics.

Visual methods - These involve the use of visual materials, such as photographs, drawings, videos, or maps. Participants may be asked to create or interact with these materials as part of the data collection process. Visual methods can offer unique insights and are particularly useful when exploring topics that are difficult to express in words.

Diaries and journals - In this method, participants are asked to keep a record of their experiences, thoughts, and feelings over a certain period. These records can provide rich, detailed, and longitudinal data. For example, diaries and journals are often used in health and social care research to study people's daily lives, experiences of illness, or caring roles.

Life history - Collecting life histories is a type of narrative research where participants are asked to tell their life story or focus on a particular aspect or period of their life. Life history can reveal how people interpret and give meaning to their experiences over time.

How do I choose the best qualitative research method?

Think about what you want to study concerning a particular topic or concept. If your topic is education, for example, are you interested in what happens in education, what people think about it, or how people talk about it? Observations can tap into the experiences within a particular context, while interviews and focus groups can shed light on people's opinions.

Also, keep in mind that the use of multiple qualitative research methods can provide a deeper exploration of a concept than the use of one method alone. A good research design for an in-depth qualitative study can even apply quantitative research methods in what is called mixed methods research to examine a phenomenon from different angles.

Any study first begins with the research question and topic. From there, you can reflect on which qualitative research methods are best suited to answering your research question.

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Qualitative Data – Types, Methods and Examples

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Qualitative Data

Definition:

Qualitative data is a type of data that is collected and analyzed in a non-numerical form, such as words, images, or observations. It is generally used to gain an in-depth understanding of complex phenomena, such as human behavior, attitudes, and beliefs.

Types of Qualitative Data

There are various types of qualitative data that can be collected and analyzed, including:

• Interviews : These involve in-depth, face-to-face conversations with individuals or groups to gather their perspectives, experiences, and opinions on a particular topic.
• Focus Groups: These are group discussions where a facilitator leads a discussion on a specific topic, allowing participants to share their views and experiences.
• Observations : These involve observing and recording the behavior and interactions of individuals or groups in a particular setting.
• Case Studies: These involve in-depth analysis of a particular individual, group, or organization, usually over an extended period.
• Document Analysis : This involves examining written or recorded materials, such as newspaper articles, diaries, or public records, to gain insight into a particular topic.
• Visual Data : This involves analyzing images or videos to understand people’s experiences or perspectives on a particular topic.
• Online Data: This involves analyzing data collected from social media platforms, forums, or online communities to understand people’s views and opinions on a particular topic.

Qualitative Data Formats

Qualitative data can be collected and presented in various formats. Some common formats include:

• Textual data: This includes written or transcribed data from interviews, focus groups, or observations. It can be analyzed using various techniques such as thematic analysis or content analysis.
• Audio data: This includes recordings of interviews or focus groups, which can be transcribed and analyzed using software such as NVivo.
• Visual data: This includes photographs, videos, or drawings, which can be analyzed using techniques such as visual analysis or semiotics.
• Mixed media data : This includes data collected in different formats, such as audio and text. This can be analyzed using mixed methods research, which combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Field notes: These are notes taken by researchers during observations, which can include descriptions of the setting, behaviors, and interactions of participants.

Qualitative Data Analysis Methods

Qualitative data analysis refers to the process of systematically analyzing and interpreting qualitative data to identify patterns, themes, and relationships. Here are some common methods of analyzing qualitative data:

• Thematic analysis: This involves identifying and analyzing patterns or themes within the data. It involves coding the data into themes and subthemes and organizing them into a coherent narrative.
• Content analysis: This involves analyzing the content of the data, such as the words, phrases, or images used. It involves identifying patterns and themes in the data and examining the relationships between them.
• Discourse analysis: This involves analyzing the language and communication used in the data, such as the meaning behind certain words or phrases. It involves examining how the language constructs and shapes social reality.
• Grounded theory: This involves developing a theory or framework based on the data. It involves identifying patterns and themes in the data and using them to develop a theory that explains the phenomenon being studied.
• Narrative analysis : This involves analyzing the stories and narratives present in the data. It involves examining how the stories are constructed and how they contribute to the overall understanding of the phenomenon being studied.
• Ethnographic analysis : This involves analyzing the culture and social practices present in the data. It involves examining how the cultural and social practices contribute to the phenomenon being studied.

Qualitative Data Collection Guide

Here are some steps to guide the collection of qualitative data:

• Define the research question : Start by clearly defining the research question that you want to answer. This will guide the selection of data collection methods and help to ensure that the data collected is relevant to the research question.
• Choose data collection methods : Select the most appropriate data collection methods based on the research question, the research design, and the resources available. Common methods include interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis, and participatory research.
• Develop a data collection plan : Develop a plan for data collection that outlines the specific procedures, timelines, and resources needed for each data collection method. This plan should include details such as how to recruit participants, how to conduct interviews or focus groups, and how to record and store data.
• Obtain ethical approval : Obtain ethical approval from an institutional review board or ethics committee before beginning data collection. This is particularly important when working with human participants to ensure that their rights and interests are protected.
• Recruit participants: Recruit participants based on the research question and the data collection methods chosen. This may involve purposive sampling, snowball sampling, or random sampling.
• Collect data: Collect data using the chosen data collection methods. This may involve conducting interviews, facilitating focus groups, observing participants, or analyzing documents.
• Transcribe and store data : Transcribe and store the data in a secure location. This may involve transcribing audio or video recordings, organizing field notes, or scanning documents.
• Analyze data: Analyze the data using appropriate qualitative data analysis methods, such as thematic analysis or content analysis.
• I nterpret findings : Interpret the findings of the data analysis in the context of the research question and the relevant literature. This may involve developing new theories or frameworks, or validating existing ones.
• Communicate results: Communicate the results of the research in a clear and concise manner, using appropriate language and visual aids where necessary. This may involve writing a report, presenting at a conference, or publishing in a peer-reviewed journal.

Qualitative Data Examples

Some examples of qualitative data in different fields are as follows:

• Sociology : In sociology, qualitative data is used to study social phenomena such as culture, norms, and social relationships. For example, a researcher might conduct interviews with members of a community to understand their beliefs and practices.
• Psychology : In psychology, qualitative data is used to study human behavior, emotions, and attitudes. For example, a researcher might conduct a focus group to explore how individuals with anxiety cope with their symptoms.
• Education : In education, qualitative data is used to study learning processes and educational outcomes. For example, a researcher might conduct observations in a classroom to understand how students interact with each other and with their teacher.
• Marketing : In marketing, qualitative data is used to understand consumer behavior and preferences. For example, a researcher might conduct in-depth interviews with customers to understand their purchasing decisions.
• Anthropology : In anthropology, qualitative data is used to study human cultures and societies. For example, a researcher might conduct participant observation in a remote community to understand their customs and traditions.
• Health Sciences: In health sciences, qualitative data is used to study patient experiences, beliefs, and preferences. For example, a researcher might conduct interviews with cancer patients to understand how they cope with their illness.

Application of Qualitative Data

Qualitative data is used in a variety of fields and has numerous applications. Here are some common applications of qualitative data:

• Exploratory research: Qualitative data is often used in exploratory research to understand a new or unfamiliar topic. Researchers use qualitative data to generate hypotheses and develop a deeper understanding of the research question.
• Evaluation: Qualitative data is often used to evaluate programs or interventions. Researchers use qualitative data to understand the impact of a program or intervention on the people who participate in it.
• Needs assessment: Qualitative data is often used in needs assessments to understand the needs of a specific population. Researchers use qualitative data to identify the most pressing needs of the population and develop strategies to address those needs.
• Case studies: Qualitative data is often used in case studies to understand a particular case in detail. Researchers use qualitative data to understand the context, experiences, and perspectives of the people involved in the case.
• Market research: Qualitative data is often used in market research to understand consumer behavior and preferences. Researchers use qualitative data to gain insights into consumer attitudes, opinions, and motivations.
• Social and cultural research : Qualitative data is often used in social and cultural research to understand social phenomena such as culture, norms, and social relationships. Researchers use qualitative data to understand the experiences, beliefs, and practices of individuals and communities.

Purpose of Qualitative Data

The purpose of qualitative data is to gain a deeper understanding of social phenomena that cannot be captured by numerical or quantitative data. Qualitative data is collected through methods such as observation, interviews, and focus groups, and it provides descriptive information that can shed light on people’s experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.

Qualitative data serves several purposes, including:

• Generating hypotheses: Qualitative data can be used to generate hypotheses about social phenomena that can be further tested with quantitative data.
• Providing context : Qualitative data provides a rich and detailed context for understanding social phenomena that cannot be captured by numerical data alone.
• Exploring complex phenomena : Qualitative data can be used to explore complex phenomena such as culture, social relationships, and the experiences of marginalized groups.
• Evaluating programs and intervention s: Qualitative data can be used to evaluate the impact of programs and interventions on the people who participate in them.
• Enhancing understanding: Qualitative data can be used to enhance understanding of the experiences, beliefs, and attitudes of individuals and communities, which can inform policy and practice.

When to use Qualitative Data

Qualitative data is appropriate when the research question requires an in-depth understanding of complex social phenomena that cannot be captured by numerical or quantitative data.

Here are some situations when qualitative data is appropriate:

• Exploratory research : Qualitative data is often used in exploratory research to generate hypotheses and develop a deeper understanding of a research question.
• Understanding social phenomena : Qualitative data is appropriate when the research question requires an in-depth understanding of social phenomena such as culture, social relationships, and experiences of marginalized groups.
• Program evaluation: Qualitative data is often used in program evaluation to understand the impact of a program on the people who participate in it.
• Needs assessment: Qualitative data is often used in needs assessments to understand the needs of a specific population.
• Market research: Qualitative data is often used in market research to understand consumer behavior and preferences.
• Case studies: Qualitative data is often used in case studies to understand a particular case in detail.

Characteristics of Qualitative Data

Here are some characteristics of qualitative data:

• Descriptive : Qualitative data provides a rich and detailed description of the social phenomena under investigation.
• Contextual : Qualitative data is collected in the context in which the social phenomena occur, which allows for a deeper understanding of the phenomena.
• Subjective : Qualitative data reflects the subjective experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of the individuals and communities under investigation.
• Flexible : Qualitative data collection methods are flexible and can be adapted to the specific needs of the research question.
• Emergent : Qualitative data analysis is often an iterative process, where new themes and patterns emerge as the data is analyzed.
• Interpretive : Qualitative data analysis involves interpretation of the data, which requires the researcher to be reflexive and aware of their own biases and assumptions.
• Non-standardized: Qualitative data collection methods are often non-standardized, which means that the data is not collected in a standardized or uniform way.

Advantages of Qualitative Data

Some advantages of qualitative data are as follows:

• Richness : Qualitative data provides a rich and detailed description of the social phenomena under investigation, allowing for a deeper understanding of the phenomena.
• Flexibility : Qualitative data collection methods are flexible and can be adapted to the specific needs of the research question, allowing for a more nuanced exploration of social phenomena.
• Contextualization : Qualitative data is collected in the context in which the social phenomena occur, which allows for a deeper understanding of the phenomena and their cultural and social context.
• Subjectivity : Qualitative data reflects the subjective experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of the individuals and communities under investigation, allowing for a more holistic understanding of the phenomena.
• New insights : Qualitative data can generate new insights and hypotheses that can be further tested with quantitative data.
• Participant voice : Qualitative data collection methods often involve direct participation by the individuals and communities under investigation, allowing for their voices to be heard.
• Ethical considerations: Qualitative data collection methods often prioritize ethical considerations such as informed consent, confidentiality, and respect for the autonomy of the participants.

Limitations of Qualitative Data

Here are some limitations of qualitative data:

• Subjectivity : Qualitative data is subjective, and the interpretation of the data depends on the researcher’s own biases, assumptions, and perspectives.
• Small sample size: Qualitative data collection methods often involve a small sample size, which limits the generalizability of the findings.
• Time-consuming: Qualitative data collection and analysis can be time-consuming, as it requires in-depth engagement with the data and often involves iterative processes.
• Limited statistical analysis: Qualitative data is often not suitable for statistical analysis, which limits the ability to draw quantitative conclusions from the data.
• Limited comparability: Qualitative data collection methods are often non-standardized, which makes it difficult to compare findings across different studies or contexts.
• Social desirability bias : Qualitative data collection methods often rely on self-reporting by the participants, which can be influenced by social desirability bias.
• Researcher bias: The researcher’s own biases, assumptions, and perspectives can influence the data collection and analysis, which can limit the objectivity of the findings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Short on time? Get an AI generated summary of this article instead

Qualitative research is a crucial step in product development .  While the quantitative approach might explain where an issue lies and the number of users it affects, the qualitative method answers why the problem is happening and how it affects customers.

This type of research explains how people experience the world. Many researchers use it to understand a group’s behavior, characteristics, and motivations.

People also use qualitative research in the business sector. Qualitative research enables you to access content-rich information about user emotions and perceptions. For example, you can use it in market research to understand what a target group thinks about your company’s new ideas.

Different qualitative research types serve a particular purpose. Before we delve into the various types of qualitative research, let's begin with the basics.

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• What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is a market research process that involves collecting and analyzing in-depth data through conversational and open-ended communication. It focuses on "what" people think and "why" they think so. Qualitative research goes beyond how many people do something to determine why they do or don't do it.

Qualitative research methods enable detailed questioning of respondents based on their responses. The researcher’s aim is to understand the participants’ feelings and motivations.

Imagine a cake company looking to get more customers at two branches on the same street. A systematic observation showed more people bought cakes from Branch A than from Branch B. One way to determine why people preferred Branch A is to interview potential customers.

Let's say the company visited both stores and interviewed customers. Upon completion, results showed that workers in Branch B lacked good customer relationships, so many people visited Branch A instead.

Another example is if marketing notices a consistent but unexplainable churn in customers. Maybe subscribers of the platform were only staying on for a month rather than a much longer expected timeline. 

Qualitative initiatives could dive into the motivations of these users. Findings may reveal that the customers achieved their goals much faster than expected. Perhaps they didn’t have the characteristics the company originally assumed they had.

Qualitative research identifies customer pain points, determines why a particular product might not yield the desired results, and tests possible solutions. It’s a helpful tool when you’re looking to develop and improve products and services. Understanding how your audience makes decisions can help you draw valuable conclusions in market research.

Learn more about qualitative research platforms

• Characteristics of qualitative research methods

Qualitative research involves collecting and evaluating non-numerical data (audio, video, and text) to deeply understand opinions, concepts, or experiences. It also includes data about lived experiences, emotions, and behavior with the meaning people add to it. 

Due to its softer manner, researchers express results more commonly in:

Video clips

Sound bites

Pull quotes

Here are the characteristics of qualitative research.

Real-time data

Qualitative research methods often collect data at the location where people encounter the product or company’s service. This ensures it’s as close to the authentic experience of its consumers as possible.

Many data sources

Qualitative researchers don't need to rely on a single source of data . They can gather different data types from sources like observations, interviews, and documents for better understanding.

Qualitative research techniques tend to break down complex problems into smaller, simpler pieces that focus on what the research intends to evaluate. The goal is to have a clear understanding of the unknown. That means you can uncover answers while leaving room for surprises and discoveries to emerge.

Raw information

Since qualitative research involves conversations, participants should be able to confide in the interviewer and give their honest opinions. Researchers should use qualitative interviewing techniques to establish trust and comfort in participants to facilitate authentic and pure reactions to products. That’s why you need to ensure the information you provide is accurate.

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• Types of qualitative research methods with examples

Qualitative research methods reveal your target audiences' behavior and perception of a particular situation. Its results are more detailed and descriptive, so you can easily draw inferences from the data.

Each qualitative research type has its purpose and might not be suitable for all projects. Before conducting a qualitative study, it's crucial to understand the various types of qualitative research methods and how they differ.

Let's look at each of the six types of qualitative research methods.

1. Phenomenological method

The phenomenological approach explores the experiences of a specific phenomenon (observable fact or event) in a person or group. These are “lived experiences.”

The method helps researchers better understand people's beliefs, attitudes, behavior, and experiences. In this method, you ask customers to describe their experiences as they perceive them. This approach recognizes there is no single objective reality; everyone experiences things differently.

Researchers usually set their assumptions aside to remove bias (bracketing) and focus on the participants’ experiences. 

While the outcome depends on the participants' points of view, researchers try to answer the following questions:

How do people experience this phenomenon?

How does it affect them?

What factors influence their experience?

This method uses information from interviews, observations, diary studies, or voice-of-customer sessions to determine a participant's feelings during a particular activity or event. During this research, it's vital to make your customers feel comfortable, so they share their honest experiences.

Your questions in phenomenological research should be free of closed-ended or leading questions. Closed-ended questions usually only require a simple one-word response and won’t tell the whole story or give you the actionable data you want to collect. 

Leading questions require your user to contradict what your question may imply. This usually results in polite and natural agreement rather than the honest response you need. In short, don’t ask them if they like a feature. Ask your user how they feel about it, either positive or negative, and let them direct the discussion from there.

You can use this method to determine your customer's purchasing behavior. For example, you can ask questions like, "Do you prefer red velvet cake or vanilla cake? Why?" The responses will depend on their experiences. The result of this research method can be useful when you want to improve your product's quality or target a different product to increase sales.

2. Ethnographic model

This model is an in-depth observation that studies your target audience in their natural environment. It involves collecting and analyzing data about people by watching them rather than interviewing them. Quite often, consumers may report using a particular product in one way, but observing could prove otherwise.

It requires researchers to adapt to the environment of their target audience. Since it could be any location, collecting data can be challenging. But this model helps you understand the challenges, cultures, settings, and motivations that occur by seeing it yourself. With well-executed ethnographic research, your company can uncover: 

Users' motivations behind using your product

How they’re using it

During what other activities are they using it

How they discovered it

And even why they stopped using it

All of these insights can help you build a more intuitive product experience that leaves consumers feeling heard and satisfied.

Companies that act on accurate ethnographic studies are often way ahead of their competitors since they have a clear idea of where their customers are and where they are going.

3. Grounded theory method

Sociologists Glaser and Strauss developed the grounded theory model in the 1960s. In this model, researchers collect, interpret, and analyze data to develop various theories regarding the research topic. Rather than establish theories before examining data, researchers develop theories after studying the data.

Researchers use this model in qualitative research to see what theories or questions arise from a given data set. They may group the drawn-out theories and analyze them further. Grounded theory needs careful content analysis since the emerging theories must be valid, else it can lead to lost insights and poor decision-making.

It is often a research method that builds on existing work. Data collection methods include interviews, observations, longitudinal studies , and diary studies.

4. Case study model

The case study model helps explain a particular element, family, person, business, or organization. It is common in fields like education and social sciences. Ways of collecting data in this model may include interviews since the research requires in-depth and real details. The researcher will ask questions to determine why a particular respondent acts the way they do.

For instance, a film streaming company might watch a family use their technology to determine their reaction to new services or products and what features could interest them.

5. Historical model

Historical studies involve identifying, locating, evaluating, and synthesizing data from the past. It doesn't only discover past events but tries to relate them to the present and future. 

For instance, you can analyze data from previous advertising campaigns and use it to conduct a new one. Or a music management company can look at the audience from a 2022 concert to plan future ones.

Historical research requires great skill. Researchers must analyze the data, look for trends or changes, or pinpoint any contradictions. You can ask questions to design your research strategy, like, "How has consumer preference changed over the years?"

Sometimes, historical data can collect irrelevant data. Let’s consider how airlines experienced so much turmoil during the pandemic. It’s possible the historical data isn’t relevant enough to gather useful data from in a post-pandemic world. 

6. Narrative model

The narrative method is one of the types of qualitative research methods that focuses on written and spoken words or visual representations by people. Here, stories become raw data.

Researchers evaluate people's lived experiences through questioning to determine issues they may face. This research method helps you understand what people think about your brand. You can use it to determine the various challenges your target audience faces on a personal narrative level.

• Qualitative research data collection

This is the process of obtaining information. Qualitative data collection involves obtaining non-numerical data. It provides researchers with detailed insights into why people make decisions. But to arrive at such conclusions, the collected data should be rich, holistic, and from participants that accurately represent your targeted audience.

Some ways to collect data in qualitative research include:

Participant observations

You collect data by watching other people's behavior closely and recording what you hear, see, or encounter. 

One-on-one interviews

This involves an open-ended conversation with your target audience. The interview can be via phone, email, or face-to-face.

In-depth surveys

This may involve distributing a questionnaire with open-ended questions.

Focus groups

Here, a moderator asks participants (usually 6–12 members) predetermined questions about your products, brand, or services. It's crucial to avoid yes-or-no questions to promote engagement.

Voice-of-customer

Here, the moderator comes up with a feature or product concept and brainstorms the idea with a customer. The customer plays an active role in shaping the concept to ensure the feature really would be a solution for them.

Card-sorting

This method involves index cards with written content about a given service or product. The moderator asks the participant to think out loud while organizing cards in ways that make sense to the user.

Diary studies

Diary studies require users to keep a journal or diary of specific experiences and their thoughts around them. These studies typically take longer to complete the data-gathering stage.

Regardless of the method you use for collecting qualitative data, it will generate a large amount of data. For example, if a researcher uses one-on-one discussions or a focus group to collect data, there will be video recordings or written notes to analyze. 

Diary study templates

• Qualitative research data analysis

Qualitative data analysis involves examining data to understand and derive meaning from it. It involves making notes, recording videos or audio, taking photos, or analyzing text documents.

Here are the steps involved in qualitative data analysis:

Prepare and organize your data: This could mean typing notes during sessions, including timestamps, or transcribing your audio.

Review and explore the data:  Check the data for repeated patterns or ideas that emerge.

Create codes for the data and assign them : Develop a set of codes to separate your data into categories and assign them.

Spot recurring themes : Link codes together into overarching, cohesive themes. 

Learn more about qualitative research data analysis software

• When to use qualitative research

Researchers use qualitative research methods to get factual data for in-depth insights. You can use qualitative research when you want to:

Develop a new product or generate an idea.

Understand the problem areas of your product or service thoroughly.

Improve your marketing strategy.

Understand your weaknesses and strengths according to your users.

Deeply explore potential consumers’ motivations, desires, and demographics to understand your company’s role within them.

Figure out how people perceive your brand, product, or services.

Stay well ahead of your competition by knowing your users better than they do.

Qualitative research helps brands understand the underlying motivations and reasons behind consumer behavior and decisions.

• Qualitative research methods vs. quantitative research methods

In a nutshell, qualitative research methods revolve around people's perspectives and their reasoning to solve the “why” and “how.” Quantitative research methods center on measurements and numbers to uncover what is happening and sometimes the timeline in which it happened. 

Together, both research methods help companies get an accurate and in-depth insight into a situation. It’s important to understand their significant differences to know when to employ each.

Here is a table to help you understand how both research methods differ.

What is the most common type of qualitative research?

A detailed interview is the most common type of qualitative research approach.

What is the most common form of qualitative interviewing?

A semi-structured interview is the most common form of qualitative interviewing. User testing is considered a qualitative interview in a one-on-one live environment.

What is the most common method used for qualitative data analysis?

Pattern matching is one of the commonest methods used for qualitative data analysis. Pattern matching involves forming a mental model to categorize all collected data into compartments to compare and evaluate.

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Qualitative Research Definition

Qualitative research methods and examples, advantages and disadvantages of qualitative approaches, qualitative vs. quantitative research, showing qualitative research skills on resumes, what is qualitative research methods and examples.

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Table of Contents

Qualitative research seeks to understand people’s experiences and perspectives by studying social organizations and human behavior. Data in qualitative studies focuses on people’s beliefs and emotional responses. Qualitative data is especially helpful when a company wants to know how customers feel about a product or service, such as in user experience (UX) design or marketing . 

Researchers use qualitative approaches to “determine answers to research questions on human behavior and the cultural values that drive our thinking and behavior,” says Margaret J. King, director at The Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis in Philadelphia.

Data in qualitative research typically can’t be assessed mathematically — the data is not sets of numbers or quantifiable information. Rather, it’s collections of images, words, notes on behaviors, descriptions of emotions, and historical context. Data is collected through observations, interviews, surveys, focus groups, and secondary research. 

However, a qualitative study needs a “clear research question at its base,” notes King, and the research needs to be “observed, categorized, compared, and evaluated (along a scale or by a typology chart) by reference to a baseline in order to determine an outcome with value as new and reliable information.”

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Who Uses Qualitative Research?

Researchers in social sciences and humanities often use qualitative research methods, especially in specific areas of study like anthropology, history, education, and sociology. 

Qualitative methods are also applicable in business, technology , and marketing spaces. For example, product managers use qualitative research to understand how target audiences respond to their products. They may use focus groups to gain insights from potential customers on product prototypes and improvements or surveys from existing customers to understand what changes users want to see. 

Other careers that may involve qualitative research include: 

• Marketing analyst
• UX and UI analyst
• Market researcher
• Statistician
• Business analyst
• Data analyst
• Research assistant
• Claims investigator

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Good research begins with a question, and this question informs the approach used by qualitative researchers. 

Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is an inductive approach to theory development. In many forms of research, you begin with a hypothesis and then test it to see if you’re correct. In grounded theory, though, you go in without any assumptions and rely on the data you collect to form theories. You start with an open question about a phenomenon you are studying and collect and analyze data until you can form a fully-fledged theory from the information. 

Example: A company wants to improve its brand and marketing strategies. The company performs a grounded theory approach to solving this problem by conducting interviews and surveys with past, current, and prospective customers. The information gathered from these methods helps the company understand what type of branding and marketing their customer-base likes and dislikes, allowing the team to inductively craft a new brand and marketing strategy from the data. 

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Action Research

Action research is one part study and one part problem-solving . Through action research, analysts investigate a problem or weakness and develop practical solutions. The process of action research is cyclical —- researchers assess solutions for efficiency and effectiveness, and create further solutions to correct any issues found. 

Example: A manager notices her employees struggle to cooperate on group projects. She carefully reviews how team members interact with each other and asks them all to respond to a survey about communication. Through the survey and study, she finds that guidelines for group projects are unclear. After changing the guidelines, she reviews her team again to see if there are any changes to their behavior.  

>>MORE: Explore how action research helps consultants serve clients with Accenture’s Client Research and Problem Identification job simulation .

Phenomenological Research

Phenomenological research investigates a phenomenon in depth, looking at people’s experiences and understanding of the situation. This sort of study is primarily descriptive and seeks to broaden understanding around a specific incident and the people involved. Researchers in phenomenological studies must be careful to set aside any biases or assumptions because the information used should be entirely from the subjects themselves. 

Example : A researcher wants to better understand the lived experience of college students with jobs. The purpose of this research is to gain insights into the pressures of college students who balance studying and working at the same time. The researcher conducts a series of interviews with several college students, learning about their past and current situations. Through the first few interviews, the researcher builds a relationship with the students. Later discussions are more targeted, with questions prompting the students to discuss their emotions surrounding both work and school and the difficulties and benefits arising from their situation. The researcher then analyzes these interviews, and identifies shared themes to contextualize the experiences of the students.

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Ethnography

Ethnography is an immersive study of a particular culture or community. Through ethnographic research, analysts aim to learn about a group’s conventions, social dynamics, and cultural norms. Some researchers use active observation methods, finding ways to integrate themselves into the culture as much as possible. Others use passive observation, watching closely from the outside but not fully immersing themselves. 

Example: A company hires an external researcher to learn what their company’s culture is actually like. The researcher studies the social dynamics of the employees and may even look at how these employees interact with clients and with each other outside of the office. The goal is to deliver a comprehensive report of the company’s culture and the social dynamics of its employees.

Case Studies

A case study is a type of in-depth analysis of a situation. Case studies can focus on an organization, belief system, event, person, or action. The goal of a case study is to understand the phenomenon and put it in a real-world context. Case studies are also commonly used in marketing and sales to highlight the benefits of a company’s products or services. 

Example: A business performs a case study of its competitors’ strategies. This case study aims to show why the company should adopt a specific business strategy. The study looks at each competitor’s business structure, marketing campaigns, product offerings, and historical growth trends. Then, using this data on other businesses, the researcher can theorize how that strategy would benefit their company.

>>MORE: Learn how companies use case study interviews to assess candidates’ research and problem-solving skills. 

Qualitative research methods are great for generating new ideas. The exploratory nature of qualitative research means uncovering unexpected information, which often leads to new theories and further research topics. Additionally, qualitative findings feel meaningful. These studies focus on people, emotions, and societies and may feel closer to their communities than quantitative research that relies on more mathematical and logical data. 

However, qualitative research can be unreliable at times. It’s difficult to replicate qualitative studies since people’s opinions and emotions can change quickly. For example, a focus group has a lot of variables that can affect the outcome, and that same group, asked the same questions a year later, may have entirely different responses. The data collection can also be difficult and time-consuming with qualitative research. Ultimately, interviewing people, reviewing surveys, and understanding and explaining human emotions can be incredibly complex.

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While qualitative research deals with data that isn’t easily manipulated by mathematics, quantitative research almost exclusively involves numbers and numerical data. Quantitative studies aim to find concrete details, like units of time, percentages, or statistics. 

Besides the types of data used, a core difference between quantitative and qualitative research is the idea of control and replication. 

“Qualitative is less subject to control (as in lab studies) and, therefore, less statistically measurable than quantitative approaches,” says King.

One person’s interview about a specific topic can have completely different responses than every other person’s interview since there are so many variables in qualitative research. On the other hand, quantitative studies can often be replicated. For instance, when testing the effects of a new medication, quantifiable data, like blood test results, can be repeated. Qualitative data, though, like how people feel about the medication, may differ from person to person and from moment to moment.

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You can show your experience with qualitative research on your resume in your skills or work experience sections and your cover letter . 

• In your skills section , you can list types of qualitative research you are skilled at, like conducting interviews, performing grounded theory research, or crafting case studies. 
• In your work or internship experience descriptions , you can highlight specific examples, like talking about a time you used action research to solve a complex issue at your last job. 
• In your cover letter , you can discuss in-depth qualitative research projects you’ve completed. For instance, say you spent a summer conducting ethnographic research or a whole semester running focus groups to get feedback on a product. You can talk about these experiences in your cover letter and note how these skills make you a great fit for the job. 

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14 Types of Qualitative Research

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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Qualitative research is a research methodology that involves gathering non-numerical empirical data for in-depth and contextualized analysis.

It is one of two main categories of research methodologies , the other being quantitative research. While quantitative research is effective in identifying trends and facts (the ‘what?’), qualitative studies attempt to understand underlying reasons why something might be true (the ‘why?’):

Below are examples of various approaches to qualitative research . Note that the following types represent some but not all approaches to qualitative research, and that some of these approaches can also be used in, combined with, and analyzed through, quantitative methods.

Types of Qualitative Research

1. Ethnography

In ethnographic research , the researcher embeds themselves within the group in which they are studying.

Then, they employ qualitative research methods such as participant observation , thick description , unstructured interviews, and field notes vignettes to provide detailed and contextualized descriptions of the subjects of their analysis.

This type of research, common in anthropology . aims to understand the shared beliefs, practices, and values of a particular community through the researcher’s immersion within the cultural group.

Ethnographic research can rarely make predictions, identify trends, or ascertain hard facts about an entire population (that would require substantive quantitative methods). However, they can create detailed explanations of cultural practices and comparisons between social and cultural groups. Its strength is in producing detailed and holistic accounts of groups of people and their interactions.

This method often demands a significant investment of time and funds, as researchers need to embed themselves within the group. They are often embedded with the group day and night, attempting to develop trust and rapport with the participants to generate authentic and detailed accounts of group practices.

Example Study

Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho involves an anthropologist who embeds herself with Wall Street firms to study the culture of Wall Street bankers and how this culture affects the broader economy and world.

2. Autoethnography

Autoethnography builds upon ethnography by combining elements of both autobiography and ethnography. In autoethnography, the researcher is the subject of their study.

The author uses personal experiences, memories, and reflections to explore and analyze broader cultural and social phenomena, and their place within them (Liamputtong, 2020).

The researcher’s subjective experiences serve two key purposes:

• First, their personal experiences are the source of data
• Second, their personal experiences are a lens through which to examine the topic

As with many qualitative studies, autoethnography challenges traditional ideas of validity and reliability because it does not seek objectivity. Rather, it embraces the researcher’s positionality and subjective interpretations. As a result, the focus is not on identifying population trends. Rather, it is on interpreting and understanding a case study in-depth to answer ‘why?’ questions.

This method is particularly suited for exploring topics related to identity and culture, where deep explanations are required.

Living Without a Mobile Phone: An Autoethnography by Andres Luccero (2018) is one of the more captivating academic studies I’ve engaged with in recent months. It explores themes related to the benefits and struggles of voluntarily foregoing mobile phones (including the safety fears Luccero goes through) after systematically collecting field notes over a number of years.

3. Life history research

Life history research involves the collection and analysis of personal biographies or autobiographies to explore people’s experiences across their lifetime.

Like ethnography and autoethnography, it is focused on individual experiences and perspectives. However, it does not require the researcher to be embedded in a cultural or social group in order to gather data (Busetto, Wick & Gumbinger, 2020).

Rather, the data can be gathered from people’s written or spoken biographies in the form of diaries, letters, and so on. It will aim to focus on the complex relationships between personal narratives and the sociocultural, historical, and political contexts of their lives.

This method seeks to understand how people construct meaning from their life events. It is common in social work and psychology research.

Like all qualitative research, life history research focuses on the in-depth exploration of individual stories and experiences rather than the collection of numerical data.

The Study of Life History: Gandhi by David Mandelbaum conducts a life history analysis of Gandhi by exploring his biographies and texts about his life. Through this analysis, Mandelbaum contextualized Gandhi’s life achievements and decisions in the banal experiences of fatherhood an nationhood, with an attempt to humanize the Indian hero and re-imagine his role in the development of modern India.

4. Observational research

Observational research involves the systematic documentation and analysis of phenomena by the research.

In this approach, the researcher usually takes the position of the ‘fly on the wall’ (Walliman, 2021). So, unlike ethnographic research, observational research does not attempt to be an embedded researcher-participant. Rather, they are a researcher-observer.

Observational research can be either overt observation , where the participants are aware that the researcher is observing them, or covert observation , where the participants are not aware of the researcher and therefore more likely to behave authentically (Liamputtong, 2020).

Of course, in human subject research, covert observation comes with many ethical issues that need to be assessed and approved by a university ethics review board.

Methods employed in observational research include use of researcher vignettes and field notes and audiovisual data collection.

The Bobo Doll Experiment by Albert Bandura is the quintessential observational study. Bandura had children watch adults interacting with a doll. Half saw adults acting roughly with the doll, the other half saw parents acting carefully with the doll. Then, Bandura observed children playing with a doll. His observations revealed that children’s observations of adult actions affect how the children will subsequently treat the doll.

5. Phenomenology

Phenomenology, like the above studies, focuses on exploring the lived experiences and subjective perceptions of individuals. However, it focuses specifically on people’s experiences in relation to a specific social phenomenon.

The primary goal of phenomenology is to gain a deep understanding of the essence or meaning of the experience from the perspective of those who have lived it.

This approach is considered qualitative research because its focus is specifically on exploration of subjective experiences and interpretations, not identification of numerically significant population-wide trends.

Methods employed in phenomenological research include in-depth semi-structured or unstructured interviews, personal reflections via field notes, and other qualitative data sources that can help to capture the nuances and complexities of human experiences.

A phenomenological approach to experiences with technology by Sebnem Cilesiz represents a good starting-point for formulating a phenomenological study. With its focus on the ‘essence of experience’, this piece presents methodological, reliability, validity, and data analysis techniques that phenomenologists use to explain how people experience technology in their everyday lives.

6. Grounded theory

Grounded theory involves developing a theory during and after data collection rather than testing a hypothesis that was developed before data collection.

This is in contrast to most academic research studies.

The grounded theory approach avoids developing hypotheses because it holds that hypotheses limit and constrain the observations of the researcher (Belgrave & Seide, 2019). Instead, this approach lets the data lead the study, and allows researchers to stay open-minded to a range of possible ideas that will emerge from the data.

Generally, it will involve the collection, coding, and constant comparison of data with the aim of identifying patterns, trends, relationships, and categories.

Grounded theory tends to be qualitative because it is a research tradition that emphasizes the importance of context and the iterative nature of the research process in developing a nuanced understanding of the research topic (Belgrave & Seide, 2019; Komives et al., 2005).

Grounded Theory Example

Developing a Leadership Identity by Komives et al (2005) is a highly-accessible research paper that employs a grounded theory approach to develop a thesis based on the data rather than testing a hypothesis. The researchers studied the leadership identity of 13 college students taking on leadership roles. Based on their interviews, the researchers theorized that the students’ leadership identities shifted from a hierarchical view of leadership to one that embraced leadership as a collaborative concept.

7. Case study

Case study research is the quintessential qualitative research methodology. Instead of examining a whole population to develop numerical trend data, case study researchers try to obtain in-depth, nuanced, and contextualized explanations of one single event.

The benefit of case study research is that it helps elucidate details and explanations that are overlooked by numerical data (Busetto, Wick & Gumbinger, 2020). It can demonstrate deep insights that can help us develop empathetic, reflective, and thoughtful understandings of a phenomenon.

However, findings from a case study can not be transferrable to new contexts or make population-wide predictions. Rather, the data is generally used to inform practitioner understandings of a phenomenon so they can approach future instances with nuance and deep understanding (Liamputtong, 2020).

Case studies tend to focus on complex, real-life situations or phenomena within their natural contexts (Busetto, Wick & Gumbinger, 2020). Through methods like participant interviews and observations, case studies present rich, detailed, and context-specific findings.

Jean Piaget’s writings on stages of child development represent a famous example of case study research. In his writings, he explored his own child’s development and categorized her development into four distinct cognitive stages. This study, while not generalizable on its own, has stood the test of time, and is still used to examine the cognitive progress of children to this day.

8. Focus Group Research

Focus group research is involves small group discussions led by a trained moderator to gather insights and opinions on an issue. With its focus on experiences and opinions rather than objective numerical data, this is a qualitative research approach.

One of the strengths of focus group research is that it often involves open and interactive discussions among participants(Busetto, Wick & Gumbinger, 2020).

This unstructured group discussion can allow the researchers to identify friction points, points of contradiction , and differences in opinions across a group. Because focus groups are live and interact, the researchers may also ask for clarification and additional detail in such areas (Liamputtong, 2020).

However, the above hypotheticals are often influenced by study design, and whether the focus groups are structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.

One core example of focus group research comes from political science, where political researchers bring a cohort of voters into a research locale to ask them questions about their opinions of political leaders, which can generate qualitative understandings of how a leader may be seen by key demographics.

9. Interview Research

Interview research is designed to gather data through interviews – that is, questioning research participants about their thoughts, experiences, and opinions on a matter.

Unlike focus groups, they tend to be one-to-one situations; however, often, a corpus of 10 or more people are interviewed in order to gather enough opinions to develop themes across the research participants’ answers.

Interview methods can be broken down into structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews (Atkinson et al., 2001).

• Structured interviews require the researcher to ask the same set of questions to all research participants and do not allow the researcher to go off-script. This can ensure a degree of uniformity across the research cohort and could arguably improve data validity by removing researcher bias and interference to some degree.
• Semi-structured interviews tend to have a core set of research questions, but allow the researcher to seek clarification or prompt the interviewees to go into more depth about their points.
• Unstructured interviews often involve few pre-determined questions and instead may focus on a set of themes that may be led by the research participant themselves. This is common, for example, in grounded research (Atkinson et al., 2001).

For each type, the focus remains on obtaining opinions and personal experiences, making interview research a type of qualitative research (Liamputtong, 2020).

10. Narrative research

Narrative research involves the study of the narratives people produce in their minds about topics, such as themselves, an event, or a phenomenon. It is perhaps most closely connected to life history research, explored above.

However, narrative research isn’t combined to personal identity narratives, but can also involve the study of a range of narratives people develop in order to achieve cognitive equilibrium and consistency of thought when it comes to an event, person, or phenomenon (Atkinson et al., 2001).

The idea is generally to understand how individuals construct meaning from their life events, and how they use the meanings they have constructed in future interactions or thought processes. For example, the narrative we construct about our religion, town, interpersonal relationships etc., may come to deeply inform our values and beliefs.

Clearly, narrative research emphasizes the exploration of subjective experiences, meanings, and interpretations, and is therefore a form of qualitative research (Liamputtong, 2020).

Learning to Labour by Paul Willis is perhaps one of the most famous examples of narrative research. In this study, Willis explored the personal identity narratives that working-class English boys created around work and school, demonstrating their choices to reject formal education and its middle-class values while many of them embraced hard work ethic for types of work they valued, namely, creative and productive physical labor.

11. Action research

Action research, common in education and nursing, involves conducting field research that directly informs and builds upon a specific professional approach or intervention.

Action research tends to be cyclical, meaning changes are implemented, and then research is conducted once more to see if those changes have had a result (Atkinson et al., 2001).

For example, an action research study in a classroom might involve a teacher analyzing their own teaching style and methods, and based upon the findings, the teacher might make adjustments to their approach, before conducting another round of research to see if it has had a positive effect.

The main upside of action research is that it helps practitioners to improve their practice. It is highly relevant and applicable to a specific context (Liamputtong, 2020).

Action research generally contains qualitative research methods (although may also embrace a mixed methodology). With its focus on one case study, it generally aims to obtain in-depth and context-specific perspectives.

Using Digital Sandbox Gaming to Improve Creativity Within Boys’ Writing by Ellison and Drew was a research study one of my research students completed in his own classroom under my supervision. He implemented a digital game-based approach to literacy teaching with boys and interviewed his students to see if the use of games as stimuli for storytelling helped draw them into the learning experience.

12. Participatory research

Participatory research, like action research, is research where the research participants are actively involved in the study design and implementation.

However, unlike action research, the researcher may not themselves be a participant (Atkinson et al., 2001).

For example, a researcher might be invited by a school to come into the school and work with teachers on an intervention. The researcher will work with the teachers to develop a study scope, research question, and methods (Vaughn & Jacquez,  2020).

Participants may also provide on-the-go feedback about the study, its methods, and its progress in order to allow the researcher to develop more nuanced and effective future lines of analysis (Vaughn & Jacquez,  2020).

With the focus on participants’ thoughts, feelings, and input, participatory research is generally oriented to the gathering of qualitative data and the use of qualitative analysis techniques such as thematic analysis.

13. Critical Discourse Analysis

Critical discourse analysis refers to a type of qualitative research that involves the close analysis of texts (usually written and spoken, and often involving media analysis ) to identify ideologies and metanarratives that the texts assume or imply are true.

This type of research is based upon the poststructuralist idea that truth is made up of ‘discourses’ –ways of speaking – which inevitably have underling assumptions that should be deconstructed and analyzed to highlight their assumptions (Fairclough, 2001).

A critical discourse analysis will involve gathering a corpus of data – such as newspaper articles or political speeches – and coding themes in texts through a close textual or semiotic analysis.

Generally through qualitative methods , the themes are not coded numerically but through multi-researcher parsing of salient terms, phrases, metaphors, and linguistic devices.

The seminal texts for methods for conducting this type of analysis are Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Analyzing Discourse .

How is Islam Portrayed in Western Media? By Poorebrahim and Zarei (2013) represents a typical critical discourse analysis. This study combs through a corpus of western media texts to explore the language forms that are used in relation to Islam and Muslims, finding that they are overly stereotyped, which may represent anti-Islam bias or failure to understand the Islamic world.

14. Visual and Multimodal Discourse Analysis

Building on critical discourse analysis, visual and multimodal analyses attempt to uncover and elucidate discourses in multimodal texts such as film and television .

Central to this approach is an understanding that it’s not just the words we use but the nonverbal and visual communication strategies that affect learning and development.

For example, intonation in the voice, filmography techniques, scene cutting, speed of voice, and so on, all convey meaning.

Addressing the shortcomings of discourse analysis methods, multimodal discourse analysis employs qualitative semiotic methods which help to explore how images, sound, and other multimodal devices convey meaning. The most useful resource for me when using this sort of analysis has been Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) text Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design .

Education for Sale by Colin Symes (1998) was a study that was highly influential to my early multimodal discourse analysis work. Symes, who became a personal mentor of mine, studied how elite school prospectuses subtly constructed narratives around exclusion and elitism in order to inflate prices and generate profit and social status. Symes looked not only at text, but camera angles, image choice, and even school uniform design.

Qualitative research has the benefit of obtaining detailed and in-depth analysis of a phenomenon. While it does not allow us to gather population data or make future trend analysis based on numerical findings, it helps us to provide meaningful answers to nuanced questions in a way that quantitative research cannot. The above approaches to qualitative research can be combined with quantitative approaches (in what’s called mixed-methods research) or used alone to develop detailed and rigorous information about social phenomena.

Atkinson, P., Delamont, S., Cernat, A., Sakshaug, J., & Williams, R. A. (2021).  SAGE research methods foundations . London: Sage Publications.

Bandura, A. (1965). “Influence of models’ reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1 (6): 589–595. doi:10.1037/h0022070. PMID 14300234. S2CID 13032768.

Belgrave, L. L., & Seide, K. (2019) . Grounded theory methodology: Principles and practices. New York: Routledge.

Busetto, L., Wick, W., & Gumbinger, C. (2020). How to use and assess qualitative research methods.  Neurological Research and practice ,  2 , 1-10.

Cilesiz, S. (2011). A phenomenological approach to experiences with technology: Current state, promise, and future directions for research.  Educational Technology Research and Development ,  59 , 487-510.

Ellison, M., & Drew, C. (2020). Using digital sandbox gaming to improve creativity within boys’ writing.  Journal of Research in Childhood Education ,  34 (2), 277-287.

Fairclough, N. (2001). The discourse of new labour: Critical discourse analysis. London: Routledge.

Ho, K. (2009).  Liquidated: an ethnography of Wall Street . Duke University: Duke University Press.

Komives, S. R., Owen, J. E., Longerbeam, S. D., Mainella, F. C., & Osteen, L. (2005). Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory.  Journal of college student development ,  46 (6), 593-611.learning

Kress, G. R., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. London: Sage.

Liamputtong, P. (2020).  Qualitative research methods . New York: Sage.

Lucero, A. (2018, June). Living without a mobile phone: an autoethnography. In  Proceedings of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference  (pp. 765-776).

Mandelbaum, D. G. (1973). The study of life history: Gandhi.  Current anthropology ,  14 (3), 177-206.

Poorebrahim, F., & Zarei, G. R. (2013). How is Islam Portrayed in Western Media.  A Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective , 2-12.

Symes, C. (1998). Education for sale: A semiotic analysis of school prospectuses and other forms of educational marketing.  Australian Journal of Education ,  42 (2), 133-152.

Vaughn, L. M., & Jacquez, F. (2020). Participatory research methods–Choice points in the research process.  Journal of Participatory Research Methods ,  1 (1).

Walliman, N. (2021).  Research methods: The basics . Los Angeles: Routledge.

Williams, H. (2021). The meaning of” phenomenology”: Qualitative and philosophical phenomenological research methods.  The Qualitative Report ,  26 (2), 366-385.

Willis, P. E. (1981).  Learning to labor: How working class kids get working class jobs . Columbia University Press.

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Number Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Word Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Outdoor Games for Kids
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 50 Incentives to Give to Students

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Qualitative Research Methods: Types, Examples, and Analysis

In a universe swarming with data, numbers, and algorithms, lies a lesser-known realm where emotions, stories, and intimate revelations take center stage. When you want to get inside your customers’ heads to understand their thoughts, feelings, perceptions, beliefs, and emotions, numbers are unlikely to provide a complete picture.

Let’s set the scene: picture a cozy bakery buzzing with conversations. People from different walks of life gather, each carrying a unique story to tell. You observe that your sale of pancakes is more than that of pastries, numerical data will tell you that much. But numbers won’t tell you why.

This is exactly where qualitative surveys come into play; they take you right to the heart of people’s minds and experiences – the “why” behind the statistics.

Quantitative data may offer a bird’s-eye view of the crowd, but qualitative surveys open the doorways to your audience’s individual tales. In this blog, we are going to explore qualitative research, its types, analytical procedures, positive and negative aspects, and examples.

Here we go!

What Is Qualitative Research?

Qualitative research is a branch of market research that involves collecting and analyzing qualitative data through open-ended communication. The primary purpose of conducting qualitative research is to understand the individual’s thoughts, feelings, opinions, and reasons behind these emotions.

It is used to gather in-depth and rich insights into a particular topic. Understanding how your audience feels about a specific subject helps make informed decisions in research.

As opposed to quantitative research, qualitative research does not deal with the collection of numerical data for statistical analysis. The application of this research method is usually found in humanities and social science subjects like sociology, history, anthropology, health science, education, etc.

Types of Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research methods are designed to understand the behavior and perception of the target audience about a particular subject.

Qualitative research methods include observations, one-on-one interviews, case study research, focus groups, ethnographic research, phenomenology, and grounded theory.

Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Observations

Observation is one of the oldest qualitative methods of research used to collect systematic data using subjective methodologies. It is based on five primary sense organs – smell, sight, taste, touch, and hearing, and their functioning. This method focuses on characteristics and qualities rather than numbers.

The qualitative observation technique involves observing the interaction patterns in a particular situation. Researchers collect data by closely watching the behaviors of others. They rely on their ability to observe the target audience rather than communicating with people about their thoughts on a particular subject.

2. One-on-One Interviews

Conducting one-on-one interviews is one of the most common types of qualitative research methods. Although both open-ended and closed-ended questions can be a part of these interviews, open-ended conservation between researchers and participants related to a particular subject is still the preferred mode of communication. This is to gather in-depth qualitative data for the research purpose.

Here, the researcher asks pre-determined questions to the participants to collect specific information about their research topic. Interviews can be conducted face-to-face, by email, or by phone. The drawback of this method is that sometimes the participants feel uncomfortable sharing honest answers with the researcher.

3. Focus Groups

A Focus group involves collecting qualitative data by conducting a group discussion of 6-12 members along with a moderator related to a particular subject. Here the moderator asks respondents a set of predetermined questions so that they can interact with each other and form a group discussion. It helps researchers to collect rich qualitative data about their market research.

However, it is essential to ensure that the moderator asks open-ended questions like “how,” “what,” and “why” that will enable participants to share their thoughts and feelings.

Close-ended questions like “yes” and “no” should be avoided as they do not lead to engagement among participants.

4. Case Study Research

A case study is another example of qualitative research that involves a comprehensive examination of a particular subject, person, or event.

This method is used to obtain in-depth data and complete knowledge of the subject. The data is collected from various sources like interviews and observation to supplement the conclusion.

This qualitative approach is extensively used in the field of social sciences, law, business, and health. Many companies use this technique when marketing their products/services to new customers. It tells them how their business offerings can solve a particular problem. Let’s discuss an example of this method of qualitative research.

5. Digital Ethnography

This is an innovative form of qualitative research that focuses on understanding people and their cultures in the context of the digital realm. Digital ethnography aims to study individuals’ behavior, interactions, and social dynamics within online environments and digital communities.

In digital ethnography, the researcher acts as both an observer and a participant in these said online communities to gain firsthand insight into the lifestyles, cultures, and traditions of people navigating these digital landscapes.

Unlike traditional ethnography, digital ethnography is more efficient and accessible. The studies are conducted remotely, reducing the need for extended physical presence in a specific location, and the data collection process is often more streamlined.

6. Grounded Theory

This is another data collection method of qualitative research used across various disciplines. The Grounded Theory aims to provide the reasons, theories, and explanations behind an event. It focuses on why a course of action has happened the way it did.

The grounded theory model collects and analyzes the data to develop new theories about the subject. The data is collected using different techniques like observation, literature review, and document analysis.

This qualitative method is majorly used in business for conducting user satisfaction surveys to explain why a customer purchases a particular product or service. It helps companies in managing customer loyalty.

Watch: How to Create a Customer Satisfaction Survey

7. Phenomenology

Phenomenology is another qualitative research example that describes how an individual experiences or feels about a particular event. It also explores the experience of a specific event in a community.

Here, the researcher interviews people who have experienced a particular event to find similarities between their experiences. The researcher can also record what they learn from the target audience to maintain the credibility of the data.

Although this qualitative technique depends majorly on interviews, other data collection methods like observation, interviews, and survey questionnaires are also used to supplement the findings. The application of this method is found in psychology, philosophy, and education.

For example, to prompt a participant to share their experience around an event they encountered, you can ask:

“What was your experience like when you first encountered [a specific phenomenon or event]?”

Want to create a CSAT survey?

8. Record Keeping

This approach involves using existing trustworthy documents and other reliable sources as the basis of data for new research. It’s comparable to visiting a library, where you can explore books and reference materials to gather relevant data that might be helpful for your research.

How Do You Analyze Qualitative Data?

1. Arranging the Data

Qualitative data is collected in different forms like audio recordings, interviews, video transcriptions, etc. This step involves arranging all the collected data in the text format in the spreadsheet. This can be done either manually or with the help of data analysis tools.

2. Organizing the Data

Even after putting the data into a spreadsheet, the data is still messy and hard to read. Due to this, the data needs to be organized in a readable and understandable pattern.

For example, you can organize data based on questions asked. Organize your data in such a way that it appears visually clear. Data organization can be tedious, but it is essential for the next step.

3. Assigning Codes

Developing codes for the data helps simplify the data analysis methods in qualitative research. Assigning code implies categorizing and setting patterns and properties to the collected data. It helps in compressing the vast amount of information collected. By developing codes for your data, you can gather deep insight into the data to make informed business decisions.

4. Analyzing the Data

Qualitative data cannot be analyzed based on any universally accepted equation like quantitative data. Qualitative data analysis depends on the thinking and logical skill of the researcher.

However, there are a few techniques by which you can easily interpret data by identifying themes and patterns between sample responses:

• Checking the data for repetitive words and phrases commonly used by the audience in their answers.
• Comparing the primary and secondary data collection to find the difference between them.
• Scanning the data for expected information that has not been included in answers provided by respondents.

5. Summarizing the Data

The final stage is to link the qualitative data to the hypothesis. Highlight significant themes, patterns, and trends by using essential quotes from the data, as well as any possible contradictions.

One of the main things about qualitative data is that there isn’t a single, formal way to collect and analyze data. Each research project will have its own set of methods and techniques that it needs to use.

The key is to look at the specific needs of each project and change the research method accordingly.

Advantages and Limitations of Qualitative Research

Qualitative market research techniques offer a more comprehensive and complete picture of the subject than quantitative research, which focuses on specific and narrow areas. Other advantages of using qualitative research methods are:

• Explore the subject in-depth: Qualitative research is personal and offers a deep understanding of the respondent’s feelings, thoughts, and actions so that the researcher can perform an in-depth analysis of the subject.
• Promotes discussion: Qualitative research methods are open-ended in approach rather than rigorously following a predetermined set of questions. It adds context to the research rather than just numbers.
• More flexibility: The interviewer can study and ask questions on the subject they feel is pertinent or had not previously thought about during the discussions. Moreover, open-ended questions enable respondents to be free to share their thoughts, leading to more information.
• Capture trends as they change: Qualitative research can track how people’s feelings and attitudes change over time. Respondents’ opinions can change during the conversation, and qualitative research can show this.

With that being said, however, we do not mean that qualitative data is entirely devoid of flaws. Like most things, it, too, has its fair share of limitations, the prime among them being:

• Subjectivity: Qualitative data can be influenced by the researcher’s bias or interpretation, potentially affecting the objectivity of the findings. The absence of strict guidelines in qualitative research can lead to variations in data collection and analysis too.
• Time-Consuming & Resource-Intensive: Conducting qualitative research can be a lengthy process, from data collection through transcription and analysis. It also often requires skilled researchers, making it more resource-intensive compared to some quantitative methods.
• Difficulty in Analysis: Analyzing qualitative data can be complex, as it involves coding, categorizing, and interpreting open-ended responses. This data category often does not lend itself well to traditional statistical tests, limiting the depth of statistical analysis as well.
• Challenges in Replication: Replicating qualitative studies can be challenging due to the unique context and interactions involved.

Advantages of Using Website Surveys for Qualitative Research

The role of surveys and questionnaires in collecting quantitative data is pretty obvious, but how exactly would you use them to capture qualitative data, and why? Well, for starters, website surveys offer numerous advantages here, such as letting researchers explore diverse perspectives, collect rich and detailed data, conduct cost-effective and time-efficient studies, etc.

Let’s have a brief rundown of the significant benefits below:

Reach and Diversity: Website surveys enable researchers to engage with a diverse and global audience. They break geographical barriers, allowing participation from individuals residing in different regions, cultures, and backgrounds, leading to a richer pool of perspectives.

• Cost-Effectiveness: Conducting traditional face-to-face qualitative research can be expensive and time-consuming. In contrast, website surveys are cost-effective, as they eliminate the need for travel, venue rentals, and other logistical expenses.
• Convenience and Flexibility: Website surveys offer unparalleled convenience to both researchers and participants. Respondents can take part in the study at their own pace and preferred time, promoting higher response rates and reducing non-response bias.
• Anonymity and Honesty: Participants often feel more comfortable expressing themselves honestly in online surveys. Anonymity ensures confidentiality, encouraging candid responses, and allowing researchers to gain deeper insights into personal experiences and opinions.
• Rich Data Collection: Website surveys can accommodate various question types, including open-ended questions, allowing respondents to elaborate on their thoughts. This results in the collection of rich, detailed, and nuanced data, enriching the qualitative analysis.
• Time-Efficient Data Collection: Website surveys facilitate efficient data collection, reaching a large number of participants in a short span. Researchers can access real-time data, enabling quick analysis and timely decision-making.
• Ease of Analysis: Online survey platforms often provide tools for automated data analysis, simplifying the coding and categorization process. Researchers can swiftly identify themes and patterns, expediting the interpretation of qualitative findings.
• Longitudinal Studies: Website surveys are well-suited for longitudinal studies, as they allow researchers to follow up with the same participants over an extended period. This longitudinal approach enables the exploration of changes in attitudes or behaviors over time.
• Integration with Multimedia: Website surveys can seamlessly incorporate multimedia elements, such as images, videos, or audio clips, enabling respondents to provide more context and depth to their responses.
• Eco-Friendly Approach: By reducing the need for paper and physical materials, website surveys promote a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to data collection, aligning with responsible research practices.

Most website survey tools are equipped with features that efficiently collect and analyze diverse perspectives, ultimately furthering your data collection process. For example:

• Question Customization: These tools allow users to create and customize a wide range of questions, including open-ended, closed-ended, rating scale, and more. This flexibility allows participants to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words, paving the way for gathering diverse qualitative data.
• Anonymity and Confidentiality: Ensuring confidentiality in qualitative research is crucial for building trust and obtaining more accurate and sensitive data. Participants can often remain anonymous when using website survey tools, which can encourage them to provide honest and candid responses.
• Data Analysis Support: Many website survey tools offer built-in data analysis features, such as basic statistical summaries and visualizations. While these features are more suited for quantitative data, they can still aid in organizing and understanding qualitative responses, making the analysis process more manageable.
• Flexibility in Survey Design: Researchers can use skip logic and branching features in these tools to create dynamic surveys that adapt based on participants’ responses. This can be greatly valuable in qualitative research, where participants’ experiences might vary widely.
• Ease of Participation: Participants can access website surveys using various devices like computers, tablets, or smartphones, making it convenient and accessible for them to take part in the research. This ease of participation can contribute to a higher response rate and a more diverse participant pool.
• Data Storage and Security: Many website survey tools offer secure data storage and backup, ensuring the safety of the collected qualitative data. This feature is essential for maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of participants’ responses.

Examples of Website Survey Questions for Qualitative Research

These examples can greatly help in targeting customers through Click-to-WhatsApp Ads on various social media platforms. Crafting effective survey questions is crucial for qualitative research. Ensuring clarity, avoiding leading questions, and maintaining a balanced mix of question types is paramount if you are looking to gather comprehensive and valuable qualitative data.

With well-designed website survey questions, you can delve deep into participants’ thoughts, emotions, and experiences, providing a solid foundation for insightful qualitative analysis.

Let’s explore some of the prime examples:

1. Open-Ended Questions (Exploratory):

• “Please describe your experience with our product/service in your own words.”
• “What are the main challenges you face in your daily work?”

2. Multiple-Choice Questions (Categorization):

“Which age group do you belong to?”

• 18-25 years
• 26-35 years
• 36-45 years
• 46-55 years

3. Likert Scale Questions (Rating/Opinion): “On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with our customer support?” 1 (Not satisfied at all) 2 (Slightly satisfied) 3 (Moderately satisfied) 4 (Very satisfied) 5 (Extremely satisfied)

4. Ranking Questions (Preference):

“Please rank the following factors in order of importance for choosing a smartphone:”

• Battery life
• Camera quality
• Processor speed
• Display resolution

5. Semantic Differential Questions (Contrast): “How would you describe our website’s user interface?”

• Difficult _ Easy Unattractive Attractive
• Confusing ___ Clear

6. Picture Choice Questions (Visual Feedback):

“Which logo do you find more appealing for our brand?”

• Option A (Image)
• Option B (Image)

7. Demographic Questions (Participant Profiling):

“Which of the following best describes your occupation?”

• Professional

8. Dichotomous Questions (Yes/No):

• “Have you ever purchased products from our online store?”

9. Follow-Up Probing Questions (In-depth Insight):

• “You mentioned facing challenges at work. Could you please elaborate on the specific challenges you encounter?”

10. Experience-Based Questions (Narrative):

• “Tell us about a memorable customer service experience you’ve had, whether positive or negative.”

Ready to Obtain Quality Data Using Qualitative Research?

So, there you have it all about qualitative research methods: their types, examples, use, and importance. Quantitative research is one of the most effective instruments to understand individuals’ thoughts and feelings or identify their needs and problems.

After figuring out the problem, quantitative research is used to make the conclusion and offer a reliable solution for business.

You can also supplement your qualitative market research with ProProfs Survey Maker to reach your target audience more effectively and in a shorter duration. Use the 15-day free trial to enhance your qualitative research – no commitment, no credit card details!

About the author

Emma David is a seasoned market research professional with 8+ years of experience. Having kick-started her journey in research, she has developed rich expertise in employee engagement, survey creation and administration, and data management. Emma believes in the power of data to shape business performance positively. She continues to help brands and businesses make strategic decisions and improve their market standing through her understanding of research methodologies.

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surveys | August 27, 2020

The Guide to Qualitative Research: Methods, Types, and Examples

Daniel Ndukwu

Qualitative research is an important part of any project. It gives you insights that quantitative research can’t hope to match.

To receive the benefits that qualitative research can bring to the table, it’s essential to do it properly. That’s easier said than done.

This in-depth guide will give you a better understanding of qualitative research, how it can be used, the methods for carrying it out, and its limitations.

Table of Contents

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is the process of gathering non-numerical data that helps you understand the deeper meaning behind a topic. It can help you decipher the motivations, thought processes, and opinions of people who are experiencing the problem or situation.

For example, an entrepreneur wants to start a shoe brand targeted at a younger demographic. They know younger people spend more money on name-brand basketball shoes. Qualitative research will help them understand the motivations and thought processes behind why those shoes are appealing.

With the help of capable marketing teams and mentors , they can use this data to craft communication plans that will resonate with their audience.

The data gained helps develop better hypotheses, confirm or disprove theories, and informs quantitative research studies. There are multiple quantitative research methods that are ideal for certain situations and this guide delves deeper into those data collection processes .

Keep in mind that qualitative research gives you descriptive data that must then be analyzed and interpreted. This process is much more difficult than a quantitative analysis which is why many organizations opt to skip it entirely.

What’s the purpose of qualitative research?

Qualitative research was popularized by psychologists and sociologists who were unhappy with the scientific method in use.

In the legal industry, understanding qualitative insights can significantly enhance strategies for law firm SEO , helping firms to better align their services with client needs.

Traditional scientific methods were only able to tell what was happening but failed to understand why.

Qualitative research, on the other hand, seeks to find the deeper meaning behind actions and situations. For example, you may realize a relationship between two things exist like poverty and lower literacy rates. It’s qualitative data that can help you understand why this relationship exists.

In the diverse landscape of qualitative research its application extends beyond conventional fields offering valuable insights in specialized areas take for instance the legal sector where understanding nuanced human experiences is crucial a cerebral palsy lawyer leveraging qualitative research delves deeper into the multifaceted experiences of individuals and families impacted by cerebral palsy this methodical approach aids in comprehending the broader social emotional and economic ramifications thereby guiding more compassionate and effective legal representation.

When should qualitative research be used

There’s a simple stress test to understand whether qualitative research or quantitative research should be used. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you have a clear understanding of the problem? If not, use it;
• Do you understand the reasons that contribute to the problem or situation? If not, use it;
• Are the attitudes of the people who experience or display the behavior clear to you? If not, use it;
• Have you already analyzed first-person accounts or research related to the topic? If not, use it.

Qualitative research vs quantitative research

There’s a big difference between the two types of research. For the most part, qualitative research is exploratory. You’re trying to figure out the reasons behind situations and form a clearer hypothesis. Those hypotheses are then tested with further qualitative or quantitative research.

Quantitative research focuses on collecting numerical data that can be used to quantify the magnitude of a situation. The data gained can be organized and statistical analysis carried out.

For example, qualitative research may tell you that people in lower-income areas drop out of school and have lower literacy rates. Quantitative research can tell you the percentage of people that end up dropping out of school within a given population.

As you can see, they work together to give you a holistic understanding of a market or problem.

Qualitative research data collection Methods

We’ve written an in-depth guide about the data collection methods you can use for both quantitative and qualitative research. This section will give you a quick overview of the data collection methods available.

The first data collection method and the most common are surveys. More specifically, surveys with open-ended questions . These give your respondents the opportunity to explain things with their own words.

Another benefit of surveys, especially with online survey tools like KyLeads is that you can quickly distribute your survey to a huge audience. This can cut down on your costs while still giving you the insights you need.

There are two problems with surveys. The first one is that you’re unable to ask relevant clarifying questions. Some of the data you collect may be unclear and lead you to the wrong conclusions.

The second problem is that respondents, unless adequately incentivized, may abandon the survey or give inadequate answers. This is known as survey fatigue and is a challenge when you have longer surveys. You can mitigate the effects by placing the most important questions first.

Focus groups

A focus group involves 3 – 10 people and a specialized moderator. Groups larger than ten should be broken up and those fewer than three won’t be able to deliver the insights you need.

The benefits of a focus group come from the ability to recreate specific situations or test scenarios before they happen. To get the most out of the focus group, it’s important to carefully select the participants based on their demographic and psychographic profiles .

The advantage of a focus group is that the information is insightful and comes from multiple people within your target market. The disadvantage is that groupthink can be a real problem.

You can prevent groupthink by having people write their opinions down before voicing them and even assigning one person to play devil’s advocate. Don’t discourage divergent opinions or perspectives.

Another challenge is that focus groups are expensive compared to other methods listed here. The participants are usually paid for their time and it requires things like meeting space and specialized staff.

Interviews are an old staple of qualitative research and are almost as common as surveys. Interviews can be conducted over the phone, in person, or even through a video conference. The important part is that they’re real-time and you can ask clarifying questions so you don’t draw the wrong conclusions.

There are multiple types of interviews. You can use structured interviews, unstructured interviews, or semi-structured interviews. Keep in mind that the structured interview may not be the best option if you’re doing exploratory =research.

Observation/immersion

This is the process of observing the ongoing behavior of an individual or group. It’s most prevalent in social sciences and marketing applications. This data collection method is the most passive and may not be ideal when doing initial exploratory research. You may be drawing conclusions on incomplete information.

There is an option of participating actively in what you’re observing. Keep in mind that this is frowned upon because the researcher may accidentally introduce biases. The biggest disadvantage is that some things simply can’t be observed by a researcher without interaction.

Try to use team collaboration to cut down on the biases that will be introduced. Compare notes and, as much as possible, look at things objectively. A teammate is invaluable for this kind of exercise.

Pros and cons of qualitative research

Qualitative research is powerful and has many benefits but it also has multiple disadvantages you should be aware of before jumping in.

• Get a deep understanding of the behaviors and attitudes of your target group
• You can get those insights from smaller samples sizes
• As long as you choose the right aspects to focus on and groups to work with, the insights can have much wider applications.
• Helps reduce biases because you’re doing exploratory research to get a baseline of information
• Most qualitative research is fluid meaning it adapts to the inputs to get a better understanding of the overall situation
• The data itself is subjective because it’s based on the experiences and biases of the respondents
• It’s more expensive than quantitative research
• It can take much longer to go through the more involved data collection methods like focus groups and interviews
• It’s more difficult to analyze and often requires people with specialized skills
• It’s nonnumerical in nature so statistical analysis cannot be applied to the data
• Results can’t be easily replicated following the scientific method

Qualitative research can be a powerful tool in your arsenal but there are many things to take into consideration. It tends to take longer to collect the data and analyze it. It’s also more expensive than most quantitative research methods.

Before diving into a qualitative research strategy, define clear goals, a timeframe for completion, and the kind of information you need to solve your problem.

Let me know what you think in the comments and don’t forget to share.

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Qualitative research examples

UserTesting

Qualitative research is a powerful tool that helps you unlock insights into the user experience—quintessential to building effective products and services. It provides a deeper understanding of complex behaviors, needs, and motivations. But what is qualitative research, and when is it ideal to use it? Let’s explore its methodologies and implementation with a few qualitative research examples.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is a behavioral research method that seeks to understand the undertones, motivations, and subjective interpretations inherent in human behavior. It involves gathering nonnumerical data, such as text, audio, and video, allowing you to explore nuances and patterns that quantitative data can’t capture.

Instead of focusing on how many or how much, qualitative research questions delve into the why and how. This approach is instrumental in gaining a comprehensive understanding of a particular context, issue, or phenomenon from the perspective of those experiencing it. Examples of qualitative research questions include “How did you feel when you first used our product?” and “Could you describe your experience when you purchased a product from our website?”

Qualitative research methodology

Qualitative research design employs a variety of methodologies to collect and analyze data. The primary objective is to gather detailed and nuanced insights rather than generalizable findings. Steps include the following:

• Formulating research questions:  Qualitative research begins by identifying specific research questions to guide the study. These questions should align with the research objectives and provide a clear focus for data collection and analysis.  
• Selection of participants:  Participant selection is a critical step in qualitative research. You must recruit participants who provide relevant and diverse perspectives on the research topic. It involves purposive sampling, where participants are chosen based on their knowledge or experiences related to the research questions. ​​​​​​
• Data collection:  Qualitative research uses various methods to collect data, such as interviews, focus groups, observation, and document analysis. You often employ multiple methods to comprehensively understand the research topic.
• Data analysis:  Once the data is collected, it’s analyzed to identify recurring themes, patterns, and meanings. This analysis uses coding, thematic analysis, and constant comparison. The goal is to uncover the underlying perspectives of the participant.
• Interpretation and reporting:  This is the final step in which findings are synthesized and interpreted, revealing their significance to the research questions. You can present your findings through descriptive narratives, quotes, and illustrative examples to provide a rich understanding of the research topic. 

Types of qualitative research methods

The best qualitative research method primarily depends on your research questions and objectives. Different methods uncover different discernments.

One-on-one interviews

You often use one-on-one interviews to delve deep into a topic or understand individual experiences or perspectives. An interviewer asks a participant open-ended questions to understand their perspective, thoughts, feelings, and experiences regarding a specific topic, product, or service. Read about open ended vs closed ended questions to learn which questions will be most effective in an interview.

Say you’re developing a new electric vehicle mode. You can conduct one-on-one interviews to understand user experiences, probing into aspects such as comfort, design, driving experience, and more.

Focus groups

In-person or remote focus groups involve a small group of people (usually 6–10) discussing a given topic or question under the guidance of a moderator. This method is beneficial when you want to understand group dynamics or collective views. The interaction among group members can disclose awarenesses that may not arise in one-on-one interviews.

In the gaming industry, for example, you can use focus groups to explore player reactions to a new game design. You can encourage group interaction to spark discussions about usability, game mechanics, graphics, storyline, and other aspects.

Case study research

Case study research provides an in-depth analysis of a particular case (an individual, group, organization, event, etc.) within its real-life context. It’s a valuable method for exploring something in-depth and in its natural setting.

For instance, a healthcare case study could explore implementing a new electronic health record system in a hospital, focusing on challenges, successes, and lessons learned.

Ethnographic research

Ethnographic research (or an ethnographic stud y) involves an immersive investigation into a group’s behaviors, culture, and practices. It requires you to engage directly with the participants over a prolonged period in their natural environment. It can help uncover how people interact with products or services in natural settings.

A gaming organization may choose to study players in their natural gaming environments (such as home, game cafes, or e-sport tournaments) to understand their gaming habits, social interactions, and responses to specific features. These insights can inform the development of more engaging and user-friendly games.

Process of observation

The process of observation typically doesn’t involve the same level of immersion as ethnographic research. You observe and record behavior related to a specific context or activity. It can be in natural settings (naturalistic observation) or a controlled environment. It’s more about observing and recording specific behaviors or situations rather than cultural norms or dynamics.

For example, a consumer technology organization could observe how users interact with a new software interface, noting challenges, efficiencies, and overall user experience.

Record keeping

Record keeping refers to collecting and analyzing documents, records, and artifacts that provide an understanding of the study area. Record keeping allows you to access historical and contextual data that can be examined and reexamined. It’s a nonobtrusive method, meaning it doesn’t involve direct contact with the participants, nor does it affect or alter the situation you’re studying.

An online retailer might examine shopping cart abandonment records to identify at what point in the buying process customers tend to drop off. This information can help streamline the checkout process and improve conversion rates.

Qualitative research: Data collection and analysis

Data collection and analysis in qualitative research are closely linked processes that help generate meaningful and useful results.

Data collection

Data collection involves gathering rich, detailed materials to explain and understand the subject. These include interview transcripts, meeting notes, personal diaries, and photographs. 

There are various qualitative data collection methods to consider depending on your research questions and the context of your study. For example, you could use one-on-one interviews to understand personal user experiences with a financial services app. However, focus groups may be more appropriate to discuss user preferences in a new media and entertainment platform.

Data analysis

Once data are collected, the analysis process begins. It’s where you extract patterns, themes, and insights from the collected data. It’s one of the most critical aspects of qualitative research, turning raw, unstructured data into valuable insights.

Qualitative data analysis usually takes place with several steps, such as:

• Organizing and preparing the data for analysis
• Reading through the data
• Coding the data
• Generating themes or categories
• Interpreting the findings and 
• Representing the data

Your choice of qualitative data analysis method depends on your research questions and the data type you collected. Common analysis methods include thematic, content, discourse, and narrative analysis. Some research platforms provide AI features that can do much of this analysis for researchers to speed up insight gathering.

When to use qualitative research

Qualitative techniques are ideal for understanding human experiences and perspectives. Here are common situations where qualitative research is invaluable:

• Exploring customer motivations, needs, behaviors, and pain points
• Gathering in-depth user feedback on products and services
• Understanding decision-making and buyer journeys
• Discovering barriers to adoption and satisfaction
• Developing hypotheses for future quantitative research
• Testing concepts , interfaces, or designs
• Identifying problems and improvement opportunities
• Learning about group norms, cultures, and social interactions
• Collecting evidence to develop theories and models
• Capturing complex, nuanced insights beyond numbers

Qualitative research methods vs. quantitative research methods

Qualitative and quantitative research  differ in their approach to data collection, analysis, and the nature of the findings. Here are some key differences:

• Data collection:  Qualitative research uses in-depth interviews , focus groups, observations, and analysis of documents to gather data. In contrast, quantitative research relies on structured surveys, experiments, and standard measurements.
• Analysis:  Qualitative research involves analyzing textual or visual data through coding, categorization, and theme identification techniques. Quantitative research uses statistical analysis to examine numerical data for patterns, correlations, and trends.
• Sample size:  Qualitative research typically involves smaller sample sizes, often selected through purposive sampling to ensure diversity and relevance. Quantitative research uses larger sample sizes to ensure statistical power and generalizability.
• Generalizability:  Qualitative research seeks in-depth insight into specific contexts or groups and does not prioritize generalizability. On the other hand, quantitative research seeks to draw conclusions that apply to a broader context.
• Findings:  Qualitative research generates descriptive and explanatory results that provide a deeper understanding of phenomena. Quantitative research produces numerical data that allows for statistical inferences and comparisons.
• Theory development:  Qualitative research often contributes to theory development by generating new concepts, theories, or frameworks based on the rich and context-specific data collected. However, quantitative research tests preexisting theories and hypotheses using statistical models.

Advantages and strengths of qualitative research

Qualitative research enriches your research process and outcomes, making it an invaluable tool in many fields, including UX research, marketing, and digital product development. 

In-depth understanding

Qualitative research provides a rich, detailed, in-depth understanding of the research subject.  Proactive qualitative research  takes this further with ongoing data collection, allowing organizations to continuously capture insights and adapt strategies based on evolving user needs.

Contextual data

Qualitative research collects contextually relevant data. It captures nuances that might be missed in numerically-based quantitative data, allowing you to understand the contexts in which behaviors and interactions occur.

Flexibility

The methods used in qualitative research, like interviews and focus groups, enable you to explore different topics in depth and adapt your approach based on the participants’ responses.

Human perspective

Qualitative research lets you capture human experiences and thoughts. It’s advantageous in fields such as UX research, where the human perspective is critical. 

Hypothesis generation

The exploratory nature of qualitative research helps you identify new areas for exploration or generate hypotheses you can test using quantitative methods.

Trendspotting

Qualitative research reveals trends in thought and opinions, diving deeper into the problem. This is helpful when trying to understand behaviors, culture, and user interactions.

Disadvantages and limitations of qualitative research

While qualitative research offers many advantages, it’s essential to acknowledge its limitations. 

Time-consuming

Collecting and analyzing qualitative data, particularly from in-depth interviews or focus groups, requires significant time investment.

Qualitative research relies on the skills and judgment of the researcher, introducing potential bias into the research process. The researcher may actively shape the research by posing questions, interpreting data, and influencing the findings.

Requires skilled researchers

The quality of qualitative research heavily depends on the researcher’s skills, experience, and perspective. A less experienced researcher may overlook important nuances, potentially affecting the depth and accuracy of the findings.

Lacks generalizability

Qualitative research often involves a smaller, nonrepresentative sample size than quantitative research. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable to a larger context.

Limited numeric representation

Qualitative research usually focuses on words, observations, or experiences, so it doesn’t provide the numeric estimates often desired in research studies.

Challenging to replicate and standardize

Qualitative research’s inherent flexibility and context dependence make it challenging to repeat the study under the same conditions. This flexibility can often make it hard to standardize. Researchers approach and conduct the study in various ways, leading to inconsistent results and interpretations.

Difficult to measure reliability and validity

Assessing reliability and validity is more difficult with qualitative research since it relies on subjective human interpretation and has few established metrics and statistical tools compared to quantitative research. Triangulation and member checking add credibility but lack the discreteness of quantitative measures. However, there have been advancement s in the measurement of qualitative research that help to quantify its impact. 

Qualitative research gives you the opportunity to dive deep into human behavior, experiences, and perceptions. It offers a prolific, intricate perspective that quantifiable data alone can’t provide. Combine qualitative research methodologies with techniques like  A/B testing  to gain a more holistic understanding of user experiences and preferences. 

Despite its limitations, the depth and richness of data procured through qualitative research are undeniable assets. By understanding and utilizing its diverse methods, you will uncover detailed insights from your target audience and enhance your products or services to meet their needs. 

The UX research methodology guidebook

Learn how to gather the user feedback you need to build best-in-class products. 

In this Article

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Why is qualitative research important?

Qualitative research delves into subjective experiences and social contexts, providing in-depth insights and understanding. It provides a deep understanding of individuals’ needs, motivations, and preferences, allowing organizations to develop products and services that meet customer expectations.

What’s the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods?

Quantitative methods focus on numerical data and statistical analysis, aiming for generalizability and objectivity. Qualitative methods explore meanings, experiences, and behaviors, seeking in-depth understanding and detailed descriptions.

What are the main qualitative research approaches?

The main qualitative research approaches include one-on-one interviews, focus groups, case study research, ethnographic research, observation, and record-keeping. Each approach offers unique benefits and applications.

What is data collection?

Data collection in qualitative research involves gathering information through various methods such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and document analysis. It’s a critical step in generating meaningful insights and understanding human experiences.

How do you analyze qualitative data?

What are the ethical considerations in qualitative research.

Ethical considerations refer to the protection of participants’ rights, privacy, and confidentiality. You must obtain informed consent, maintain anonymity, and handle sensitive information responsibly. Additionally, maintaining transparency, addressing power imbalances, and conducting research unbiased and respectfully are vital ethical considerations in qualitative research.

How can I incorporate qualitative research into my study or project?

To incorporate qualitative research into your study, you must first define your research objectives to guide the choice of methodology. Next, choose a suitable qualitative method, such as interviews or focus groups. Then, collect and analyze the data using appropriate techniques and, finally, interpret and present the findings clearly and meaningfully. Remember to be mindful of the ethical considerations throughout the process.

How do you effectively communicate and present qualitative research findings to stakeholders?

For a quality presentation, create engaging visual representations, such as infographics or data visualizations, and use storytelling techniques to highlight key insights. Also, prepare concise and informative reports and organize interactive presentations or workshops to facilitate discussion and understanding.

How do you translate qualitative research findings into actionable insights?

Identify key themes linked to research goals and propose strategic solutions to address core needs and barriers. These solutions should be tailored to specific needs.

How can I ensure the validity and reliability of qualitative research findings?

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10 Types of Qualitative Research

• Updated on  
• Aug 10, 2021

Are you looking forward to preparing a research proposal for your MPhil and PhD thesis? Research methodology constitutes an important part of a research thesis and much of your research depends on what type of method is selected. The two main types of research methodologies include qualitative research and quantitative research. Qualitative Research is one of the sought-after and popular methodologies and aims to delve deeper in a theoretical manner. In this blog, we have described some of the different types of qualitative research methods that are used in research analysis.

This Blog Includes:

What is qualitative research, when to use qualitative research, characteristics of qualitative research , ethnography, oral history, phenomenological method, grounded theory method, narrative model, historical model, focus groups, record keeping, process of observation.

Qualitative research involves the collection and analysis of non-numerical data to gain a thorough understanding of a concept or a problem of research. This method of research seeks to answer a research question through the collection of evidence. There is a wide range of qualitative research methods you can choose from as per your topics. Further, this research methodology is extensively used in the fields of humanities and social sciences such as in the subjects of sociology, anthropology, history, etc. In qualitative research, the methods of data collection include surveys, observations, interviews, secondary research, etc.

When it comes to capturing precise, in-depth insights, researchers turn to qualitative research methodologies. Capturing “factual data” is quite beneficial. Here are some examples of when qualitative research should be used.

• Creating a new product or coming up with a concept.
• Investigating your product/brand or service in order to improve your marketing approach.
• Recognize your own talents and shortcomings.
• Understanding purchasing habits.
• To investigate your target audience’s reactions to marketing campaigns and other forms of communication.
• Investigating market demographics, segmentation, and client segments.
• Obtaining information on a brand, company, or product’s perception.
• Qualitative research methods often collect data on-site, where people are experiencing challenges or problems. These are real-time data, and participants are rarely taken out of their geographical areas to collect information.
• Rather than relying on a single data source, qualitative researchers generally collect various types of data, such as interviews, observations, and documents.
• This research technique aims to solve complicated problems by breaking them down into relevant inferences that are easily accessible and understood by everybody.
• Because it is a more conversational technique, people can develop confidence with the researcher, and the information gained is therefore raw and pure.

Types of Qualitative Research 

Below are some of the types of qualitative research that are popular across diverse disciplines:

Ethnography is the descriptive study of people and their culture. The ethnographic model is one of the major types of qualitative research methods used in social sciences, especially in anthropology. This method of research aims to study individuals in their own habitat through the usage of methods like observations, interviews etc. This method is useful for studying both remote cultures as well as smaller communities within any particular region. Detailed ethnographic research may require the researcher to spend a long time doing fieldwork in the particular area of study, often extending to several months or even years.

Oral history is a type of qualitative research method which involves the collection of oral testimonies from people about their own lived experiences. This research method is extensively used in the field of history, to put forward alternative narratives (as opposed to the official sources) of a particular event or incident. The main method of collecting oral history is taking interviews and recording the narratives in audio, video, or textual versions. This method is useful for future researchers too since the oral testimonies are stored in an archive to make sure that these voices are not lost.

A case study involves a detailed examination of a particular person, event, or community. This is one of the types of qualitative research methods used extensively in the field of social sciences, law, business, and health. The data for the case study is obtained through diverse methods including interviews and observations. A case study is the most suitable method for gaining a total and in-depth knowledge of a particular issue.

One of the types of qualitative research methods, the phenomenological approach aims to explore the experiences of a particular phenomenon in a community or a group of people. It is the study of a particular phenomenon through interviews of people who have experienced it to find out the similarities between their experiences. Although this approach depends majorly on interviews, other sources of data collection may also be used to supplement the findings.

The grounded theory method is a very popular research method used across a large number of disciplines. It is involved in the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data. The grounded theory model uses the analyzed data to develop different theories regarding the topic of research.

The narrative model is one of the types of qualitative research methods which focuses on spoken or written words or visual representations by people. This method involves the analysis of these stories or narratives by people through engaging in questioning to ascertain particular questions or issues. This model is helpful in understanding the ways in which people represent them and their experiences to a wider audience.

The historical model is one of the unique approaches within qualitative research which is involved in the detailed study of past events in order to get a better understanding of the present and predict future events on that basis. The main objective of this model is to analyze the effects of the past on the present and thereby identify similar processes in the present to anticipate their effects in the future. Reviewing relevant literature is the main source of data for this method, although oral sources may also be used.

A focus group is another popular qualitative research approach for data collecting. A focus group typically consists of a small number of respondents (6-10) from your target market. The primary goal of the focus group is to obtain answers to the questions “why,” “what,” and “how.” One advantage of focus groups is that you do not have to engage with the group in person.

As the data source, this approach makes the use of pre-existing credible documents and comparable sources of information. This information can be utilized in future studies. This is comparable to visiting a library. There, one can go through books and other reference materials to get important facts that will most likely be employed in the research.

Qualitative Observation is a research approach that uses subjective methodologies to collect systematic information or data. Since the focus on qualitative observation is the study process of gathering information or data utilizing subjective techniques. Qualitative observation is generally used to compare and contrast quality variations. The five primary sense organs and their functioning are addressed in qualitative observation: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. This is not about measures or numbers, but about qualities.

Qualitative data gathering allows for the collection of non-numerical data, allowing us to investigate how decisions are made and get a deep understanding. To achieve such conclusions, the data collected should be comprehensive, rich, and complex, with discoveries emerging after a thorough examination.

Notes, films, audio recordings, pictures, and written documents are examples of qualitative data. Text analysis is a popular approach for analyzing qualitative data.

The qualitative research approach is useful for complicated thinking, which is an important feature. There are instances when a complicated explanation is necessary to obtain the best outcomes rather than simple statistics responses.

Thus, this blog summarized the major types of qualitative research methods you must know while working on your thesis. Want to pursue your PhD abroad? Reach out to our experts at Leverage Edu who can help you choose the best university as per your preferences and guide you throughout the admission process to ensure that you get successfully shortlisted. Sign up for a free career counselling session with us today!

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What is qualitative research? Approaches, methods, and examples

Updated 23 Jul 2024

Students in social sciences frequently seek to understand how people feel, think, and behave in specific situations or relationships that evolve over time. To achieve this, they employ various techniques and data collection methods in qualitative research allowing for a deeper exploration of human experiences. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and other qualitative methods are commonly used to gather rich, detailed data to uncover key aspects of social behavior and relationships. What is qualitative research? This article will answer this question and guide you through the essentials of this methodology, including data collection techniques and analytical approaches.

Qualitative research definition and significance 

This inquiry method is helpful for learners interested in how to conduct research . It focuses on understanding human behavior, experiences, and social phenomena from the perspective of those involved. What does qualitative mean? It uses non-numerical data, such as interviews, observations, and textual analysis, to understand people’s feelings, thoughts, and actions.

Where and when is it used?

Qualitative analysis is crucial in education, healthcare, social sciences, marketing, and business. It helps gain detailed insights into behaviors, experiences, and cultural phenomena. This approach is fundamental during exploratory phases, for understanding complex issues, and when context-specific insights are required. By focusing on depth over breadth, this approach is often employed when researchers seek to explore complex issues, understand the context of a phenomenon, or investigate things that are not easily quantifiable. It uncovers rich, nuanced data essential for developing theories and evaluating programs.

Why is qualitative research important in academia?

• It sheds light on complex phenomena and human experiences that quantitative methods may overlook.
• This method offers contextual understanding by studying subjects in their natural environments, which is crucial for grasping real-world complexities.
• It adapts flexibly to evolving study findings and allows for adjusting approaches as new ideas emerge.
• It collects rich, detailed data through interviews, observations, and analysis, offering a comprehensive view of the exploration topic.
• Qualitative research studies focus on new or less explored areas, helping to identify key variables and generate hypotheses for further study.
• This approach focuses on understanding individuals' perspectives, motivations, and emotions, essential in fields like sociology, psychology, and education.
• It supports theory development by providing empirical data that can create new theories and frameworks (you may read about “What is a conceptual framework?” and learn about other frameworks on the EduBirdie website).
• It improves practices in fields such as education and healthcare by offering insights into practitioners' and clients' needs and experiences.

The difference between qualitative and quantitative studies

Now that you know the answer to “Why is qualitative data important?”, let’s consider how this method differs from quantitative. Both studies represent two main types of research methods. The qualitative approach focuses on understanding behaviors, experiences, and perspectives using interviews, observations, and analyzing texts. These studies are based on reflexivity and aim to explore complexities and contexts, often generating new ideas or theories. Researchers analyze data to find patterns and themes, clarifying the details. However, findings demonstrated in the results section of a research paper may not apply broadly because they often use small, specific groups rather than large, random samples.

Quantitative studies, on the other hand, emphasize numerical data and statistical analysis to measure variables and relationships. They use methods such as surveys, experiments, or analyzing existing data to collect structured information. The goal is quantifying phenomena, testing hypotheses, and determining correlations or causes. Statistical methods are used to analyze data, identifying patterns and significance. Quantitative studies produce results that can be applied to larger populations, providing generalizable findings. However, they may lack the detailed context that qualitative methods offer.

The approaches to qualitative research 

To better understand the answer to “What is qualitative research?”, it’s necessary to consider various approaches within this methodology, each with its unique focus, implications, and functions. 

1. Phenomenology.

This theory aims to understand and describe the lived experiences of individuals regarding a particular phenomenon. 

Peculiarities:

• Focuses on personal experiences and perceptions.
• Seeks to uncover the essence of a phenomenon.
• Uses in-depth interviews and first-person accounts.

Example: Studying the experiences of people living with chronic illness to understand how it affects their daily lives.

2. Ethnography.

The approach involves immersive, long-term observation and participation in particular cultural or social contexts. 

• Provides a deep understanding of cultural practices and social interactions.
• Involves participant observation and fieldwork.
• Researchers often live within the community they are studying.

Example: Observing and participating in the daily life of a rural village to understand its social structure and cultural practices.

3. Grounded theory.

This approach seeks to develop a research paper problem statement and theories based on participant data.

• Focuses on creating new theories rather than analyzing existing ones.
• Uses a systematic process of data collection and analysis.
• Involves constant comparison and coding of data.

Example: Developing a theory on how people cope with job loss by interviewing and analyzing the experiences of unemployed individuals.

4. Case study.

Case studies involve an in-depth examination of a single case or a small number of cases.

• Provides detailed, holistic insights.
• Can involve individuals, groups, organizations, or events.
• Uses multiple data sources such as interviews, observations, and documents.

Example: One of the qualitative research examples is analyzing a specific company’s approach to innovation to understand its success factors.

5. Narrative research.

This methodology focuses on the stories and personal interpretations of individuals.

• Emphasizes the chronological sequence and context of events.
• Seeks to understand how people make sense of their experiences.
• Uses interviews, diaries, and autobiographies.

Example: Collecting and analyzing the life stories of veterans to understand their experiences during and after military service.

6. Action research.

This theoretical model involves a collaborative approach in which researchers and participants work together to solve a problem or improve a situation.

• Aims for practical outcomes and improvements.
• Involves cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.
• Often used in educational, organizational, and community settings.

Example: Teachers collaborating with researchers to develop and test new teaching approaches to improve student engagement.

7. Discourse analysis.

It examines language use in texts, conversations, and other forms of communication.

• Focuses on how language shapes social reality and power dynamics.
• Analyzes speech, written texts, and media content.
• Explores the underlying meanings and implications of language.

Example: Analyzing political speeches to understand how leaders construct and convey their messages to the public.

Each of these examples of qualitative research offers unique tools and perspectives, enabling researchers to delve deeply into complex issues and gain a rich understanding of the issue they study.

Qualitative research methods

Various techniques exist to explore phenomena in depth and understand the complexities of human behavior, experiences, and social interactions. Some key methodologies that are commonly used in different sciences include several approaches.

Unstructured interviews;

These are informal and open-ended, designed to capture detailed narratives without imposing preconceived notions. Researchers typically start with a broad question and encourage interviewees to share their stories freely.

Semi-structured interviews;

They involve a core set of questions that allow researchers to explore topics deeply, adapting their inquiries based on responses received. This method of qualitative research design aims to gather rich, descriptive information, such as understanding what qualities make a good teacher.

Open questionnaire surveys;

They differ from closed-ended surveys in that they seek opinions and descriptions through open-ended questions. They allow for gathering diverse viewpoints from a larger group than one-on-one interviews would permit.

Observation;

It relies on researchers' skills to observe and interpret unbiased behaviors or activities. For instance, in education research, observation might track how students stay focused and manage distractions, recorded through field notes taken during or shortly after the observation.

Keeping logs and diaries;

This involves participants or researchers documenting daily activities or study contexts. Participants might record their social interactions or exercise routines, giving detailed data for later analysis. Researchers may also maintain diaries to document study contexts, helping to explain findings and other information sources.

All types of qualitative research have their strengths for gathering detailed information and exploring the social, cultural, and psychological aspects of exploration topics. Learners often use several methods (triangulation) to confirm their findings and deepen their understanding of complex subjects. If you need assistance choosing the most appropriate method to explore, feel free to contact our website, as we offer essays for sale and support with academic papers. 

Advantages and disadvantages of the qualitative research methodology

This approach has unique strengths, making it valuable in many sciences. One of the primary advantages of qualitative research is its ability to capture participants' voices and perspectives accurately. It is highly adaptable, allowing researchers to modify the technique as new questions and ideas arise. This flexibility allows researchers to investigate new ideas and trends without being limited to set methods from the start. While this approach has many strengths, it also has significant drawbacks. A research paper writer faces practical and theoretical limitations when analyzing and interpreting data. Let’s consider all the pros and cons of this methodology in detail.

Strengths of qualitative research:

• Adaptability: Data gathering and analysis can be adjusted as new patterns or ideas develop, ensuring the study remains relevant and responsive.
• Real-world contexts: Research often occurs in natural conditions, providing a more authentic understanding of phenomena and describing the particularities of human behavior and interactions.
• Rich insights: Detailed analysis of people’s feelings, perceptions, and experiences can be useful for designing, testing, or developing systems, products, and services.
• Innovation: Open-ended responses allow experts to discover new problems or opportunities, leading to innovative ideas and approaches.

Limitations of qualitative research:

• Unpredictability: Real-world conditions often introduce uncontrolled factors, making this approach less reliable and difficult to replicate.
• Bias: The qualitative method relies heavily on the researcher’s viewpoint, leading to subjective interpretations. This makes it challenging to replicate studies and achieve consistent results.
• Limited applicability: Small, specific samples give detailed information but limit the ability to generalize findings to a broader population. Conclusions about the qualitative research topics may be biased and not representative of the wider population.
• Time and effort: Analyzing qualitative data is time-consuming and labor-intensive. While software can help, much of the analysis must be done manually, requiring significant effort and expertise.

So, qualitative methodology offers significant benefits, such as adaptability, real-world context, rich insights, and fostering innovation. However, it also presents challenges like unpredictability, bias, limited applicability, or time- and labor-intensive. Understanding these pros and cons helps researchers make informed decisions about when and how to effectively utilize various types of qualitative research designs in their studies.

Final thoughts

Qualitative research provides a valuable understanding of complicated human experiences and social situations, making it a strong tool in various areas of study. Despite its challenges, such as unreliability, subjectivity, and limited generalizability, its strengths in flexibility, natural settings, and generating meaningful insights make it an essential approach. If you are one of the students looking to incorporate qualitative methodology into their academic papers, EduBirdie is here to help. Our experts can guide you through the process, ensuring your work is thorough, credible, and impactful.

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Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data: Key Differences, Methods, and Examples

Jul 22, 2024 · 8 min read

“Numbers have an important story to tell. They rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice.” But how do we uncover these stories?

It starts with understanding the difference between qualitative and quantitative data.

Whether you are conducting research or developing a product , knowing the differences is key to better understanding your data and your customers.

In this article, we will study the differences between qualitative and quantitative data, examine their collection methods, look at real-world examples, and show how they work together to provide a complete picture and guide strategic decisions.

In this article

What is qualitative data, what is quantitative data, qualitative vs quantitative data: key differences, qualitative vs quantitative data: collection methods, qualitative vs quantitative data: examples, when is qualitative data useful vs. quantitative data is useful, qualitative vs quantitative data: benefits and limitations, why choose openreplay for your qualitative and quantitative data collection needs.

Qualitative data , derived from the term “quality,” is non-numerical information that describes the characteristics, attributes, or properties of a subject. It uses words to detail experiences, thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and interactions.

This type of data provides personal insights, helping us understand the reasons behind people’s actions and opinions. It is subjective and open to interpretation in different ways.

Quantitative data , derived from the term “quantity,” is numerical information that describes quantities and measurements. It uses numbers to present amounts, frequencies, and statistics.

This type of data provides clear and factual information by capturing measurable details. It is objective and less open to interpretation.

Qualitative and quantitative data serve different purposes, use distinct collection and analysis methods, and reveal different types of information.

1. What are the primary purposes of qualitative vs. quantitative data?

The primary purpose of qualitative data is to understand experiences, behaviors, motivations, and perspectives. It is meant to answer questions like “why?”, “how?” and “what are the underlying reasons?”

On the other hand, the primary purpose of quantitative data is to provide numerical information that can be measured and quantified. It answers questions like “how many?”, “how often?” and “what is the relationship between variables?”

2. How do their data collection methods differ?

Qualitative data collection methods gather descriptive information to understand experiences and perspectives. Methods include interviews, focus groups, and session replays.

Quantitative data is collected through methods that focus on measuring and counting to produce numerical data. Methods include surveys, data analytics tools, and experiments.

3. What types of data are used in each?

When you hear qualitative data , think words, non-numerical , often involving the five senses. Examples include text, audio, video, images, and artifacts.

When you hear quantitative data , think numbers , precise, countable, and measurable information. Examples include percentages, statistics, measures, and counts.

4. How to analyze qualitative vs. quantitative data

Since qualitative and quantitative data differ, so do the ways of analyzing them. Raw data can’t tell us much until it is analyzed using suitable methods. Think of raw data as a gold mine- analyzed data is the gold we extract.

Qualitative data analysis methods:

Qualitative data analysis relies on decoding text, observations, and narratives to identify patterns and themes. Common methods include:

• Thematic analysis: finding recurring themes in data.
• Content analysis: categorizing text into predefined categories.
• Narrative analysis: analyzing stories to understand experiences.
• Observational analysis: studying behaviors in natural settings.

Quantitative data analysis methods:

Quantitative data analysis relies on decoding numbers and making sense of them through statistical methods. Common methods include:

• Descriptive statistics: summarizing data using measures like mean and median.
• Inferential statistics: making predictions or inferences from sample data.
• Data visualization: creating charts and graphs to represent data.
• Statistical software: using specialized software for statistical analysis.
• Correlation and regression analysis: studying relationships between variables.

Everything that collects non-numerical data, such as words and observations, is a means of collecting qualitative data . By contrast, anything that produces numbers is a method of collecting quantitative data.

According to the book Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches , qualitative and quantitative data collection methods each bring valuable perspectives.

We collect qualitative data using a variety of methods, including:

• Interviews, or surveys with open-ended questions: allow for detailed, descriptive answers.
• Focus groups: gather diverse perspectives on a specific topic through small group discussions.
• Unstructured observations: observe behaviors and interactions in their natural setting.
• Case studies: conduct in-depth examinations of individual or group experiences.

We collect quantitative data through the following methods:

• Experiments: manipulate one or more variables to observe the effect on another variable.
• Surveys with closed-ended questions : use structured questionnaires to collect quantifiable data.
• Structured observations: define specific categories or behaviors and quantify the observations.

Modern collection methods

Traditionally, qualitative and quantitative data collection methods could be done on paper. Paper surveys and written case studies were standard. However, with the rise of digital tools, data collection has been revolutionized, and so have the methods.

In the context of digital products, some qualitative and quantitative data methods are:

• Session replay (qualitative): visually recreate how users interact with a website or mobile application.
• Analytics tools (quantitative): automatically gather product and website usage data.
• A/B testing (quantitative): compare two versions of a webpage or app feature to determine which performs better.
• Usability testing (both): assess how easily users can navigate and use your product.

Choosing the “right” method

• Determine if you need to understand behaviors/experiences or measure quantities.
• Identify the data type to choose between qualitative (non-numerical) and quantitative (numerical) data collection methods.
• Assess the audience and context to select a method suitable for your target population and study environment.
• Combine multiple methods if needed to gain a complete understanding.

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Understanding qualitative and quantitative data becomes easier with specific, real-world examples. Here’s a table to show different examples:

Qualitative data can often be coded quantitatively. In other words, almost all qualitative data can be assigned meaningful numerical values.

For example, many users may be abandoning a product. Using session replay , we can find that those churning users are experiencing problems with a button that is causing dead clicks and rage clicks… These sessions can be categorized and quantified into numbers, providing a complete picture of user behavior and the issues impacting their experience.

Qualitative data is useful for exploring new topics, understanding behaviors, capturing emotions, generating hypotheses, and testing assumptions. Quantitative data , on the other hand, is useful for testing hypotheses, measuring variables, identifying patterns, making predictions, and generalizing results.

To ask which is “better” or more “valuable” is to ignore their intimate relationship. Depending on the context, both are useful and can complement each other. Combining the two can give a clearer picture of the situation.

In product development, especially for an early-stage product or company, you typically lack sufficient quantitative data to make informed decisions. At this stage, qualitative data is very important as it helps you understand user behaviors and experiences, which is essential for identifying and addressing early user needs and frustrations.

As your product or company stabilizes and scales, you will start to have more user interactions and can rely on quantitative data to measure variables, identify patterns, and make predictions. By integrating qualitative data with quantitative data , you can make more sense of user behavior puzzles and user experience flaws.

So, the cherry on top is when quantitative data is backed up by qualitative information, resulting in an overview that combines statistical reliability with rich, contextual understanding.

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Let’s break down the benefits and limitations of qualitative and quantitative data. By looking at each type separately, we can see their unique strengths and weaknesses.

Benefits of qualitative data

• Captures the human element and emotions behind behaviors and decisions.
• Offers rich context to explain patterns observed in quantitative data.
• Allows for exploration of unexpected topics that emerge during data collection.

Limitations of qualitative data

• Data is subjective and open to interpretation, which can lead to bias.
• Findings are often not generalizable to a larger population due to small, non-random samples.
• Data collection and analysis are time-intensive and resource-heavy.
• It often focuses on a limited scope or specific context, which may miss broader trends.

Benefits of quantitative data

• Results can be generalized to larger populations due to large, random samples.
• Provides numerical data that is objective and easy to analyze.
• Data collection and analysis can be faster and less resource-intensive.

Limitations of quantitative data

• Provides limited insights into underlying reasons, emotions, and motivations.
• It may overlook the context behind the numbers, missing nuances and subtleties.
• Predefined response options can limit the richness of the data collected.

Interestingly, when you combine qualitative and quantitative , you can often overcome many limitations and amplify the benefits.

OpenReplay gives your data a clear and convincing voice, helping you uncover the stories behind the numbers.

With OpenReplay, you can capture detailed session replays that let you see your product through your users’ eyes. Visualize user interactions, identify underlying issues, and understand the human element behind every click, error, and user path. This qualitative data , combined with quantitative metrics, provides a deep understanding of user behavior.

You can make sense of your product’s quantitative data with OpenReplay’s analytics tools. Track conversion funnels, map user journeys, and analyze heatmaps and trends. This quantitative data helps you identify friction points and ensure your improvements lead to better digital experiences.

From early development to scaling, OpenReplay supports every stage of your product lifecycle. Integrating session replays with detailed analytics allows you to validate findings, explore underlying reasons, and make data-driven decisions that enhance your product.

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What is quantitative data? How to collect, understand, and analyze it

A comprehensive guide to quantitative data, how it differs from qualitative data, and why it's a valuable tool for solving problems.

• Key takeaways
• What is quantitative data?
• Examples of quantitative data
• Difference between quantitative and qualitative data
• Characteristics of quantitative data
• Types of quantitative data
• When should I use quantitative or qualitative research?
• Pros and cons of quantitative data
• Collection methods

Quantitative data analysis tools

• Return to top

Data is all around us, and every day it becomes increasingly important. Different types of data define more and more of our interactions with the world around us—from using the internet to buying a car, to the algorithms behind news feeds we see, and much more. 

One of the most common and well-known categories of data is quantitative data or data that can be expressed in numbers or numerical values. 

This guide takes a deep look at what quantitative data is , what it can be used for, how it’s collected, its advantages and disadvantages, and more. 

Key takeaways: 

Quantitative data is data that can be counted or measured in numerical values.

The two main types of quantitative data are discrete data and continuous data.

Height in feet, age in years, and weight in pounds are examples of quantitative data. 

Qualitative data is descriptive data that is not expressed numerically. 

Both quantitative research and qualitative research are often conducted through surveys and questionnaires. 

What is quantitative data? 

Quantitative data is information that can be counted or measured—or, in other words, quantified—and given a numerical value.

Quantitative data is used when a researcher needs to quantify a problem, and answers questions like “what,” “how many,” and “how often.” This type of data is frequently used in math calculations, algorithms, or statistical analysis. 

In product management, UX design, or software engineering, quantitative data can be the rate of product adoption (a percentage), conversions (a number), or page load speed (a unit of time), or other metrics. In the context of shopping, quantitative data could be how many customers bought a certain item. Regarding vehicles, quantitative data might be how much horsepower a car has. 

What are examples of quantitative data? 

Quantitative data is anything that can be counted in definite units and numbers . So, among many, many other things, some examples of quantitative data include: 

Revenue in dollars

Weight in kilograms or pounds

Age in months or years

Distance in miles or kilometers

Time in days or weeks

Experiment results

Website conversion rates

Website page load speed

What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative data? 

There are many differences between qualitative and quantitative data —each represents very different data sets and are used in different situations. Often, too, they’re used together to provide more comprehensive insights.

As we’ve described, quantitative data relates to numbers ; it can be definitively counted or measured.  Qualitative data, on the other hand, is descriptive data that are expressed in words or visuals. So, where quantitative data is used for statistical analysis, qualitative data is categorized according to themes. 

Examples of qualitative vs. quantitative data

As mentioned above, examples of quantitative data include distance in miles or age in years. 

Qualitative data, however, is expressed by describing or labeling certain attributes, such as “chocolate milk,” “blue eyes,” and “red flowers.” In these examples, the adjectives chocolate, blue, and red are qualitative data because they tell us something about the objects that cannot be quantified. 

Further reading: The differences between categorical and quantitative Data and examples of qualitative data

Characteristics of quantitative data 

Quantitative data is made up of numerical values has numerical properties, and can easily undergo math operations like addition and subtraction. The nature of quantitative data means that its validity can be verified and evaluated using math techniques. 

Specific types of quantitative data

All quantitative data can be measured numerically, as shown above. But these data types can be broken down into more specific categories, too.

There are two types of quantitative data: discrete and continuous . Continuous data can be further divided into interval data and ratio data. 

Discrete data

In reference to quantitative data, discrete data is information that can only take certain fixed values. While discrete data doesn’t have to be represented by whole numbers, there are limitations to how it can be expressed. 

Examples of discrete data:

The number of players on a team

The number of employees at a company

The number of items eggs broken when you drop the carton

The number of outs a hitter makes in a baseball game

The number of right and wrong questions on a test

A website's bounce rate (percentages can be no less than 0 or greater than 100)

Discrete data is typically most appropriately visualized with a tally chart, pie chart, or bar graph, as shown below.

Continuous data 

Continuous data , on the other hand, can take any value and varies over time. This type of data can be infinitely and meaningfully broken down into smaller and smaller parts. 

Examples of continuous data:

Website traffic

Water temperature

The time it takes to complete a task

Because continuous data changes over time, its insights are best expressed with a line graph or grouped into categories, as shown below.

Continuous data can be further broken down into two categories: interval data and ratio data. 

Interval data

Interval data is information that can be measured along a continuum, where there is equal, meaningful distance between each point on a scale. Interval data is always expressed in numbers where the distance between two points is standardized and equal. These numbers can also be called integers. 

Examples of interval data include temperature since it can move below and above 0.

Ratio data has all the properties of interval data, but unlike interval data, ratio data also has a true zero. For example, weight in grams is a type of ratio data because it is measured along a continuous scale with equal space between each value, and the scale starts at 0.0.

Other examples of ratio data are weight, length, height, and concentration. 

Interval data vs. ratio data

Ratio data gets its name because the ratio of two measurements can be interpreted meaningfully, whereas two measurements cannot be directly compared with intervals.

For example, something that weighs six pounds is twice as heavy as something that weighs three pounds. However, this rule does not apply to interval data, which has no zero value. An SAT score of 700, for instance, is not twice as good as an SAT score of 350, because the scale does not begin at zero.

Similarly, 40º is not twice as hot as 20º. Saying uses 0º as a reference point to compare the two temperatures, which is incorrect.

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When should I use quantitative or qualitative research? 

Quantitative and qualitative research can both yield valuable findings, but it’s important to choose which type of data to collect based on the nature and objectives of your research. 

When to use quantitative research

Quantitative research is likely most appropriate if the thing you are trying to study or measure can be counted and expressed in numbers. For example, quantitative methods are used to calculate a city’s demographics—how many people live there, their ages, their ethnicities, their incomes, and so on. 

When to use qualitative research

Qualitative data is defined as non-numerical data such as language, text, video, audio recordings, and photographs. This data can be collected through qualitative methods and research such as interviews, survey questions, observations, focus groups, or diary accounts. 

Conducting qualitative research involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting qualitative non-numerical data (like color, flavor, or some other describable aspect). Methods of qualitative analysis include thematic analysis, coding, and content analysis.

If the thing you want to understand is subjective or measured along a scale, you will need to conduct qualitative research and qualitative analysis.

To use our city example from above, determining why a city's population is happy or unhappy—something you would need to ask them to describe—requires qualitative data. 

In short: The goal of qualitative research is to understand how individuals perceive their own social realities. It's commonly used in fields like psychology, social sciences and sociology, educational research, anthropology, political science, and more. 

In some instances, like when trying to understand why users are abandoning your website, it’s helpful to assess both quantitative and qualitative data. Understanding what users are doing on your website—as well as why they’re doing it (or how they feel when they’re doing it)—gives you the information you need to make your website’s experience better. 

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What are the pros and cons of quantitative data? 

Quantitative data is most helpful when trying to understand something that can be counted and expressed in numbers. 

Pros of quantitative data: 

Quantitative data is less susceptible to selection bias than qualitative data.

It can be tested and checked, and anyone can replicate both an experiment and its results.

Quantitative data is relatively quick and easy to collect. 

Cons of quantitative data: 

Quantitative data typically lacks context. In other words, it tells you what something is but not why it is.

Conclusions drawn from quantitative research are only applicable to the particular case studied, and any generalized conclusions are only hypotheses.

How do you collect quantitative data? 

There are many ways to collect quantitative data , with common methods including surveys and questionnaires. These can generate both quantitative data and qualitative data, depending on the questions asked. 

Once the data is collected and analyzed, it can be used to examine patterns, make predictions about the future, and draw inferences. 

For example, a survey of 100 consumers about where they plan to shop during the holidays might show that 45 of them plan to shop online, while the other 55 plan to shop in stores. 

Questionnaires and surveys 

Surveys and questionnaires are commonly used in quantitative research and qualitative research because they are both effective and relatively easy to create and distribute. With a wide array of simple-to-use tools, conducting surveys online is a quick and convenient research method. 

These research types are useful for gathering in-depth feedback from users and customers, particularly for finding out how people feel about a certain product, service, or experience. For example, many e-commerce companies send post-purchase surveys to find out how a customer felt about the transaction — and if any areas could be improved. 

Another common way to collect quantitative data is through a consumer survey, which retailers and other businesses can use to get customer feedback, understand intent, and predict shopper behavior . 

Open-source online datasets 

There are many public datasets online that are free to access and analyze. In some instances, rather than conducting original research through the methods mentioned above, researchers analyze and interpret this previously collected data in the way that suits their own research project. Examples of public datasets include: 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Data

The Census Bureau Data

World Bank Open Data

The CIA World Factbook  

Experiments

An experiment is another common method that usually involves a  control group  and an  experimental group . The experiment is controlled and the conditions can be manipulated accordingly. You can examine any type of records involved if they pertain to the experiment, so the data is extensive. 

Controlled experiments,  A/B tests , blind experiments, and many others fall under this category.

With large data pools, a survey of each individual person or data point may be infeasible. In this instance, sampling is used to conduct quantitative research. Sampling is the process of selecting a representative sample of data, which can save time and resources. There are two types of sampling: random sampling (also known as probability sampling) and non-random sampling (also known as non-probability sampling). 

Probability sampling allows for the randomization of the sample selection, meaning that each sample has the same probability of being selected for survey as any other sample. 

In non-random sampling, each sample unit does not have the same probability of being included in the sample. This type of sampling relies on factors other than random chance to select sample units, such as the researcher’s own subjective judgment. Non-random sampling is most commonly used in qualitative research. 

Typically, data analysts and data scientists use a variety of special tools to gather and analyze quantitative data from different sources. 

For example, many web analysts and marketing professionals use Google Analytics (pictured below) to gather data about their website’s traffic and performance. This tool can reveal how many visitors come to your site in a day or week, the length of an average session, where traffic comes from, and more. In this example, the goal of this quantitative analysis is to understand and optimize your site’s performance. 

Google Analytics is just one example of the many quantitative analytics tools available for different research professionals. 

Other quantitative data tools include…

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Power BI

Apache Spark

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Frequently asked questions about quantitative data

Is quantitative data objective.

Quantitative researchers do everything they can to ensure data’s objectivity by eliminating bias in the collection and analysis process. However, there are factors that can cause quantitative data to be biased.

For example, selection bias can occur when certain individuals are more likely to be selected for study than others. Other types of bias include reporting bias , attrition bias , recall bias , observer bias , and others. 

Who uses quantitative data?

Quantitative research is used in many fields of study, including psychology, digital experience intelligence , economics, demography, marketing, political science, sociology, epidemiology, gender studies, health, and human development. Quantitative research is used less commonly in fields such as history and anthropology. 

Many people who are seeking advanced degrees in a scientific field use quantitative research as part of their studies.

What is quantitative data in statistics?

Statistics is a branch of mathematics that is commonly used in quantitative research. To conduct quantitative research with statistical methods, a researcher would collect data based on a hypothesis, and then that data is manipulated and studied as part of hypothesis testing, proving the accuracy or reliability of the hypothesis.

Is quantitative data better than qualitative data?

It depends on the researcher’s goal. If the researcher wants to measure something—for example, to understand “how many” or “how often,”—quantitative data is appropriate. However, if a researcher wants to learn the reason behind something—to understand “why” something is—qualitative research methods will better answer these questions.

Further reading: Qualitative vs. quantitative data — what's the difference?

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