Qualitative Research

Methods

Dr. Shahzad Choudhary

What is Qualitative Research??

Qualitative researchis a method of
inquiry employed in many different
academic disciplines, including in the
social sciences and natural sciences, but
also in non-academic contexts including
marketresearch, business, and service
demonstrationsbynon-profits.

Defined
Typeofsocialinquiryonthewaypeople
interpret and make sense of their
experiences and the world in which they
live.

cont
Qualitative Researchinvolves finding
outwhatpeoplethink,andhowtheyfeel
-oratanyrate,whattheysaytheythink
andhowtheysaytheyfeel.Thiskindof
information is subjective. It involves
feelings and impressions, rather than
numbers

cont
Qualitative research involves the studied
useandcollectionofavarietyofempirical
materials - case study, personal
experience, introspective, life story,
interview,
observational,
historical,
interactional, and visual texts-that
describe
routine
and
problematic
moments and meanings in individuals
lives.

cont
Qualitativeresearchisthecollectionand
analysis of extensive narrative data in
ordertogaininsightsintophenomenaof
interest

Examples:
TomeasureaveragepopulationsIQ.
Tomeasurelike/dislikeforanyproduct

inamarket
Tomeasurepopulationsopinionabout
anyproblemfacedbysociety
Tomeasurepopulationslevelof
acceptance/rejectionforanysubject
product/solutionetc.

Qualitative Research Goals

Meaning:how people see the world
Context:the world in which people act
Process:what actions and activities

people do
Reasoning:why people act and behave

the way they do

Quantitative

vs.

Qualitative

Explanationthroughnumbers Explanationthroughwords
Objective

Subjective

Deductivereasoning

Inductivereasoning

Predefinedvariablesand

Creativity,extraneous

measurement

variables

Datacollectionbeforeanalysis Datacollectionand

analysisintertwined

Causeandeffectrelationships

Description,meaning

Qualitative Research Techniques

Ethnography

You immerse yourself in the target participants'

environment to understand the goals,
cultures, challenges, motivations, and themes
thatemerge,mostlystudiesacommunity.
For example, one way of uncovering the unmet needs of
customers is to "follow them home" and observe them as
they interact with the product.

Qualitative Research Techniques

Narratives

You conduct in-depth interviews, read

documents,andlookforthemes;inother
words, how does an individual story
illustrate the larger life influences that
createdit.
For example, a narrative approach can be an appropriate method
forbuilding a persona.

Qualitative Research Techniques

Phenomenological

Whenyouwanttodescribeanevent,activity,
or phenomenon, you use a combination of
methods, such as conducting interviews,
reading documents, watching videos, or
visiting places and events, to understand
the meaning participants place on
whatever'sbeingexamined
For example, there's been an explosion in the last 5 years in online
courses and training. But how do students engage with these
courses?

Qualitative Research Techniques

Grounded

Theory
Thistheorylookstoprovideanexplanation
or theory behind the events developed
inductively by a corpus of data collected
byaparticipantobserver.
For example, how small retail merchants approve or decline
customers for credit.

Qualitative Research Techniques

Case

Study
A case study involves a deep
understanding through multiple types of
data sources. Studying in depth single
case example of the phenomena. This
can be individual, event, group,
institute.
For example, a case study of how a large multi-national
company introduced UX methods into an agile development
environment would be informative to many organizations.

Qualitative Research Techniques

Historical

Systematiccollectionandobjective
evaluationofdatarelatedtopast
occurrencesinordertotesthypothesis
concerningcauses,effectsthosemayhelp
toexplainpresenteventsandanticipate
futureevents.

Figure 6.1, Steps in Quantitative

and Qualitative Studies
Quantitative (Linear)
DefineaResearchProblem/Question
ReviewtheLiterature
FormulateHypothesisorRefineQuestion
MakeOperationalDefinitions
DesignorSelectInstrumentsforData
ObtainEthicalApproval
CollectData
AnalyzeData
InterpretFindingsRefertoLiteratureAgain
DetermineImplicationsDrawConclusions

Figure 6.1, Quantitative and

Qualitative Studies (cont..)

A. Literature Review
Conductedafterthedatahavebeen

collectedandanalyzed
Rationalefordelayingtheliterature
review:

Toavoidleadingtheparticipantsinthedirection
ofwhathasalreadybeendiscovered
Purposeofliteraturereview:

Toshowhowcurrentfindingsfitintowhatis
alreadyknown

B. Explicating Researchers
Beliefs
Bracketingsettingasideonesbiases

andpersonalviewsonatopic

Investigatorkeepsadiaryofpersonal
thoughtsandfeelingsaboutthetopic
Purpose:theresearcherismadeaware

wheninterpretationsofthedatareflect
personalbeliefsratherthanthoseofthe
participants

C. Subject or Informant?
Peoplebeingstudiedareviewedas

participantorinformant,notsubject
Viewedasactiveparticipantsintheresearch
Theyinformtheresearcherabouttheir
culture

Researcherseekstounderstandthe

participantsculturalknowledge

Hence,requireslearningaboutthe
participantsculturethroughon-going
discussionandinvolvementwiththem

D. Selection of Participants
Methodiscalledpurposivesampling

Participantsmusthavefirst-handexperience
withtheresearchtopic(e.g.,homelessness,
ganginvolvement,attendingmedicalschool)
andbeabletotalkaboutit
Researcherestablishesclearcriteriaand

rationaleforsampleselection
Goalisnotgeneralizationoffindings
butrich descriptionsofphenomenonby
thosewhohaveexperiencedit

E. Setting for Data Collection

Informant-drivenratherthantheory-

driven

Investigatorassumesignoranceofthe
cultureorexperiencebeingstudied
Informantteachestheinvestigator

Dataiscollectedinthefieldthe

naturalworldwherepeopleliveand
experiencelife
Investigatorshould:

benonintrusive
spendaprolongedtimeinthefield

Someresearchersusedmultiple

methods

F. Data Analysis
Researcherimmersesselfindatatobring

orderandmeaningtovastnarrative

Cometotrulyunderstandwhatthedataare
saying
Cyclicalprocessdatacollectionoccurs

simultaneouslywithdataanalysis

Analysisbeginswhendatacollectionbegins
Reading,rereading,intuiting,analyzing,
synthesizing,andreportingondata
Sometimescalledtheoretical sampling(collect
datauntilsaturationisreached)

F. Data Analysis (contd)

Generalizationsdrawnfromearlier

interviewsarereturnedtoparticipants
forclarificationandelaboration
Lookformeaninginthedataasitis
gathered
Datasimilarinmeaningareclustered
togetherintopreliminarycategories
Requiresanextensiveamountoftime

G. Saturation
Referstoasituationindataanalysis

whereparticipantsdescriptionsbecome
repetitiveandconfirmpreviously
collecteddata
Anindicationthatdataanalysisiscomplete
Whendataanalysisiscomplete,data
collectionisterminated

Data Collection Methods

Threedatacollectionstrategies
introduced:
1. Participantobservation
2. In-depthinterviews
3. Focusgroupinterviews

Qualitativeresearchersmaycombine
morethanonemethod

Participant Observation
Intensive,usuallylongterm,

examinationofasocialgroup,an
organization,etc.
Researcherbecomesaparticipantinthe
livesofgroupmembers

In-depth Interviews
Somestudiescannotemploythe

participantobservationmethod

E.g.,Desrochessstudyofbankrobbers

In-depthinterviewsallowparticipants

todescribetheirexperiencesandthe
meaningofeventstakingplaceintheir
lives
Interviewsareflexibleandallowfor
probing
Interviewmethodisquitediverse,adaptive

Focus Group Interviews

Interviewformat,butinagroupsetting

6-12participantswithcommonexperience

Transcriptofdiscussionisthedata

Plusaccompanyingnotes
Usecontentanalysisorgroundedtheory
approachtoanalyzethedata

Data Analysis in Qualitative study

Memoing
Dataentryandstorage
Codinganddevelopingcategorysystem
Enumeration
Creatinghierarchicalcategorysystems
Showingrelationshipamongcatagories
Drawingdiagrams
Corroborationgandvalidatingresults

Data Analysis in Qualitative study

Conventionally data was analyzed
manually, but now automated software
are available which help compiling,
analyzingandreportdrawing.

Software used for data analysis

NUDIST
ATLAS
Ethnograph
AnSWR
HyperResearch
Nvivo

cont
Theavailabilityofcomputerpakages(thatare
specificallydesignedforqualitativedataand
analysis)hassignificantlyreducedtheneedfor
thetraditionalfillingtechniques,calculations
andcomplexrelationshipsanddataanalysis.
Advantages
Automatedanalysis
Directdatainput(text,audio,etc.)
Automatedreportgenerate
Moreeffectiveandaccurate
2007 Pearson Education Canada

6-33

Approach of Qualitative Research

Qualitativeresearchdifferent
assumptions/approachthanquantitative
research
Emphasisonseeingtheworldfromthe
eyesoftheparticipants
Strivetomakesenseofphenomenain
termsofthemeaningspeoplebringto
them
Holisticemphasisstudyingtheperson,
group,cultureinthenaturalsetting

Advantages and Limitations

Focusonthewholeofthehumanexperienceandthe

meaningsascribedtothembyparticipants
Theyprovidetheresearcherwithdeepinsightsthat
wouldnotbepossibleusingquantitativemethods
Themajorstrengthofqualitativeworkisthevalidity
ofthedataitproduces
Participantstruerealityislikelytobereflected
Majorlimitationisitsperceivedlackofobjectivityand
generalizability
Researchersbecometheresearchtoolsandmaylack
objectivity