Qualitative research

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Contents 1 What is it? 2 Context 3 Methodology 4 Benefits and Drawbacks 5 Strengths: 6 Weaknesses: 7 Ethical issues 8 References

What is it?

Rapid social change and the resulting diversification of life worlds are increasingly confronting social researchers with new social contexts and perspectives. These are so new for them that their traditional deductive methodologies - deriving research questions and hypotheses from theoretical models and testing them against empirical evidence - are failing in the differentiation of objects.

   - Uwe Flick, 2002:2

Qualitative research is an inductive method of collecting and analysing data, particularly through primary research. Whilst not predominating above quantitative research, it is most commonly applicable in the social sciences and psychology, like action research, where concepts that cannot always be expressed with numbers are measured (Berg, 2004:2). Such abstract concepts ultimately regard the quality of circumstances, including particular persons, time, place and additional descriptive characteristics; these variable qualities are thus offered a framework in which to be compared to each other. Qualitative research demands specific understanding and focus on the subject at hand. Existing theories and working ideas are combined and refined during the data collection and analysis process, resulting in the outcome being of inherent temporal relevance (Neuman, 2007:110). This offers both a flexible and interactive research experience, which is reflective of the subject matter qualitative research typically concerns.

References:

     *Berg B (2004) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences (5th ed.) Pearson:Boston
 
     *Flick U (2002) An Introduction to Qualitative Research (2nd ed.) Sage Publications:London

     *Neuman W (2007) Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (2nd ed.) Person:Boston

Context

While quantitative research and qualitative research are often used hand in hand, there are some key differences.

Methodology

Qualitative research is a very thorough and integrated method of assessing a subject. It doesn’t just find out answers, it finds out the reasons for the answers and what inspires them. It doesn’t just observe and record behaviour, it goes the extra step to find out what provokes that behaviour. Where quantitative research accounts for what, where and when, qualitative research goes a step further to deduce why and how something happens.

Qualitative research uses the following four methods to gather information:

  1. Participation in the setting;
  2. Direct observation;
  3. In-depth interviews; and
  4. Analysis of documents and material

Rather than being based on hard statistics and concerned with quantities, qualitative research surveys a group to determine information at a deeper or more complex level. It’s less concerned with checking boxes and more concerned with finding out what makes them checked. Research of a participatory nature such as this is often referred to as Action Research.

Instead of handing around a series of Y/N questions to a large group of people as you might when conducting quantitative research, you would typically conduct more preparation when undertaking qualitative research with more concentrated audiences such as focus groups.

There are no pre-determined answers, no boxes to be shaded or numbers to be circled. Instead, qualitative research enables the researcher to gain detailed or more personal insight into a topic. You might ask an open question and record each of the different responses.

For this reason, qualitative research restricts a researcher from being able to compile results in a structured and organised manner. Interpretation of qualitative data is subjective and is at risk of being misinterpreted.

While qualitative research cannot provide concrete statistics or figures relating to a survey group, it can be of great use where extra feedback is required. When conducted alongside quantitative research, it it is a powerful tool that can provide a researcher with a strong cross-section of group opinion.

Along with the four main methods listed above, qualitative research uses the following to measure and record success and information:

1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Sampling
4. Written Materials
5. Questionnaires
6. Validity
7. Ethics

Benefits and Drawbacks

Like with any research, there are both pros and cons to this research method. Benefits include the opportunity to gain a more in-depth insight into a demographics thoughts on a particular issue, which in turn provides the financial benefits of not having to repeat surveys to gain results. However, without a skilled moderator, these sessions can be pointless, as data becomes inconclusive. Researchers may also inhibit unbias data collection as their own interests are represented in the agenda for qualitative research session. Journals on the implications of qualitative research are listed below:

“Many papers lack explicitness about methods for searching, appraisal, and synthesis, and there is little evidence of emerging consensus on many issues. There was also some evidence of possibly inappropriate use of some techniques. We conclude that continued methodological progress and improved reporting are required.” Synthesizing qualitative research: a review of published reports by: Mary Dixon-Woods, Andrew Booth, Alex J Sutton Qualitative Research, Vol. 7, No. 3. (1 August 2007), pp. 375-422.

“At issue here, in part, is what the term ‘criterion’ means, and what role criteria could play in the context of qualitative enquiry. In addition, there are differences in methodological orientation: over what counts as rigorous enquiry, realism versus constructionism, and whether the goal of research is to produce knowledge or to serve other goals.” The issue of quality in qualitative research by: Martyn Hammersley International Journal of Research & Method in Education, Vol. 30, No. 3. (2007), pp. 287-305.

“The article demonstrates the potential impact of these identities on the data collected and their interpretation, and the researcher’s attempts to negotiate these identities. In thus demonstrating that the `how’ of data collection can have important effects on the `what’ of data collection and interpretation, the article argues that qualitative interviews in higher education policy research should pay more attention to the social construction of interview `data’.” Pivoting the centre: reflections on undertaking qualitative interviewing in academia by: Chrys Gunasekara Qualitative Research, Vol. 7, No. 4. (1 November 2007), pp. 461-475.

Strengths:

• The attention to detail and the ability to embrace both verbal and non-verbal behaviour.
• Discover meanings and reveal the complexity of chosen cases and/or issues.
• Encompassing processes and natural enviroments.
• To discover that actions are contexualised within situations and time.
• Theory is generated from the empirical data.

Weaknesses:

• Can be a high-risk, low-yield enterprise. It can tike time to negotiate access, assemble a sample and develop trust. It is also difficult to find out exactly what's going on in terms of what people are thinking.
• Can be impressionistic, subjective, biased and lacking in precision.

Ethical issues

While some risks may be greater to participants in quantitative studies such as experiments, one must be mindful of ethical issues when applying any methodology. When conducting qualitative research such as interviews or focus groups, the researcher must be mindful of moral issues such as invading participants' privacy, creating a false sense of friendship, exposing or identifying participants or deceiving them in any way.

Ethical quandaries, such as those mentioned above, may be present at any stage of the data-analysis process. Hence, throughout the research process, the researcher must be mindful not to lose sight of the larger moral outlook.

References

Trochim, William M.K (2006). | Qualitative Measures

Grunig, Larissa A, 2008 'Using Qualitative Research to Become the "Thinking Heart" of Organizations', in Public Relations Metrics: Research and Evaluation, Routledge, NY, pg 126

• http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/Qualitative%20methods%202/qualrshm.htm#Observation Qualitative Research Pratt, Nick.

Morgan. David, L. [1] Focus Groups as Qualitative Research.