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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 January 30, 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, 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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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Qualitative Research Resources: Writing Up Your Research
Created by health science librarians.
- What is Qualitative Research?
- Qualitative Research Basics
- Special Topics
- Training Opportunities: UNC & Beyond
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- Qualitative Software for Coding/Analysis
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About this Page
Writing conventions for qualitative research, sample size/sampling:.
- Integrating Qualitative Research into Systematic Reviews
- Publishing Qualitative Research
- Presenting Qualitative Research
- Qualitative & Libraries: a few gems
- Data Repositories
Why is this information important?
- The conventions of good writing and research reporting are different for qualitative and quantitative research.
- Your article will be more likely to be published if you make sure you follow appropriate conventions in your writing.
On this page you will find the following helpful resources:
- Articles with information on what journal editors look for in qualitative research articles.
- Articles and books on the craft of collating qualitative data into a research article.
These articles provide tips on what journal editors look for when they read qualitative research papers for potential publication. Also see Assessing Qualitative Research tab in this guide for additional information that may be helpful to authors.
Belgrave, L., D. Zablotsky and M.A. Guadagno.(2002). How do we talk to each other? Writing qualitative research for quantitative readers . Qualitative Health Research , 12(10),1427-1439.
Hunt, Brandon. (2011) Publishing Qualitative Research in Counseling Journals . Journal of Counseling and Development 89(3):296-300.
Fetters, Michael and Dawn Freshwater. (2015). Publishing a Methodological Mixed Methods Research Article. Journal of Mixed Methods Research 9(3): 203-213.
Koch, Lynn C., Tricia Niesz, and Henry McCarthy. (2014). Understanding and Reporting Qualitative Research: An Analytic Review and Recommendations for Submitting Authors. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 57(3):131-143.
Morrow, Susan L. (2005) Quality and Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research in Counseling Psychology ; Journal of Counseling Psychology 52(2):250-260.
Oliver, Deborah P. (2011) "Rigor in Qualitative Research." Research on Aging 33(4): 359-360.
Sandelowski, M., & Leeman, J. (2012). Writing usable qualitative health research findings . Qual Health Res, 22(10), 1404-1413.
Schoenberg, Nancy E., Miller, Edward A., and Pruchno, Rachel. (2011) The qualitative portfolio at The Gerontologist : strong and getting stronger. Gerontologist 51(3): 281-284.
Weaver-Hightower, M. B. (2019). How to write qualitative research . [e-book]
Sidhu, Kalwant, Roger Jones, and Fiona Stevenson (2017). Publishing qualitative research in medical journals. Br J Gen Pract ; 67 (658): 229-230. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp17X690821 PMID: 28450340
- This article is based on a workshop on publishing qualitative studies held at the Society for Academic Primary Care Annual Conference, Dublin, July 2016.
Smith, Mary Lee.(1987) Publishing Qualitative Research. American Educational Research Journal 24(2): 173-183.
Tong, Allison, Sainsbury, Peter, Craig, Jonathan ; Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups , International Journal for Quality in Health Care , Volume 19, Issue 6, 1 December 2007, Pages 349–357, https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzm042 .
Tracy, Sarah. (2010) Qualitative Quality: Eight 'Big-Tent' Criteria for Excellent Qualitative Research. Qualitative Inquiry 16(10):837-51.
Because reviewers are not always familiar with qualitative methods, they may ask for explanation or justification of your methods when you submit an article. Because different disciplines,different qualitative methods, and different contexts may dictate different approaches to this issue, you may want to consult articles in your field and in target journals for publication. Additionally, here are some articles that may be helpful in thinking about this issue.
Bonde, Donna. (2013). Qualitative Interviews: When Enough is Enough . Research by Design.
Guest, Greg, Arwen Bunce, and Laura Johnson. (2006) How Many Interviews are Enough?: An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods 18(1): 59-82.
Morse, Janice M. (2015) "Data Were Saturated..." Qualitative Health Research 25(5): 587-88 . doi:10.1177/1049732315576699.
Nelson, J. (2016) "Using Conceptual Depth Criteria: Addressing the Challenge of Reaching Saturation in Qualitative Research." Qualitative Research, December. doi:10.1177/1468794116679873.
Patton, Michael Quinn. (2015) "Chapter 5: Designing Qualitative Studies, Module 30 Purposeful Sampling and Case Selection. In Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice, Fourth edition, pp. 264-72. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7212-3
Small, Mario Luis. (2009) 'How Many Cases Do I Need?': On Science and the Logic of Case-Based Selection in Field-Based Research. Ethnography 10(1): 538.
Search the UNC-CH catalog for books about qualitative writing . Selected general books from the catalog are listed below. If you are a researcher at another institution, ask your librarian for assistance locating similar books in your institution's catalog or ordering them via InterLibrary Loan.
Oft quoted and food for thought
- Morse, J. M. (1997). " Perfectly healthy, but dead": the myth of inter-rater reliability. DOI:10.1177/104973239700700401 Editorial
- Silberzahn, R., Uhlmann, E. L., Martin, D. P., Anselmi, P., Aust, F., Awtrey, E., ... & Carlsson, R. (2018). Many analysts, one data set: Making transparent how variations in analytic choices affect results. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychologi
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- URL: https://guides.lib.unc.edu/qual
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Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS)
Qualitative research design (jars–qual).
The JARS–Qual guidelines developed in 2018 mark the first time APA Style has included qualitative standards. They outline what should be reported in qualitative research manuscripts to make the review process easier.
The seventh edition of the Publication Manual also includes content on qualitative studies, including standards for journal article reporting, considerations for sharing qualitative data, and a description of case studies as a type of qualitative article.
JARS–Qual includes guidelines for manuscripts that report
- Primary qualitative research
- Qualitative meta-analyses
To be used for all qualitative studies
- Qualitative Design Reporting Standards (JARS-Qual) (PDF, 141KB) Information recommended for inclusion in manuscripts that report new data collections
- Qualitative Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards (PDF, 119KB) Information recommended for inclusion in manuscripts that report qualitative meta-analyses
For more information on how these standards were created, read Journal Article Reporting Standards for Qualitative Primary, Qualitative Meta-Analytic, and Mixed Methods Research in Psychology .
- Quantitative design standards
- Mixed methods standards
Return to Journal Article Reporting Standards homepage
JARS Resources
- JARS–Quant Article
- JARS–Qual / Mixed Article
- Supplemental JARS Glossary
- Ethic of Transparency in JARS
- Frequently Asked Questions
- JARS–Quant Decision Flowchart (PDF, 97KB)
- JARS–Quant Participant Flowchart (PDF, 95KB)
- JARS–Quant on EQUATOR
- JARS–Qual/JARS–Mixed on EQUATOR
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Research Paper Guide
Qualitative Research Method
Qualitative Research - Methods, Types, and Examples
14 min read
Published on: Dec 25, 2017
Last updated on: Dec 15, 2022
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There are various methods for conducting scientific research. The two broad approaches of data collection include qualitative and quantitative research methods. However, it is not easy to decide which one to choose while writing a research paper .
If you know the basic difference between both methods, you will produce a well-written and structured paper.
In recent times, the qualitative research methodology has gained momentum among researchers. It focuses on understanding a research question by involving people’s beliefs, experiences, and attitudes.
Similarly, this scientific method also aims to gather, analyze, and interpret non-numerical data. In this blog, we have explored what is qualitative research, its nature, purpose, and methods of data collection.
Qualitative Research Definition
Qualitative research is a type of study that focuses on gathering and analyzing data that is natural and interpretive in nature. In other words, it looks for an in-depth understanding of the social aspect within its natural setting.
Moreover, this type of research also focuses on the definition, reasons, and concepts. It not only talks about “what” but also the “why” of a social aspect.
Similarly, the research process also involves different methods to study a human and social phenomenon. These methods include interviews, observations, case study, ethnography, and grounded theory.
The major areas where this type of research takes place are individuals, cultures and societies, communication, and language.
Purpose of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research has a long history in the social sciences. The primary purpose is to obtain non-numerical information through open-ended questions.
Similarly, this research also appeals to social scientists as it can identify the relationship between the variables. Qualitative researchers can also understand the meanings, interpretations, and processes of social life.
It closely studies human behavior and its interaction with society and with other individuals. Moreover, it produces detailed and descriptive data by creating new theories that can be used for further research.
It also involves studying a topic in a way that reveals the entire truth and meaning of the subject under observation. Moreover, it further suggests the answer to an outcome that is measured and studied by quantitative research.
Broadly, this research assesses all the symbols, meanings, and the process of social life where a human element is involved.
Characteristics of Qualitative Research
The following are the main characteristics of qualitative research.
- The real-world setting is the first important characteristic. It involves various qualitative research methods to study the behavior of participants.
- Researchers play an essential role in choosing a method and making a plan for conducting research.
- All qualitative methods have their significance and are used for different scenarios.
- Qualitative research questions are beneficial for complex reasoning to get the right results.
- It is also used to explain the outcome of quantitative research methods.
- The role of participants is essential as it brings meaning to the study.
- Qualitative research is flexible and can be changed at any stage of the research work.
- It also describes the research problem by developing a complex cause and effect relationship between the variables.
- Data analysis is an ongoing process in qualitative research methods.
- Conclusions can be drawn based on the outcomes of the research process.
- Participants are selected from a particular and relevant group.
Advantages of Qualitative Research
Here are some of the advantages of qualitative research.
- It can identify the changing attitude within a group.
- It records and analyzes the behaviors and feelings of the respondents.
- It is a more flexible approach and can be modified and adapt to changes at any stage.
- It is useful in the early stages of the research when the writer is unsure what to study.
- It does not require a strict design that allows the work to unfold naturally.
- It helps to get detailed data in the form of written descriptions and strong evidence.
- It focuses on the real context of the literature.
- It allows people to expand their choices and opinions on a topic.
- It strengthens the idea of teamwork and collaboration among the respondents.
- The pattern of interviews and discussion helps in bringing together the respondents.
- The information can also be taken non verbally by participant observation.
Qualitative Research Limitations
The following discussed are the qualitative research limitations.
- The qualitative research data involve fewer expenses and time.
- It does not have large-scale data.
- It requires a lot of time to manage, gather, and analyze data.
- It is not possible to verify the results as it is open-ended research.
- It is difficult to analyze the credibility and validity of data because of its subjective nature.
- Expert knowledge of the area is necessary to understand the collected information.
Qualitative Research Methods
A detailed description of the major qualitative research methods is given below.
In-depth Interview
Conducting an in-depth interview is the most common type of qualitative research method. It involves a personal interview or a casual conversation with a single person at a time. This method is done to gather information about a topic or an issue.
It may sound like an ineffective method of gathering information. But in fact, you can gather a lot of data that will help you craft a detailed research paper.
In this method, a researcher discusses with the respondent his motivations and inspirations about the topic. Similarly, it also allows reading the body language of the participants.
Moreover, interviews can be conducted effortlessly. You can interview a person face to face, in email, or via phone. It makes this method easier than others.
Focus Groups
The focus group includes a fixed number of respondents from the target market. Moreover, it involves a group discussion between 5 to 15 people on a specific topic.
This research method is used in answering ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ questions about society and the environment. While using this method, you are not just bound to have a face-to-face discussion. Instead, you can collect data through an online survey.
Social scientists usually use this method to examine an event that occurs within a specific community.
Direct Observation
Direct observation is a research method that includes subjective methodologies to gather relevant data. It is based on the five sensory organs of a human being, i.e., sight, smell, hear, touch, and taste.
Here, a researcher studies people without participating or interfering in their lives. This research type is often unknown to those under qualitative study. Thus, it is conducted in public settings where people do not have any privacy issues.
Lastly, it does not include measurements or numbers but is based on characteristics.
Open-Ended Surveys
Open-ended surveys with structured or unstructured questions are designed to gather information. The answers will help in knowing the opinions and beliefs of the respondents.
Participant Observation
This method is similar to observation. However, here the researcher will also participate in the events. This technique helps in observing people by also getting the first-hand experience in natural settings.
Literature Review
The literature review method analyzes social life by interpreting the words and images from published work. The researcher analyzed how the words are used in the context and draw possible inferences and meanings.
Types of Qualitative Research
The following is a comprehensive overview of the types of qualitative research methods.
The case study research method has now become the most valuable method of conducting research. It has evolved in recent years and is used to explain an entity in detail.
Moreover, it also involves a thorough understanding of different types of data sources. These include interviews, documents, reports, and observations.
Mainly this research type is used in different areas like education, social sciences, etc.
Ethnographic Research
The ethnographic research method is the most familiar and in-depth observational method. It focuses on people and their behaviors in the natural environment.
Here, a researcher needs to adapt to the environment and society of the target audience to conduct better research. It helps to get the first-hand experience of the natural setting, including the customs, traditions, and culture of the subjects.
This type of research is a challenging and time-taking process as it can last from days to years. However, geographical constraints can be an issue while collecting data.
Grounded Theory
While other methods discuss and focus on an event or activity. The grounded theory method deeply looks into the explanation and the main theory behind the event.
It requires the researcher to observe the interviews and documents to build a theory. Moreover, it usually starts with a question or collection of data.
However, the sample sizes in this method are usually larger than in other methods.
Phenomenological Method
This type is used in the description of an event, phenomenon, and activity. Here, methods like interviews, reading documents, visiting places, and watching videos are used.
This will help to add new insights to the existing data analysis by checking its reliability and validity.
Narrative Method
The narrative method is used to gather data from subjects through interviews or documents. Later the gathered information is used to derive answers and suggestions for future research.
Historical Method
The historical method involves the examination of past events to draw conclusions and predictions about the future. The steps included in the method are formulating a plan, gathering data, and analyzing the sources.
Data Analysis in Qualitative Research
Qualitative data can be in the form of interviews, transcripts, surveys, videos, audios, etc. The steps involved in qualitative data analysis are given below.
- Organize the Data: This can be done by transcribing interviews or making detailed notes.
- Review the Data: Examine the data, ideas, and patterns.
- Establish a Data Coding System: Generate a set of codes that you can apply to classify your data.
- Assign Codes to the Data: For qualitative survey analysis, create codes, and add to your system.
- Identify Themes: Link the codes together into cohesive themes.
Similarly, the following are different approaches to analyze qualitative data.
- Content Analysis – It is used to categorize common words and ideas.
- Thematic Analysis – It is used to identify and interpret different themes and patterns.
- Textual Analysis – This type of analysis is used to examine the structure, content, and design of text.
- Discourse Analysis – It is used to study how a language is used to achieve specific results.
Qualitative vs Quantitative Research
A researcher should know the difference between quantitative and qualitative research. Similarly, he should also be aware of how to use a combination of both methods for conducting ideal research.
In many cases, a researcher is asked to use any one of the research methods specifically. Depending on the topic, it can be a qualitative method that is an interpretative or quantitative method that is concrete.
In simple words, quantitative studies are all about numbers and measurements. In contrast, qualitative approaches talk about the understanding of words.
Similarly, qualitative research allows the researcher to take into consideration a selected issue. In contrast, quantitative methods require the use of measurements to understand different ideas and experiences of people.
Moreover, qualitative data is holistic in nature, while quantitative data is particularistic. Lastly, quantitative research suggests a final course of action, while qualitative develops the initial understanding.
Here are the main differences between qualitative vs. quantitative research .
Qualitative Research Topics
To write an amazing qualitative research paper, here are some interesting topics for you.
- Why have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
- Which factors have contributed to the rising rate of unemployment?
- How has China become an economic power?
- What are the ways to reduce human trafficking?
- How can depression affect our bodies?
- What are the impacts of climate change?
- How have smartphones increased workplace productivity?
- How are minorities in social media portrayed?
- Why is it necessary to abolish child abuse?
- How can gender discrimination be avoided?
We have also compiled a list of research paper topics in case you need more unique ideas.
Qualitative Research Examples
Check out the examples of qualitative research to get a better idea of writing a qualitative research study.
At-Risk Students and Technology Education: A Qualitative Study
An Overview of Qualitative Research
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the two methods in research study.
There are two types of studies that involve observing people during a study, participant observation and non-participant observation.
Why is qualitative research better?
Because qualitative research includes the ability to gain unique insights through deep exploration. Survey respondents are able to disclose their experiences, thoughts, and feelings without constraint or influence from an outside source.
Nova A. (Literature, Marketing)
Nova Allison is a Digital Content Strategist with over eight years of experience. Nova has also worked as a technical and scientific writer. She is majorly involved in developing and reviewing online content plans that engage and resonate with audiences. Nova has a passion for writing that engages and informs her readers.
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Guidelines for Qualitative Papers
August 2010
There is no one qualitative method, but rather a number of research approaches which fall under the umbrella of ‘qualitative methods’. The various social science disciplines tend to have different conventions on best practice in qualitative research. However SS&M has prepared the following general guidance for the writing and assessment of papers which present qualitative data (either alone or in combination with quantitative methods). General principles of good practice for all research will also apply.
Fitness for purpose
Are the methods of the research appropriate to the nature of the question(s) being asked, i.e.
- Does the research seek to understand social processes or social structures &/or to illuminate subjective experiences or meanings?
- Are the settings, groups or individuals being examined of a type which cannot be pre-selected, or the possible outcomes not specified (or hypothesised) in advance?
Methodology and methods
- All papers must include a dedicated methods section which specifies, as appropriate, the sample recruitment strategy, sample size, and analytical strategy.
Principles of selection
Qualitative research is often based on or includes non-probability sampling. The unit(s) of research may include one or a combination of people, events, institutions, samples of natural behaviour, conversations, written and visual material, etc.
- The selection of these should be theoretically justified e.g. it should be made clear how respondents were selected
- There should be a rationale for the sources of the data (e.g respondents/participants, settings, documents)
- Consideration should be given to whether the sources of data (e.g people, organisations, documents) were unusual in some important way
- Any limitations of the data should be discussed (such as non response, refusal to take part)
The research process
In most papers there should be consideration of
- The access process
- How data were collected and recorded
- Who collected the data
- When the data were collected
- How the research was explained to respondents/participants
Research ethics
- Details of formal ethical approval (i.e. IRB, Research Ethics Committee) should be stated in the main body of the paper. If authors were not required to obtain ethical approval (as is the case in some countries) or unable to obtain attain ethical approval (as sometimes occurs in resource-poor settings) they should explain this. Please anonymise this information as appropriate in the manuscript, and give the information when asked during submission.
- Procedures for securing informed consent should be provided
Any ethical concerns that arose during the research should be discussed.
The process of analysis should be made as transparent as possible (notwithstanding the conceptual and theoretical creativity that typically characterises qualitative research). For example
- How were themes, concepts and categories generated from the data
- Whether analysis was computer assisted (and, if so, how)
- Who was involved in the analysis and in what manner
- Steps taken to guard against selectivity in the use of data
- Triangulation
- Inter-rater reliability
- Member and expert checking
- The researcher’s own position should clearly be stated. For example, have they examined their own role, possible bias, and influence on the research (reflexivity)?
Presentation of findings
Consideration of context
The research should be clearly contextualised. For example
- Relevant information about the settings and respondents/participants should be supplied
- The phenomena under study should be integrated into their social context (rather than being abstracted or de-contextualised)
- Any particular/unique influences should be identified and discussed
Presentation of data:
- Quotations, field notes, and other data where appropriate should be identified in a way which enables the reader to judge the range of evidence being used
- Distinctions between the data and their interpretation should be clear
- The iteration between data and explanations of the data (theory generation) should be clear
- Sufficient original evidence should be presented to satisfy the reader of the relationship between the evidence and the conclusions (validity)
- There should be adequate consideration of cases or evidence which might refute the conclusions
Amended February 2010
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How to Do Qualitative Research
Last Updated: October 26, 2022 References Approved
wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 19 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 27 testimonials and 96% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 720,221 times. Learn more...
Qualitative research is a broad field of inquiry that uses unstructured data collections methods, such as observations, interviews, surveys and documents, to find themes and meanings to inform our understanding of the world. [1] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health Go to source Qualitative research tends to try to cover the reasons for behaviors, attitudes and motivations, instead of just the details of what, where and when. Qualitative research can be done across many disciplines, such as social sciences, healthcare and businesses, and it is a common feature of nearly every single workplace and educational environment.
Preparing Your Research
- The research questions is one of the most important pieces of your research design. It determines what you want to learn or understand and also helps to focus the study, since you can't investigate everything at once. Your research question will also shape how you conduct your study since different questions require different methods of inquiry.
- You should start with a burning question and then narrow it down more to make it manageable enough to be researched effectively. For example, "what is the meaning of teachers' work to teachers" is too broad for a single research endeavor, but if that's what you're interested you could narrow it by limiting the type of teacher or focusing on one level of education. For example, "what is the meaning of teachers' work to second career teachers?" or "what is the meaning of teachers' work to junior high teachers?"
Tip: Find the balance between a burning question and a researchable question. The former is something you really want to know about and is often quite broad. The latter is one that can be directly investigated using available research methods and tools.
- For example, if your research question focuses on how second career teachers attribute meaning to their work, you would want to examine the literature on second career teaching - what motivates people to turn to teaching as a second career? How many teachers are in their second career? Where do most second career teachers work? Doing this reading and review of existing literature and research will help you refine your question and give you the base you need for your own research. It will also give you a sense of the variables that might impact your research (e.g., age, gender, class, etc.) and that you will need to take into consideration in your own study.
- A literature review will also help you to determine whether you are really interested and committed to the topic and research question and that there is a gap in the existing research that you want to fill by conducting your own investigation.
For example, if your research question is "what is the meaning of teachers' work to second career teachers?" , that is not a question that can be answered with a 'yes' or 'no'. Nor is there likely to be a single overarching answer. This means that qualitative research is the best route.
- Consider the possible outcomes. Because qualitative methodologies are generally quite broad, there is almost always the possibility that some useful data will come out of the research. This is different than in a quantitative experiment, where an unproven hypothesis can mean that a lot of time has been wasted.
- Your research budget and available financial resources should also be considered. Qualitative research is often cheaper and easier to plan and execute. For example, it is usually easier and cost-saving to gather a small number of people for interviews than it is to purchase a computer program that can do statistical analysis and hire the appropriate statisticians.
- Action Research – Action research focuses on solving an immediate problem or working with others to solve problem and address particular issues. [7] X Research source
- Ethnography – Ethnography is the study of human interaction in communities through direct participation and observation within the community you wish to study. Ethnographic research comes from the discipline of social and cultural anthropology but is now becoming more widely used. [8] X Research source
- Phenomenology – Phenomenology is the study of the subjective experiences of others. It researches the world through the eyes of another person by discovering how they interpret their experiences. [9] X Research source
- Grounded Theory – The purpose of grounded theory is to develop theory based on the data systematically collected and analyzed. It looks at specific information and derives theories and reasons for the phenomena.
- Case Study Research – This method of qualitative study is an in-depth study of a specific individual or phenomena in its existing context. [10] X Research source
Collecting and Analyzing Your Data
- Direct observation – Direct observation of a situation or your research subjects can occur through video tape playback or through live observation. In direct observation, you are making specific observations of a situation without influencing or participating in any way. [12] X Research source For example, perhaps you want to see how second career teachers go about their routines in and outside the classrooms and so you decide to observe them for a few days, being sure to get the requisite permission from the school, students and the teacher and taking careful notes along the way.
- Participant observation – Participant observation is the immersion of the researcher in the community or situation being studied. This form of data collection tends to be more time consuming, as you need to participate fully in the community in order to know whether your observations are valid. [13] X Research source
- Interviews – Qualitative interviewing is basically the process of gathering data by asking people questions. Interviewing can be very flexible - they can be on-on-one, but can also take place over the phone or Internet or in small groups called "focus groups". There are also different types of interviews. Structured interviews use pre-set questions, whereas unstructured interviews are more free-flowing conversations where the interviewer can probe and explore topics as they come up. Interviews are particularly useful if you want to know how people feel or react to something. For example, it would be very useful to sit down with second career teachers in either a structured or unstructured interview to gain information about how they represent and discuss their teaching careers.
- Surveys – Written questionnaires and open ended surveys about ideas, perceptions, and thoughts are other ways by which you can collect data for your qualitative research. For example, in your study of second career schoolteachers, perhaps you decide to do an anonymous survey of 100 teachers in the area because you're concerned that they may be less forthright in an interview situation than in a survey where their identity was anonymous.
- "Document analysis" – This involves examining written, visual, and audio documents that exist without any involvement of or instigation by the researcher. There are lots of different kinds of documents, including "official" documents produced by institutions and personal documents, like letters, memoirs, diaries and, in the 21st century, social media accounts and online blogs. For example, if studying education, institutions like public schools produce many different kinds of documents, including reports, flyers, handbooks, websites, curricula, etc. Maybe you can also see if any second career teachers have an online meet group or blog. Document analysis can often be useful to use in conjunction with another method, like interviewing.
- Coding – In coding, you assign a word, phrase, or number to each category. Start out with a pre-set list of codes that you derived from your prior knowledge of the subject. For example, "financial issues" or "community involvement" might be two codes you think of after having done your literature review of second career teachers. You then go through all of your data in a systematic way and "code" ideas, concepts and themes as they fit categories. You will also develop another set of codes that emerge from reading and analyzing the data. For example, you may see while coding your interviews, that "divorce" comes up frequently. You can add a code for this. Coding helps you organize your data and identify patterns and commonalities. [15] X Research source tobaccoeval.ucdavis.edu/analysis-reporting/.../CodingQualitativeData.pdf
- Descriptive Statistics – You can analyze your data using statistics. Descriptive statistics help describe, show or summarize the data to highlight patterns. For example, if you had 100 principal evaluations of teachers, you might be interested in the overall performance of those students. Descriptive statistics allow you to do that. Keep in mind, however, that descriptive statistics cannot be used to make conclusions and confirm/disprove hypotheses. [16] X Research source
- Narrative analysis – Narrative analysis focuses on speech and content, such as grammar, word usage, metaphors, story themes, meanings of situations, the social, cultural and political context of the narrative. [17] X Research source
- Hermeneutic Analysis – Hermeneutic analysis focuses on the meaning of a written or oral text. Essentially, you are trying to make sense of the object of study and bring to light some sort of underlying coherence. [18] X Research source
- Content analysis / Semiotic analysis – Content or semiotic analysis looks at texts or series of texts and looks for themes and meanings by looking at frequencies of words. Put differently, you try to identify structures and patterned regularities in the verbal or written text and then make inferences on the basis of these regularities. [19] X Research source For example, maybe you find the same words or phrases, like "second chance" or "make a difference," coming up in different interviews with second career teachers and decide to explore what this frequency might signify.
Community Q&A
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- Qualitative research is often regarded as a precursor to quantitative research, which is a more logical and data-led approach which statistical, mathematical and/or computational techniques. Qualitative research is often used to generate possible leads and formulate a workable hypothesis that is then tested with quantitative methods. [20] X Research source ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Try to remember the difference between qualitative and quantitative as each will give different data. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0
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- ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470395/
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/writing_a_literature_review.html
- ↑ https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/31/3/498/2384737?login=false
- ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4275140/
- ↑ http://www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/
- ↑ http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualapp.php
- ↑ http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualdata.php
- ↑ tobaccoeval.ucdavis.edu/analysis-reporting/.../CodingQualitativeData.pdf
- ↑ https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/descriptive-inferential-statistics.php
- ↑ https://explorable.com/qualitative-research-design
About This Article
To do qualitative research, start by deciding on a clear, specific question that you want to answer. Then, do a literature review to see what other experts are saying about the topic, and evaluate how you will best be able to answer your question. Choose an appropriate qualitative research method, such as action research, ethnology, phenomenology, grounded theory, or case study research. Collect and analyze data according to your chosen method, determine the answer to your question. For tips on performing a literature review and picking a method for collecting data, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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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.
Articles and books on the craft of collating qualitative data into a research article. Writing Conventions for Qualitative Research These articles provide tips on what journal editors look for when they read qualitative research papers for potential publication.
Qualitative Research Design (JARS–Qual) The JARS–Qual guidelines developed in 2018 mark the first time APA Style has included qualitative standards. They outline what should be reported in qualitative research manuscripts to make the review process easier.
In recent times, the qualitative research methodology has gained momentum among researchers. It focuses on understanding a research question by involving people’s beliefs, experiences, and attitudes. Similarly, this scientific method also aims to gather, analyze, and interpret non-numerical data.
In qualitative research, there are several types of quotes, such as in-line quotes (i.e., placing participants' words or phrases within an author's interpretation) and block quotes (i.e.,...
All papers must include a dedicated methods section which specifies, as appropriate, the sample recruitment strategy, sample size, and analytical strategy. Principles of selection. Qualitative research is often based on or includes non-probability sampling.
To conduct qualitative analysis of your data, gather all of the comments and feedback you want to analyze. Then code your comments by identifying themes or patterns in the data. Run queries on...
Qualitative research can be done across many disciplines, such as social sciences, healthcare and businesses, and it is a common feature of nearly every single workplace and educational environment. Part 1 Preparing Your Research Download Article 1 Decide on a question you want to study.