Qualitative Research

Four teenagers looking at the camera

What is Qualitative Research?

Qualitative research aims to understand people and associated complex phenomena, plus explore how and why individuals interpret experiences the way they do. Through a process of collecting, analysing and interpreting non-numerical data, qualitative research can be used to understand how individuals give meaning to their experience and their perception of their social reality.

Qualitative research seeks to understand diverse opinions rather than find generalisable outcomes. If quantitative research asks, “How many?”, qualitative research asks “Why?”.

Qualitative research adds a dimension to interventional studies by answering questions that cannot be addressed through the measurement of variables alone. In clinical research, a qualitative approach can help to understand the reasons why outcomes have or have not occurred. It can also help to ask the types of research questions that are important to a particular population, as well as strengthen clinical trials by enhancing user involvement.

 

Qualitative research aims to understand people and associated complex phenomena, plus explore how and why individuals interpret experiences the way they do. Through a process of collecting, analysing and interpreting non-numerical data, qualitative...

Qualitative research aims to understand people and associated complex phenomena, plus explore how and why individuals interpret experiences the way they do. Through a process of collecting, analysing and interpreting non-numerical data, qualitative research can be used to understand how individuals give meaning to their experience and their perception of their social reality.

Qualitative research seeks to understand diverse opinions rather than find generalisable outcomes. If quantitative research asks, “How many?”, qualitative research asks “Why?”.

Qualitative research adds a dimension to interventional studies by answering questions that cannot be addressed through the measurement of variables alone. In clinical research, a qualitative approach can help to understand the reasons why outcomes have or have not occurred. It can also help to ask the types of research questions that are important to a particular population, as well as strengthen clinical trials by enhancing user involvement.

 

Some common qualitative research methodologies

MethodologyExplanation
Ethnography Focuses on people as members of groups or cultures and seeks to understand things from their perspectives.
Phenomenology Interested in the ‘lived experience’ of individuals – what it feels like to have a certain experience and how people understand their own experience.
Grounded theory A systematic approach that enables researchers to construct a theory (conceptual framework) to explain phenomena. The methodology is particularly useful when very little is known about a topic of enquiry, and when the phenomenon of interest contains a process or series of events that relate to one another. In its original form, grounded theory has strict rules for how to perform data collection and analysis.
Narrative inquiry (narratology) Focuses on telling stories as people’s way of understanding themselves and their experiences. Narrative inquiry regards the story as the natural form of meaning-making.
Case study Interested in different perspectives on particular social phenomena.
Descriptive / Interpretative Description of a phenomenon with a focus on a rich description of the Who, What, Where, and Why from those who have experience with that phenomenon.


Mixed methods research

Mixed methods research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to answer a research question. It is a research strategy that is gaining increased attention across disciplines. A widely used description of mixed methods research is:

"Research in which the investigator collects and analyses data, integrates the findings, and draws inferences using both qualitative and quantitative approaches or methods in a single study or a program of inquiry.”

– Tashakkori and Cresswell, editorial in Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1: 3-7, 2007