Qualitative research is a form of social inquiry. It is important to understand that qualitative research is not a single type of social inquiry. Qualitative research emerges from a number of different research traditions or disciplines. As a result, there is great variation in approaches for doing qualitative research, and these approach are often in conflict. Show
While there is great variation in qualitative research approaches, the following two features emerge across approaches:
Qualitative research:
Some definitions: "Qualitative research is a form of social inquiry that focuses on the way people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live. A number of different approaches exist within the wider framework of this type of research, but most of these have the same aim: to understand the social reality of individuals, groups and cultures. Researchers use qualitative approaches to explore the behavior, perspectives and experiences of the people they study. The basis of qualitative research lies in the interpretive approach to social reality." (Holloway, 1997, p.2) "Qualitative research, also called naturalistic inquiry, developed within the social and human sciences, and refers to theories on interpretation (hermeneutics) and human experience (phenomenology). They include various strategies for systematic collection, organization and interpretation of textual material obtained while talking with people or through observation. The aim of such research is to investigate the meaning of social phenomena as experiened by the people themselves." (Malterud, 2001, p. 398). "Qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical 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." (Denzin, NK & Lincoln, YS, 2004, p. 2). Resources Holloway, I. (1997). Basic Concepts for Qualitative Research. Oxford. Blackwell Science. Malterud, K. (2001). The art and science of clinical knowledge: Evidence beyond measures and numbers. The Lancet. 358: 397-400. Denzin, NK & Lincoln, YS. (1994). "Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research." In NK Denzin and YS Lincoln (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. pp. 1-18. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Published on June 19, 2020 by Pritha Bhandari. Revised on October 10, 2022. 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. 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. Qualitative research approaches
Qualitative research methodsEach of the research approaches involve using one or more data collection methods. These are some of the most common qualitative methods:
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 analysisQualitative 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:
There are several specific approaches to analyzing qualitative data. Although these methods share similar processes, they emphasize different concepts. Qualitative data analysis
Advantages of qualitative researchQualitative 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:
The data collection and analysis process can be adapted as new ideas or patterns emerge. They are not rigidly decided beforehand.
Data collection occurs in real-world contexts or in naturalistic ways.
Detailed descriptions of people’s experiences, feelings and perceptions can be used in designing, testing or improving systems or products.
Open-ended responses mean that researchers can uncover novel problems or opportunities that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. Disadvantages of qualitative researchResearchers must consider practical and theoretical limitations in analyzing and interpreting their data. Qualitative research suffers from:
The real-world setting often makes qualitative research unreliable because of uncontrolled factors that affect the data.
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.
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.
Although software can be used to manage and record large amounts of text, data analysis often has to be checked or performed manually. Frequently asked questions about qualitative researchWhat are the main qualitative research approaches? There are five common approaches to qualitative research:
What is data collection? 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. Cite this Scribbr articleIf you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Is this article helpful?You have already voted. Thanks :-) Your vote is saved :-) Processing your vote... What is the study of experiences?Phenomenology is the discipline that studies the subjective structures of experience, i.e. what it is like from the first-person perspective to experience different conscious events. When someone has an experience, they are presented with various items.
What research focuses on human experiences?Phenomenological studies examine human experiences through the descriptions provided by the people involved. These experiences are called lived experiences. The goal of phenomenological studies is to describe the meaning that experiences hold for each subject.
What type of study is lived experiences?Lived experience research in mental health is research that illuminates the perspectives and experiences of people who live with mental health issues and is conducted either by researchers with their own lived experience or in collaborative research teams that include people with lived experience [1, 2].
What is phenomenological research?Phenomenological research is a qualitative research approach that seeks to understand and describe the universal essence of a phenomenon. The approach investigates the everyday experiences of human beings while suspending the researchers' preconceived assumptions about the phenomenon.
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