Qualitative analysis is a type of analysis that does not involve any statistical tools. Qualitative analysis can be performed by a researcher from any discipline. The researcher inquires about various subject matters with the help of qualitative analysis. The crucial task of qualitative analysis is to have a detailed understanding about the subject upon which the researchers are working.
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Qualitative analysis is applied in almost all fields. This document will discuss the usage of qualitative analysis in the field of psychology, medicine, nursing and business. In the field of psychology, qualitative analysis can provide detailed information about certain human behaviors if the researcher is performing a research on behavioral study. In such a case, qualitative analysis can be used to study the reasons behind certain human behaviors, and the prevalence of these behaviors. Qualitative analysis, in this case, involves an in depth focus group study, contextual interviews, structured interviews, etc.
In the field of medicine and nursing, qualitative research is useful in cases where one is facing problems in making decisions due to insufficient information. There are basically two types of qualitative analysis in the field of medicine and nursing, and these are the Delphi Process and the Nominal Group Technique.In qualitative analysis, Delphi Process is involved in the filtration and collection of knowledge obtained from questionnaires that are prepared by the experts. This process of qualitative analysis is useful in order to obtain reliable and accurate feedback.
Nominal Group Technique in qualitative analysis prevents the domination of the discussion by a single person. In qualitative analysis, nominal group technique emphasizes the participation of more passive members. The advantage of this technique of qualitative analysis is the equal participation of all the group members. Thus, with the help of this qualitative analysis, one can obtain more reliable data.
In the field of business, qualitative analysis is widely used in market research studies. If a company wants to know the market scenario before launching a particular IT product, then qualitative analysis is helpful. The researchers performing qualitative analysis will prepare questionnaires that will contain questions regarding a company’s turnover, a company’s IT budget, etc. Because a question pertaining to a company’s turnover is quiet sensitive, the researcher performing the qualitative analysis has to prepare the question in such a manner so people who answer that question can see exactly why that question is being posed.
Qualitative analysis has various aspects that describe various roles while performing qualitative research. The role of group moderators who perform qualitative analysis is to set up a friendly and comfortable atmosphere with focus groups participants. In other words, the role of group moderators who perform qualitative analysis is to make the focus group participant feel comfortable. The role of facilitators who perform qualitative analysis is to frame the sensitive topics of discussion in an easy manner for the focus group participants. The role of planners who perform qualitative analysis is to plan the ideas and templates that will in turn help the facilitators to frame the sensitive topics of discussion with the focus group participants.The consultants performing qualitative analysis are professionals on focus groups, individual in-depth interviews, ethnography, observational research, usability research, idea generation, etc. They go to painstaking measures to ensure that the research they obtain is accurate.
The ultimate aim of the utilization and the theory involved in qualitative analysis is to improve various disciplines of human sciences. The techniques of qualitative analysis are useful for researchers who work on different studies. Qualitative analysis provides help for the researcher as it allows them to make a sound decision or a valid inference upon which topic he/ she is working.