Types of Qualitative research designs

Grounded theory, ethnographic, narrative research, historical, case studies, and phenomenology are several types of qualitative research designs.  The proceeding paragraphs give a brief over view several of these qualitative methods.  

Grounded theory is a systematic procedure of data analysis, typically associated with qualitative research, that allows researchers to develop a theory that explains a specific phenomenon.  Grounded theory was developed by Glaser and Strauss and is used to conceptualize phenomenon using research; grounded theory is not seen as a descriptive method and originates from sociology.  The unit of analysis in grounded theory is a specific phenomenon or incident, not individual behaviors.   The primary data collection method is through interviews of approximately 20 - 30 participants or until data achieves saturation.  

Ethnographic studies are qualitative procedures utilized to describe, analyze and interpret a culture’s characteristics.  Ethnography was developed in the 19^th and 20^th centuries and used by anthropologists to explore primitive cultures different from their own; it originated from Anthropology.  Ethnography is used when a researcher wants to study a group of people to gain a larger understanding of their lives or specific aspects of their lives.  The primary data collection method is through observation over an extended period of time.  It would also be appropriate to interview others who have studied the same cultures.

Phenomenology is used to identify phenomena and focus on subjective experiences and understanding the structure of those lived experiences.  It was founded in the early 20^th century by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heideggar and originated from philosophy.  Phenomenology is used to describe, in depth, the common characteristics of the phenomena that has occurred.   The primary data collection method is through in-depth interviews.  

Case studies are believed to have originated in 1829 by Frederic Le Play.  Case studies are rooted in several disciplines, including science, education, medicine, and law.  Case studies are to be used when (1) the researcher wants to focus on how and why, (2) the behavior is to be observed, not manipulated, (3) to further understand a given phenomenon, and (4) if the boundaries between the context and phenomena are not clear.  Multiple methods can be used to gather data, including interviews, observation, and historical documentation. 

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a kind of research in which the information about any discipline is inquired into with the help of research tools. The major task of qualitative research is basically to obtain an in-depth understanding of the subject that has been taken under consideration by the researcher.

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Qualitative research in the field of psychology can be used to have an in-depth understanding about certain human behaviors. Qualitative research also helps in understanding why some human behaviors prevail. In order to understand certain human behaviors, qualitative research can be conducted by in-depth focus group study, contextual interviews, individual interviews, etc.

Qualitative research in the field of medicine/nursing is utilized in those cases where there are decision making problems due to certain insufficient information, or due to contradictory information. Consensus methods in medical and health service research are termed qualitative research. There are basically two types of consensus methods or qualitative research, and they are the Delphi Process and the Nominal Group Technique.

The Delphi Process in qualitative research is basically the process that collects and filters knowledge by using the medium of questionnaires, which are made by experts in questionnaires. These obtain appropriate and controlled feedback. In qualitative research, controlled feedback means that the feedback obtained is not a contradicted one.

Nominal Group Technique in qualitative research is the structured variation of small group discussion methods. This method in qualitative research generally involves ideas and views of a group of people rather than that of an individual. This method in qualitative research generally encourages participation of more passive group members. The basic advantage of this group in qualitative research is that it encourages equal participation of all the group members.

Qualitative research is extensively used in the field of business, especially in market research. Whenever a new company plans to launch a new product, it performs pre- launch qualitative research, or a survey about what kind of attributes a customer wants on the product. After launching the product, the company performs post-launch qualitative research, or a survey about the views of the consumer about the new product.

However, researchers argue that the qualitative research mentioned above is quite artificial. Thus, more advanced kinds of techniques have been introduced, other than qualitative research.

Suppose a company is launching new software (for example) and wants to know the market scenario for the product. In this case, qualitative research involves telephone interviews of people by preparing a questionnaire, which involves questions like the company’s turnover, the company’s budget on IT products, etc.

Although qualitative research involving questions like the company’s turnover can be very sensitive, a response to this question can depend upon the researcher and how he or she has framed the question.

There is an association called the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, which is a nonprofit organization. This organization promotes all aspects of qualitative research. Through Qualitative Research Consultants Association, we can have access to nearly 1000 qualitative research consultants. The qualitative research consultants include group moderators, facilitators, interviewers and planners. The consultants of qualitative research mainly provide expertise on focus groups, individual in-depth interviews, ethnography, observational research, usability research, idea generation, etc.

There is also an international association for qualitative research which focuses upon the practice and study of qualitative research. The aim of this international association for qualitative research is to improve the theory involved in qualitative research and the usage of qualitative research across various disciplines of human sciences.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a qualitative kind of study on any given topic done by the researcher. Qualitative research can also be termed as an extensive study. Qualitative research is a very effective kind of research for almost all disciplines including psychology, medicine, business, etc. In order to obtain depth of understanding about any particular topic in the study, the researcher can use Qualitative research in those cases. Qualitative research has a special method of investigating and observing both difficult and sensitive concerns.

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Qualitative research is very popular in the psychology discipline. Comprehension of human psychology and understanding humans’ strange behaviors are a part of the psychological study that can be carried out easily with the help of Qualitative research. The researcher in the psychology discipline generally observes the strange behavior of the people in which qualitative research contributes. Qualitative research can be carried out in the form of focus group study, contextual interviews, etc. In qualitative research, the respondent can answer questions in his/her own words. These questions are asked in questionnaires that attempt to understand human behavior. Qualitative research is useful for the implementation of certain policies or getting people’s opinions on things such as policy, public transport, etc.

In the medical and nursing discipline, researchers depend highly on qualitative research. Qualitative research can also be called the consensus method. In the decision making process of the medical and nursing discipline, qualitative research is conducted and used. Qualitative research is useful in cases where problems arise because of scarce or inadequate information.

In the medical / nursing discipline, qualitative research is of two types: the Delphi process and the Nominal Group technique.

The first type of qualitative research is a process in which the questionnaires are obtained to get the required information.
This type of qualitative research process is generally carried out by experts.

The second type of qualitative research involves the prearrangement and ordered variation of small group discussion. This type of qualitative research process mainly involves the interchanging of ideas and opinions of a group of people. This process of qualitative research puts most of the emphasis on the participation of inactive members.

Qualitative research is very important in the business discipline as well. Especially in market research where qualitative research plays a crucial role. Qualitative research in this discipline obtains the customer’s opinion about a particular product. In this discipline, Qualitative research is conducted to study the general trends so that the companies may meet their needs and requirements.

In this way, qualitative research is useful for production companies. The researchers carry out qualitative research on a product in order to know the popularity of the product in the market. This qualitative research is carried out with the help of surveys in order to know the views of the consumers about the product. Qualitative research has, however, been considered to be somewhat artificial, so many other methods other than qualitative research are used.

Qualitative research may be obtained from professionals who work as consultants. These qualitative research consultants include group moderators, facilitators, interviewers and planners. While conducting qualitative research, the consultants emphasize focus groups, individual in-depth interviews, ethnography, observational research, useful research and idea generation.

There is an association called the Qualitative Research Consultants Association that promotes all aspects of qualitative research. There is also an international organization that is dedicated to the practice and study of qualitative research. Qualitative research is highly effective and valuable for the successful working of many fields and areas.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is an extensive study on any given topic. As a field of inquiry, qualitative research is very effective and useful in almost all fields. Qualitative research is especially used in fields like psychology, economics, commerce, business, medicine and nursing. Qualitative research demands that the researchers obtain a close familiarity and awareness about the selected topic. Qualitative research has a particularly useful value for investigating and looking into difficult and sensitive concerns.

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In the field of psychology, qualitative research is very popular. Here, quality research is used for understanding and comprehending human behavior. Qualitative research delves into the “why’s,” the “how’s” and the “when’s” of human behavior. The researcher basically takes a look into why people do certain things through qualitative research in psychology. In order to have a clear understanding of certain human behaviors, qualitative research is carried out by a thorough focus on group study, contextual interviews, etc. Qualitative Research helps to answer many questions for the researcher. Qualitative research is utilized mostly for understanding behavior in a natural setting, and it is not restricted to basic questionnaires, where the respondent has to answer the questions from a specified list of options. In qualitative research, the respondent can answer the questions in his/her own words. For instances of implementing certain policies, and, for example, finding out people’s opinions on lifts, public transport, etc., qualitative research can also be useful.

In medicine and nursing fields, qualitative research is highly dependable. In science, qualitative research is also called the consensus method. Medical and nursing fields also conduct qualitative research in cases where decisions need to be made and where problems arise because of scarce and inadequate/conflicting information.

In medicine and nursing, qualitative research or consensus methods are of two types: the Delphi process and the Nominal Group technique. The Delphi process is a procedure where questionnaires are used for obtaining the required information. In qualitative research, the process is conducted by experts in the field. The feedback or answers obtained should by no means be contradictory, so it is essential that qualitative research be carried out by skilled professionals.

Qualitative research, using the Nominal Group Technique, implies the prearranged and ordered variation of small group discussion methods. This method is basically concerned with the interchanging of ideas and opinions of a group of people that are observed or studied by an expert. This method encourages participation of inactive group members equally.

When it comes to business and commerce, qualitative research is very important. In market research, qualitative research is crucial to determine what type of feature the customer wants in a product before launching it. Qualitative research is conducted to find out the general trend or inclination for the public so that the producing companies may meet their needs and requirements. The company performs qualitative research both before and after the launching of the product. The researchers perform quality research after launching the product so that they know the popularity of the product in the market through surveys. Qualitative research is not the only method of gathering information, however, as there are many methods other than qualitative research that should be used.

Qualitative research may be obtained from professionals who work as consultants. These qualitative research consultants include group moderators, facilitators, interviewers and planners. While conducting qualitative research, the consultants emphasize focus groups, individual in-depth interviewers, ethnography, observational research, and idea generation. Contact Statistics Solutions today for a free consultation on your qualitative research project or dissertation.

There is an association that is called the Qualitative Research Consultants Association that promotes all aspects of qualitative research. There is also an international organization that is dedicated to the practice and study of qualitative research. Qualitative research is highly effective and valuable for the successful working of many fields and areas.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is research generated outside the scaffold of quantitative approach. In qualitative research, data is not analyzed through formulae to generate projections. People from any field can follow their inquiries through qualitative research. The most important aspect of qualitative research is that it obtains deep knowledge of the project involved. Qualitative research is required in almost all sorts of disciplines, including psychology, medicine / nursing, marketing and business. Qualitative research stresses observing the variables in their natural environment. For qualitative research, the interaction between the variables is very important as it details their exact functioning.

The purpose of qualitative research is to comprehend the actions of people, because people’s actions change as their attitudes change. Qualitative research takes the values of people into consideration while carrying out research. Qualitative research prefers to look at the bigger picture as it takes every cause and reason into account before it reaches any conclusion. Thus the data and the result outcomes are in-depth and real. By taking the entire picture into account, qualitative research reaches the most appropriate situational decisions.

The utilization of qualitative research in Psychology is done in order to understand the reasons, causes, and outcomes of several human behaviors. Qualitative research helps you understand the prevalence of certain human behaviors belonging to certain areas or populations. Details of those behaviors are acquired through open-ended questions involved in qualitative research. The direct interviews form an essential part of qualitative research.

In medicine and nursing, qualitative research helps clients make the right decision when they do not have the required amount of information. Qualitative research is also useful in decision making when the existing information is contradictory in nature. Qualitative research is called the consensus method in medicine/nursing and other health services. Qualitative research has two types of consensus methods: the Delphi process and the Nominal group technique. In the Delphi process of qualitative research, the questionnaires are used to collect information and feedback. Thus the feedback acquired through Qualitative research is controlled and not contradicted. The nominal group technique of qualitative research is a kind of group discussion method, through which ideas are sought. In this method of qualitative research, the emphasis is put on the group and not an individual. Thus, this method of qualitative research makes everybody (even passive people) participate in the discussion.

Since qualitative research gives a first hand account of peoples’ perceptions, thoughts, ideas and thinking, qualitative research plays a very important role in the business arena. Whenever a company plans to introduce a new product in the market, it carries out a qualitative research study to understand the needs of the people. Qualitative research helps businessmen realize the requirements of people and enhances the features of their product. Thus, qualitative research also helps them to acquire different sorts of results from different types of places and populations. Such help provided by qualitative research also assists the marketing professionals as it gives them ideas about altering their marketing ideas according to the place and the kind of the consumers.

While doing qualitative research, the researcher should listen to his subjects patiently, record accurately and start writing qualitative research as early as possible. Qualitative research is extremely beneficial as it provides results that people can understand and relate to.

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Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a kind of research where a researcher from any discipline can inquire about various subject matters. The major goal of qualitative research is to obtain an in-depth understanding of the subject upon which a researcher is working.

Qualitative research in the field of psychology can be used to gain in-depth understanding about certain human behaviors. Qualitative research also helps in understanding the reasons of certain human behaviors and the prevalence of these behaviors. In order to understand certain human behaviors, qualitative research can be conducted by in-depth focus group study, contextual interviews, individual interviews, etc.

Qualitative research is very popular in social sciences like psychology. The reason that qualitative research is very popular is that qualitative research helps in answering many questions—and this is something that quantitative research cannot do. For example, in order to implement certain policies, qualitative research is very useful.

Qualitative research in the field of medicine/nursing can be used in cases where there is a decision making problem due to insufficient information, or due to contradictory information. Consensus methods in medical and health services research are termed as qualitative research. There are basically two types of consensus methods or qualitative research. In this case, they are Delphi Process and the Nominal Group Technique.

Delphi Process in qualitative research is the process that collects and filters knowledge using questionnaires (made by experts), in order to obtain an appropriate and controlled feedback. Qualitative research by controlled feedback means that the feedback obtained is not contradicted.

Nominal Group Technique in qualitative research is the structured variation of small group discussion methods. This method in qualitative research generally involves ideas and views of a group of people, rather than that of an individual. This method in qualitative research generally encourages participation of more passive group members. The basic advantage of this group in qualitative research is that it encourages equal participation of all the group members.

Qualitative research is used extensively in the field of business, especially in market research. Whenever a new company plans to launch a new product, then it performs the pre-launch qualitative research, or a survey based upon the kind of attributes a customer would expect from the product. After launching the product, the company performs post-launch qualitative research, or a survey about the views of the consumers about the new product.

Researchers argue that the qualitative research mentioned above is quite artificial. Thus, more advanced kinds of techniques have been introduced—techniques that are other than qualitative research.

Suppose a company is launching new software and wants to know the market scenario for the product. In this case, the qualitative research involves telephone interviews of people, which in-turn requires the preparation of a questionnaire. The questionnaire involves questions such as the company’s turnover rate, the company’s budget on IT products, etc. Although, the qualitative research involves questions that are very sensitive (like the company’s turnover rate), the response received will depend greatly on the researcher, and how he/she frames the question.

There are various aspects of Qualitative research. The role of group moderators who perform qualitative research is to establish a comfort level with the focus group of participants. The role of facilitators while performing qualitative research is to make the discussion easier for the focus group participants. The role of planners while performing qualitative research is to provide ideas and templates that frame a discussion with focus group participants. The qualitative research consultants are expert professionals on focus groups, individual depth interviews, ethnography, observational research, usability research, idea generation, etc.

The main idea behind the usage and the theory involved in qualitative research is to improve various disciplines of human sciences.

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Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a kind of research where a researcher from any discipline can inquire about various subject matters. The major goal of qualitative research is to obtain an in-depth understanding of the subject upon which a researcher is working.

Qualitative research in the field of psychology can be used to gain in-depth understanding about certain human behaviors. Qualitative research also helps in understanding the reasons of certain human behaviors and the prevalence of these behaviors. In order to understand certain human behaviors, qualitative research can be conducted by in-depth focus group study, contextual interviews, individual interviews, etc.

Qualitative research is very popular in social sciences like psychology. The reason that qualitative research is very popular is that qualitative research helps in answering many questions—and this is something that quantitative research cannot do. For example, in order to implement certain policies, qualitative research is very useful.

Qualitative research in the field of medical/nursing can be used in cases where there is a decision making problem due to insufficient information, or due to contradictory information. Consensus methods in medical and health services research are termed as qualitative research. There are basically two types of consensus methods or qualitative research. In this case, they are Delphi Process and the Nominal Group Technique.

Delphi Process in qualitative research is the process that collects and filters knowledge using questionnaires (made by experts), in order to obtain an appropriate and controlled feedback. Qualitative research by controlled feedback means that the feedback obtained is not contradicted.

Nominal Group Technique in qualitative research is the structured variation of small group discussion methods. This method in qualitative research generally involves ideas and views of a group of people, rather than that of an individual. This method in qualitative research generally encourages participation of more passive group members. The basic advantage of this group in qualitative research is that it encourages equal participation of all the group members.

Qualitative research is used extensively in the field of business, especially in market research. Whenever a new company plans to launch a new product, then it performs the pre-launch qualitative research, or a survey based upon the kind of attributes a customer would expect from the product. After launching the product, the company performs post-launch qualitative research, or a survey about the views of the consumers about the new product.

Researchers argue that the qualitative research mentioned above is quite artificial. Thus, more advanced kinds of techniques have been introduced—techniques that are other than qualitative research.

Suppose a company is launching new software and wants to know the market scenario for the product. In this case, the qualitative research involves telephone interviews of people, which in-turn requires the preparation of a questionnaire. The questionnaire involves questions such as the company’s turnover rate, the company’s budget on IT products, etc. Although, the qualitative research involves questions that are very sensitive (like the company’s turnover rate), the response received will depend greatly on the researcher, and how he/she frames the question.

There is a nonprofit association called the Qualitative Research Consultants Association that promotes all aspects of qualitative research. Through the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, one can have access to nearly 1000 qualitative research consultants. The qualitative research consultants include group moderators, facilitators, interviewers and planners. These qualitative research consultants are experts and professionals on focus groups, individual in-depth interviews, ethnography, observational research, usability research, idea generation, etc.

There is also an international association for qualitative research that revolves around the practice and study of qualitative research. The aim of this international association for qualitative research is to improve the theory involved in qualitative research and the usage of qualitative research across various disciplines of human sciences.

For help with your qualitative research, click here.