QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Definition of the method/technique

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. 

Characteristics of the method/technique 

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. 

Main uses of the method/technique 

Qualitative method is used to gather non-numerical data, to control and comprehend qualities and behavior of a problematic situation and it is focused more on qualitative features of research rather than quantitative aspects.Besides, qualitative research is concerned about why and how things occur rather than how much; that means that there is little or no mathematical and statistical involvement in qualitative research.

Advantages and Disadvantages of using the method/technique 

Advantages 

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.

Disadvantages

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.