1. Theoretical Approaches2. Modalities of Qualitative Research3. Sampling Methods4. Software Packages

Qualitative research seeks to gain a comprehensive and holistic view of social life through the study of people in a wide range of natural settings.

It is used to capture expressive information not conveyed in quantitative data about beliefs, values, feelings, and motivations that underlie behaviors.

1. How can you gather good data?

2. What should you do with the data?

Grounded Theory: Theory that emerges from data

Superimposed Theory: Start with theory & determine if the data support your theory

Observational Studies◦ Unstructured data collection◦ Structured data collection

Categorizing phenomena Checklists Rating scales

Interviews central to the relevant group or process◦ Focus groups◦ Key Informants◦ Critical incident reports

Case study evaluation

Qualitative TechniquesQualitative Techniques

Recording and analysis of key interactions– Audiotape or videotape

Attention to data validity– Triangulation: collection from independent

sources using differing means– Feedback from study participants– Thorough examination of outlying cases

Attention to data reliability– Detailed documentation of analysis– Parallel review by independent investigators

Researchers thoughtful reflections

Researchers analyze the data based on themes

Statistical packages

Advantages1. Organize data2. Store data3. Easy to retrieve data4. Frequency count of

words5. Easier to examine

relationship between data

Disadvantages1. Slow down analysis

phase2. Stifle creativity3. Doesn’t do thinking

for you4. Researcher is part of

the analysis5. Loose context

Don’t know what was said before,

Can include more information as you input the data

Qualitative method serves as an input to a primarily quantitative study

Can generate hypotheses, develop content for questionnaires & interventions

Example: You are uncertain about how to communicate with a particular group, so you conduct focus groups to develop the content for a survey or intervention

Source: David Morgan (1999)

Quantitative method serves as an input to a primarily qualitative study

Can guide purposive sampling, establish preliminary results to pursue in depth

Example: You are unsure which groups have the characteristics you are interested in, so you conduct a brief survey, prior to selecting the groups you will study in depth

Source: David Morgan (1999)

Qualitative method serves as an extension to a primarily quantitative study

Can provide interpretations for poorly understood results, help explain outliers

Example: You want to understand more about why the results of a survey or intervention came out the way they did, so you run focus groups to help interpret the results

Source: David Morgan (1999)

Quantitative method serves as an extension to a primarily qualitative study

Can generalize results to different samples, test elements of emergent theories

Example: You want to determine where else the conclusions from a case study are likely to apply, so you use a brief survey to determine the characteristics of other sites

Source: David Morgan (1999)

Researchers frequent immersion in the day-to-day lives of their subjects make some qualitative studies susceptible to measurement bias

Researcher is not detached or unbiased

Full disclosure has been suggested as a way to deal with bias

Minimize bias in other ways

Systematic description of the nature of the data collection methods to be used

Presentation of a clear and convincing rationale why qualitative approaches are not only appropriate for addressing the research questions at hand but why they are the most likely to produce useful findings

Source: Qualitative Methods In Health Research, Office of Behavioral & Social Sciences Research, NIH

Focused discussion of the universe studied and the sample recruited for qualitative assessment (including accounting for the relationship between the sample to the universe, by using a clearly described sampling plan)

Specification of the timeframes that bound data collection (e.g., observations designed to sample variation across hours of the day, days of the week, and weeks of the year

Source: Qualitative Methods In Health Research, Office of Behavioral & Social Sciences Research, NIH

Careful presentation of the nature of the data to be collected

An orderly account of the analytic procedures to be performed, including specification of how findings can be interpreted

Source: Qualitative Methods In Health Research, Office of Behavioral & Social Sciences Research, NIH

Daly, Kerry. The Fit Between Qualitative Research and Characteristics of Families. In Jane Gilgun, Kerry Daly, and Gerald Handel (Eds), Qualitative Methods in Family Research (pp.3-11). Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1992.

Emerson, Robert, Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. “In the Field: Participating, Observing and Jotting.” In Emerson et al., Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (pp. 17-38). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Gold, Seven. “Ethical Issues in Visual Field Work.” In Grant Blank, James McCartney and Edward Brent (Eds.) New Technologies in Sociology (pp. 99-109). New Brunswick, New Jersy: Transaction, 1989.

Harrell-Bond, Barabra. “Studying Elites: Some Special Problems.” In Michael Rynkiewich and James Spradley, Ethics and Anthropology (pp. 110-122). New York: Wiley, 1976.

Lofland, John and Lyn Lofland. “Data Logging in Observation: Fieldnotes.” In John Lofland and Lynland, Analyzing Social Settings (pp. 89098). Albany, New York: Wadsworth, 1995.

Morgan, David. “Planning and Research Design for Focus Groups.” In David Morgan, Focus Groups as Qualitative Research (pp. 31-45). Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1997.

Weiss, Robert. “Writing the Report.” In Robert Weiss, Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies (pp. 183-206). New York: Free Press, 1994.