About this guideThe purpose of this guide is to provide a starting point for learning about qualitative research. In this guide, you'll find:
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. It answers the hows and whys instead of how many or how much. It could be structured as a stand-alone study, purely relying on qualitative data or it could be part of mixed-methods research that combines qualitative and quantitative data.
Qualitative researchers use multiple systems of inquiry for the study of human phenomena including biography, case study, historical analysis, discourse analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology.
Watch the following video to learn more about Qualitative Research:
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The case study approach is useful to employ when there is a need to obtain an in-depth appreciation of an issue, event or phenomenon of interest, in its natural real-life context.
Ethnographies are an in-depth, holistic type of research used to capture cultural practices, beliefs, traditions, and so on. Here, the researcher observes and interviews members of a culture an ethnic group, a clique, members of a religion, etc. and then analyzes their findings.
Researchers will create and test a hypothesis using qualitative data. Often, researchers use grounded theory to understand decision-making, problem-solving, and other types of behavior.
Researchers use this type of framework to understand different aspects of the human experience and how their subjects assign meaning to their experiences. Researchers use interviews to collect data from a small group of subjects, then discuss those results in the form of a narrative or story.
This type of research attempts to understand the lived experiences of a group and/or how members of that group find meaning in their experiences. Researchers use interviews, observation, and other qualitative methods to collect data.
Watch the video "Choosing among the Five Qualitative Approaches" from Sage Research Methods database for more on these qualitative approaches:
Note: Video is best viewed using Chrome, Edge, or Safari browsers.
Poth, C. (Academic). (2023). Choosing among five qualitative approaches [Video]. Sage Research Methods. doi.org/10.4135/9781529629866
