Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research
Methods
Qualitative Research is
concerned with the 'nature of the phenomena' rather than with
producing aggregate data. It is usually used:
- Where the research is
very exploratory, perhaps where the issues being researched
are poorly defined
- Either as a fore-runner
to quantitative research (where exploratory work is needed,
for example, to help design questions in a survey) or to
provide an in-depth 'rich picture' of issues where
quantitative research provides insufficient detail.
Qualitative research methods
include focus groups and in-depth individual interviews.
Sample figures are usually small and often not fixed (the
research can continue until nothing new is discovered).
A useful review of Qualitative
Methods in Health Research is given at
www.obssr.od.nih.gov/publications/qualitative.pdf
An internet resource of
qualitative methods is available at
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/roads/subject-listing/World-cat/qualmeth.html
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| Example - Blyth
Valley Lifestyle Survey
The Blyth Valley
research comprised of two main phases:
- Focus groups
with young people
- A large scale
quatitative survey with young people in the
Borough
The focus groups
were used to ascertain the views of young people on
a range of issues surrounding their attitudes,
lifestyle, youth governance and the local area and
enabled the project steering group to determine the
content for the main questionnaire. |
Issues to Consider
- Qualitative Research requires skilled staff
to undertake the work
- Recruitment problems and biases need to be
considered
- Reports can be impressionistic, and careful
reporting is needed.
Benefits
- Use of visual aids is possible during the
research
- Allows interactions to be observed
Qualitative research frequently results in a considerable
quantity of data (often from transcribed tapes). This
is then developed into a range of themes. To assist in
this, qualitative data analysis packages are available.
For further information
click here.
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