Qualitative Research | Definition, Methods & Examples
Qualitative research uses narrative, nonnumerical data to explore research questions. Nonnumerical data may include text, photos, or videos. Qualitative research is useful for gaining deep insight into a topic or generating new ideas and theories.
Qualitative research can be conducted on its own or in combination with quantitative research methods (which use numerical data). The combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches is called mixed methods research.
What is qualitative research?
Qualitative research uses nonnumerical data (e.g., text, audio and video recordings, pictures) to answer “how” and “why” research questions. It is the opposite of quantitative research, which uses numerical data.
The focus of qualitative research is generally to collect rich datasets that capture the depth and nuance of people’s experiences. Though sometimes considered less scientific than quantitative approaches, qualitative research methods can be the best choice for certain research questions.
Qualitative research may be helpful in the following situations:
- When a research area is not well known—this makes it difficult to develop hypotheses needed to conduct many types of quantitative research
- When data cannot be expressed using numbers
- When generating new ideas or theories
- When trying to understand nuanced phenomena like emotions, social relationships, and individual perspectives
Types of qualitative research
The type of qualitative research method you use depends on your research question. Common qualitative methods and related research questions are described in the table below.
| Approach | Description | Example research question |
|---|---|---|
| Ethnography | Immersing oneself in a group or an organization to better understand their practices, relationships, and culture | How does a fully digital company create a collaborative workplace? |
| Grounded theory | Collecting and analyzing data simultaneously to develop new, data-driven theories. The data you collect inform your theory, which in turn influences how you collect data. | Why do people choose to purchase certain skincare brands over others? |
| Action research | Collecting and analyzing data while also generating ideas to solve a problem | Can a community garden program reduce loneliness in seniors? |
| Phenomenology | Studying the lived experiences of several people to better understand an event or situation | Why do some people choose to donate organs to strangers? |
| Narrative research | Analyzing how people tell stories to better understand how they perceive their experiences; this type of research often only focuses on one or two people | How do cancer patients recount their treatment experiences? |
Note that there is often a fair amount of overlap between different types of qualitative research. Additionally, one research question can be answered through a variety of approaches. Often your approach will be guided by the theoretical framework you choose for your study.
Qualitative data collection methods
There are many ways to collect qualitative data. When choosing your data collection method, you should consider the population you are studying and the types of questions you’re hoping to answer. Below are some common forms of qualitative data collection:
- Observations: Observational data are collected by watching a group of interest and recording what is seen or heard. Different classifications of observations exist: they can be insider or outsider, disguised or undisguised, short- or long-term, and structured or unstructured.
- Interviews: Interviews are conducted with participants to gain an account of their experiences. Interviews can follow a strict format (structured interviews) or be more flexible (semi-structured or unstructured). Additionally, they might be done face-to-face or conducted via phone or video calling.
- Focus group: While interviews are one-on-one discussions, focus groups involve multiple participants. Interactions within the group can encourage discussion and build deeper insight into a topic.
- Written documents: Written documents used in qualitative research may include diaries, letters, public documents, online content, and even graffiti.
- Photos, audio recordings, and videos: Audio and image data can also support qualitative research. These media may already exist or be collected by the researcher.
Different approaches might even combine different data collection methods. The combination of multiple qualitative methods, which is called triangulation, can help you prevent bias and gain a richer understanding of the thing you’re studying. Consider the following example, which uses multiple types of data to explore a research question.
- Public social media posts made by students
- Transcripts from focus groups where students discuss their experiences
- Journal entries made by students about their experiences
Qualitative research analysis
Qualitative research generally involves large amounts of rich data. Though this volume and richness allows for a deeper understanding of the topic, it also makes qualitative data analysis time consuming. Most approaches include the following steps:
- Prepare the data. Depending on the data format, this may involve typing out written reports or transcribing audio and video recordings.
- Review the data. Reviewing your data before analysis will help you identify any emerging themes and may inform how you choose to organize and code everything.
- Organize the data. Ensuring that your data are all in one place and easy to navigate will make analysis much easier. Data can be grouped in various ways: by collection method, question asked, topic covered, and so on.
- Code the data. Coding involves sorting your data into relevant groups or categories. These categories might be decided before you begin analysis or based on an initial review of the data. Coding may be done manually or with computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS).
- Extract meaning. This stage involves interpreting your data to identify recurring themes related to your research question.
Some popular approaches to analyzing qualitative data are illustrated in the table below.
| Analysis Method | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Content analysis | Describe the frequency of recurring words or ideas in qualitative data |
| Thematic analysis | Identify high-level themes or patterns in qualitative data |
| Discourse analysis | Analyze written or verbal communication to understand how ideas are communicated in different contexts |
The line between qualitative data collection and analysis methods is often blurred. Some sources also list grounded theory and narrative research as qualitative analysis approaches.
Advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research
Like any research approach, qualitative research has advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of qualitative research
Some benefits of qualitative research include the following:
- Flexible: qualitative research design can be iterative, rather than fixed or linear. As you collect and analyze data, you may gain insights and decide to collect more data.
- High validity: qualitative data are collected in naturalistic settings, and the rich data and iterative approach help ensure that a topic is being accurately measured.
- Provides deep insight: qualitative data can be very detailed, allowing you to gain a better understanding of a studied topic.
- Good for underexplored research topics: because qualitative research is more exploratory in nature, it is often appropriate for areas without existing theories.
Disadvantages of qualitative research
There are some common downsides to qualitative research:
- Time-consuming: qualitative data take a long time to collect and analyze, especially when using iterative approaches with several rounds of data collection and analysis.
- Limited reliability: because qualitative research often takes place in uncontrolled environments, it can be difficult to replicate findings.
- Low generalizability: qualitative research generally involves a very specific population and small sample sizes. Results may not apply to a wide range of people.
- Subjective: qualitative analysis relies on the researcher’s interpretation, making results vulnerable to bias.
To mitigate some of the limitations of qualitative research, multiple qualitative methods can be combined (triangulation). Qualitative and quantitative methods can also be combined in a mixed methods design.
Qualitative research examples
Qualitative research can be used across many domains.
Research approach: phenomenological
Data collection methods: interviews, written documents
Analysis method: thematic analysis.
Qualitative research can also be helpful when addressing nuanced emotional experiences.
Research approach: grounded theory
Data collection methods: focus groups
Analysis method: content analysis
Qualitative research can also help develop ideas to solve problems.
Research approach: action research
Data collection methods: written communication, photos, videos
Analysis method: discourse analysis
Frequently asked questions about qualitative research
- What is triangulation in qualitative research?
-
Triangulation involves using a combination of data or techniques to answer a research question. Triangulation can help you confirm the validity of your findings. This can be helpful in qualitative research, which is often subjective and vulnerable to bias.
Types of triangulation include the following:
- Data triangulation: uses data from different sources
- Investigator triangulation: has multiple people analyze data
- Theory triangulation: uses different theoretical frameworks to analyze data
- Methodological triangulation: uses different approaches to study the same phenomenon
- What is grounded theory?
-
Grounded theory is a systematic approach that can be applied in qualitative research. Its goal is to create new theories that are grounded in data.
With a grounded theory approach, data collection and analysis occur at the same time (this is called theoretical sampling). This approach can be helpful when you are conducting research in a new area and do not have a hypothesis related to study outcomes.
- How do I analyze qualitative data?
-
Qualitative data are generally narrative in nature. They may include interview transcripts or experimenter observations. Different approaches exist to analyze qualitative data, but common steps are as follows:
- Organize the data
- Code the data, sorting it into relevant categories
- Extract and interpret key ideas
Common qualitative data analysis techniques include content analysis, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis.
- What is member checking in qualitative research?
-
Member checking is when participants are allowed to review their data or results to confirm accuracy. This process can happen during or after data collection.
In qualitative research, data are often collected through interviews or observations. Allowing a participant to review their data can help build trust and ensure that their thoughts and experiences are being accurately expressed.
- What are the types of qualitative research?
-
There are many types of qualitative research. The following are five common approaches:
- Ethnography: the researcher immerses themself in a group to understand its culture
- Grounded theory: data are collected to create new theories that may guide additional data collection
- Phenomenology: the experiences of individuals are used to study a phenomenon
- Narrative research: the way stories are told is studied to understand human experiences
- Action research: a problem is studied and solutions are generated simultaneously
Choosing the right approach depends on the research question you are studying.
