Introduction to

Qualitative
Research
MPH 615
Definition
❖Qualitative Research is collecting, analyzing, and interpreting
data by observing what people do and say. Qualitative
research refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions,
characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and descriptions of things
❖Qualitative research is subjective and uses very different
methods of collecting information, including individual, indepth
interviews and focus groups. The nature of this type of
research is exploratory and open-ended
oQualitative research can provide insight which is not possible to
elucidate with purely quantitative data
➢A means for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or
groups ascribe to social or human problems
➢Study human behavior and social world
oHelp us to understand the world in which we live and why things
are the way they are
❑Scientist more comfortable with quantitative research
❑Quantitative methods deal with the collection and processing
numerical data
❑Answer questions
How often?
To what extent?
How much?
How many …
but cannot answer questions on – Why? how? In what way?
Qualitative research answer questions on:
➢Why people behave the way they do
➢How opinions and attitudes are formed
➢How people are affected by the events that go on around them
➢How and why cultures have developed
➢The difference between social
Strengths
❑Good for examining feelings and motivations
❑Allows for complexity and depth of issues
❑Provides insights into the real-life situations
❑Problems of refusal, not at home, false response, non-
cooperation etc. are close to zero
❑Hardly any recall error
❑People behave more naturally
Weaknesses
❑Can’t extrapolate to the whole population
❑Volume of data
❑Complexity of analysis
❑Time-consuming nature of the clerical efforts required in this
method of research
Qualitative vs. Quantitative
No Qualitative Quantitative
1 Subjective- concern with opinion Objective
experiences and feelings of individuals

2 Holistic Reductionist-identify a set of variables

3 Phenomenological Scientific
4 Descriptive Experimental
5 Naturalistic Contrived
6 Inductive-generate theories Deductive-test proposed theories
7 Small sample- direct data collection Representative sample
interview, observation

8 Results-generalizability is not an aim Usually generalizability is an important

aim
Types of Qualitative Research
I. Basic Interpretive Qualitative Study
II. Phenomenological Study
III. Grounded Theory Study
IV. Case Studies
V. Ethnographic Study
VI. Narrative Analysis
VII. Critical Qualitative Research
VIII.Postmodern Research