An Introduction to

Qualitative
Research

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  Introduction
 Differences
between qualitative
and quantitative research
Outline
 Studydesign in qualitative
research
 Method of data collection
 Handling qualitative data
 Analyzing qualitative data
 Presentingthe results of
qualitative research
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  Scientistmore comfortable
with quantitative research
Introduction
 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?
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  Qualitative 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
 Help us to understand the world in
which we live and why things are
the way they are
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 Qualitativeresearch 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 groups
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 Quantitative vs. Qualitative N
o
Qualitative research Quantitative research

1 Subjective – concern with objective

opinion, 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 Representative sample
collection, interview,
observation
8 Results – generalizability is Usually generalizability is an
not an aim important aim 6

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IMPORTANCE OF QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
 More reliable and objective
 Can use statistics to generalize a finding
 Often reduces and restructures a
complex problem to a limited number of
variables
 Looks at relationships between variables
and can establish cause and effect in
highly controlled circumstances
 Tests theories or hypotheses
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  Assumes sample is
representative of the
population
 Subjectivity of researcher in
methodology is recognized less
 Less detailed than qualitative
data and may miss a desired
response from the participant

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 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
DESIGNS
 Four major types of qualitative
research design include:
Phenomenology
Ethnography
Grounded theory
Case study

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PHENOMENOLOGY
 Study of a phenomena – describing
something that exist as part of the world
 Phenomena might be:
 An event, a situation, an experience or a
concept
 e.g. back pain
 It begins with the acknowledgment that
there is a gap in our understanding
 It may not necessarily provide definitive
explanations but it does raise awareness
and increase insight 10

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 ETHNOGRAPHY
 The term means “portrait of people”
 It is a methodology for descriptive studies
of cultures and peoples
 e.g. cultural parameter is suspected of
affecting the population’s response to care or
treatment
 It requires extensive fieldwork by the
researchers
 Data collection includes formal and
informal interview on several occasion
and observation
 It is extremely time consuming 11

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 ETHNOGRAPHY
 Data analysis – “emic” approach:
researcher interpret data from the
prospective of the population under
study
 Results are expressed as they are
expressed by the subjects themselves
 These studies might be problematic
when researchers are not familiar with
social norms and language
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GROUNDED THEORY
 Main feature: development of a new
theory through the collection and analysis
of data about a phenomenon
 It goes beyond phenomenology as the
explanation are genuinely new knowledge
and are used to develop theories
 Various data collection techniques are
used
 Literature review, documentary analysis,
interviews , observation

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 GROUNDED THEORY
Key feature: constant
comparative analysis –
simultaneous collection
and analysis of data

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 CASE STUDY
 Case studies might be qualitative or
quantitative
 In-depth analysis of a single or small number
of unites
 It is used to describe an entity that forms a
single unit such as a person, an organization
or an institution
 Complexity: illustration of an event VS.
analysis of social situation over time
 As a research design, it offers rich and in-
depth information which is not usually
offered by other methods
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CASE STUDY
 It is highly versatile method and employs any
or all methods of data collection
 It can be used for different purposes e.g.
development of new services, organizational
changes in planning, purchasing or delivery of
health services, evaluation of a program
 A critic - case may not be representative of
similar cases (findings are not generalizable)
 Can we apply findings elsewhere?

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 METHODS OF COLLECTING
QUALITATIVE DATA
 Direct interaction with individuals
 One to one interaction
 Or interaction with a group
 Interviews
 Focus Group Discussion
 Observation
 Data collection is time consuming
 Benefits of these methods include
richness of data and deeper insight into
phenomena under study 17

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 INTERVIEWS
 Structured interviews
 Same questions in same away
 Limited range of responses (e.g.
questionnaires)
 Semi structured interviews or
focused interviews
 Series of open ended questions
 Provide opportunities to both
researchers and respondents to discuss
certain topics in more details 18

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  Unstructured interviews or in-depth
interviews
 Discussing limited number of topics
 Phrase questions in the interviewee’s previous
response
 Qualitative interviews are semi structure or
unstructured
 Qualitative interviews should be fairly
informal
 Require careful consideration and preparation

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 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
 Collect information from
groups of people rather than a
series of individuals
 FGD can be used when
Resources are limited
To identify a number of
individuals who share a common
factor 20

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 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
It is desirable to collect the
views of several people
within the population sub
group
Group interaction among
participants has the
potential for greater insights
to be developed
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Characteristics of a focus
group
Group size: usually 6-10 people
Several FGD should be run in
any research, it would be wrong
to rely on the views of just one
group
Members of each group should
have something in common
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Characteristics of a focus group
May use pre formed groups e.g.
pressure groups
Data collection and analysis is time
consuming
Requires certain skills
Facilitation, moderating, listening,
observing and analyzing
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 Observation
 Might be the only method to collect
information in certain conditions
 Observation of people VS.
observation of environment
 Observation can also serve for
verifying or nullifying information
collected through other methods

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 Techniques for collecting
data
Written descriptions
Researcher may miss to record
May focus on one thing and
miss equally or even more
important things

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 Techniques for collecting
data
Video recording
No need to take notes
Review time after time
Recording my affect the behavior
of the people under observation
Fixed camera may limits the
range of possible observation
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  Photographs
 Good way of collecting observable data
of phenomena which can be captured
in a single shots or series of shots
 Photographsof buildings,
neighborhoods, dress and appearance
 Documentation
 Wide range of written materials
 Policydocument, annual reports,
minutes of meeting, codes of conduct,
notice boards etc.
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HANDLING QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH DATA
Recording VS. note taking
Transcribing qualitative data
Procedure for producing written
version of interview
Time consuming , estimated ratio
of time required is 5:1
Produce a lot of written text
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HANDLING QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH DATA
Transcribe may not be
essential for each
interview
Tape analysis: taking notes from
play back of tape recorded
interviews
Who should do transcribing?
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Consideration should be
given to tone and inflection
By listening and noting the
intensity and feeling in the
interviewee’s voice it is
possible to detect:
Positive/negative continuum
Certainty/uncertainty
 Enthusiasm/reluctance
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 Constant comparative analysis:
data collection and data analysis
occur on ongoing basis
Each interview is analyzed before
other interview take place
Finding of first interview is
incorporated in the following one
Later interviews might be
completely different from the
initial ones 31

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 ANALYZING
QUALITATIVE DATA
 Involves summarizing data and presenting the
results in a way that communicate the most
important features
 As quantitative research we are interested to
discover the big picture in qualitative
research as well, but by using different
technics
 We start labeling or coding every item of
information to recognize differences and
similarities between all different items 32

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  No system for pre-coding
 Needs a method of identifying and coding
items of data which appear in the text of
transcript
 All the items of data from one interview
should be compared with other interviews
 Same procedures are used for qualitative
data collected through interviews, FGDs,
observation and documentary analysis –
since all are concerned with analyzing text

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 Content analysis
Procedure for categorization of
verbal or behavioral data
It involves coding and classifying data
Analysis done at two levels:
Basic or manifest level: descriptive –
what was actually said
Higher or interpretative level: what was
meant by response – also called latent
level of analysis
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 Content analysis involves the
following steps:
1. Read the transcript and make brief note
of interesting or relevant information
2. Make a list of the different type of
information from the notes
3. Categorization of the listed items
4. Identify the categories that are some
how linked to each other (major
categories or themes)
5. Compare and contrast various categories
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Content analysis involves the
following steps:
6. Repeat the process from stage
1-5 on next transcripts
- Identify new categories of
information
- Accommodate data in the existing
categories
- Color code different categories and
review 36

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 Content analysis involves the
following steps:
7. Review different categories and
move items if required from one
category to another
8. Review and check if two or more
categories can fit together
9. Check the initial notes, consider if
any previously excluded data is
relevant and should be included in
results
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Presenting the results of
Qualitative Research
 Look at themes and categories and
structure the results accordingly
 The structure can be set out at the
beginning as a list or diagram
 Themes are the main findings of the study
 To support findings, evidence are
presented at direct quotations from
respondents
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 A range of quotations should be selected
 Strength of opinion or belief
 Similarities between respondents
 Differences between respondents
 Link between different categories
 Conclusion
 Some qualitative data can be dealt with
in quantitative way
 Using qualitative and quantitative
techniques for analysis of data can
strengthen analysis 39

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 Themes Major categories Minor categories
Safe sex
Sexual health Pregnancy

Health issues for Sexual behavior

young people Smoking
Drugs Alcohol
Illicit drugs
Services available
Lack of knowledge Understanding
Perceptions
Barriers to accessing
services Own beliefs
Peer pressure
Attitudes
Expectation of staff

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