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Qualitative research is a field of inquiry that crosscuts disciplines and subject matters ^[1]. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern human behavior. Qualitative research relies on reasons behind various aspects of behavior. Simply put, it investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, and when. Hence, the need is for smaller but focused samples rather than large random samples, which qualitative research categorizes data into patterns as the primary basis for organizing and reporting results.^{citation needed} Qualitative researchers typically rely on four methods for gathering information: (1) participation in the setting, (2) direct observation, (3) in depth interviews, and (4) analysis of documents and materials ^[2]. Some distinctive methods are the use of focus groups and key informant interviews.

The term qualitative research is most often used in the social sciences in contrast to quantitative research. It differs from quantitative research in many ways. First, sampling is typically not random but is purposive. That is, cases are chosen based on the way that they typify or do not typify certain characteristics or participate in a certain class. Secondly, the role of the researcher is key. Researchers must reflect on their role in the research process and make this clear in the analysis. Thirdly, data analysis differs considerably. Researchers must carefully code data and discern themes in a consistent and reliable way.

Qualitative research was one of the first forms of social studies (conducted e.g. by Bronisław Malinowski or Elton Mayo), but in the 1950s and 1960s - as quantitative science reached its peak of popularity - it was diminished in importance and began to regain recognition only in the 1970s. The phrase 'qualitative research' was until then restricted as a discipline of anthropology or sociology, and terms like ethnography, fieldwork, participant observation and Chicago school (sociology) were used instead. During the 1970s and 1980s qualitative research began to be used in other disciplines, and became a significant type of research in the fields of education studies, social work studies, women's studies, disability studies, information studies, management studies, nursing service studies, human service studies, psychology, communication studies, and other. Some qualitative research occurred in the consumer products industry during this period: researchers most interested in investigating consumer new product and product positioning opportunities worked with a handful of the earliest consumer research pioneers including Gene Reilly of The Gene Reilly Group in Darien, CT, Jerry Schoenfeld of Gerald Schoenfeld & Partners in Tarrytown, NY and Martin Calle of Calle & Company, Greenwich, CT. In the late 1980s and 1990s after a spate of criticisms from the quantitative side, paralleling a slowdown in traditional media spending for the decade, new methods of qualitative research evolved, to address the perceived problems with reliability and imprecise modes of data analysis.^[3]

One way of differentiating qualitative research from quantitative research is that largely qualitative research is exploratory (i.e., hypothesis-generating), while quantitative research is more focused and aims to test hypotheses. However it may be argued that each reflects a particular discourse; neither being definitively more conclusive or 'true' than the other. In addition, qualitative research speaks to content validity -- do measures measure what a researcher thinks they measure? Quantitative data are of the kind that may lead to measurement or other kinds of analysis involving applied mathematics, while qualitative data cannot always be put into a context that can be graphed or displayed as a mathematical term. However, qualitative data may be useful to explain puzzling quantitative results, or may be used to generate additional variables to include in an analysis.

Qualitative research is also highly useful in policy and evaluation research, where understanding why and how certain outcomes were achieved is as important as establishing what those outcomes were. Qualitative research can yield useful insights about program implementation -- were expectations reasonable? Did processes operate as expected? Were key players able to carry out their duties?

A specialized form of qualitative research is cognitive testing, used to develop survey items. Survey items are piloted on study participants to see what reactions they elicit. Another specialized method is focus groups, often used in market research but also in other contexts where a range of responses from a target group is useful (eg, a group of nurses might give their reactions to new work requirements).

In the last thirty years the acceptance of qualitative research by journal publishers and editors has been growing. Prior to that time many mainstream journals were prone to publish research articles based upon the natural sciences and which featured quantitative analysis ^[4].

Data Collection

Qualitative researchers may use different approaches in collecting data, such as the grounded theory practice, narratology, storytelling, classical ethnography, or shadowing. Qualitative methods are also loosely present in other methodological approaches, such as action research or actor-network theory. Forms of the data collected include text, pictures, etc

Data Analysis

The most common analysis of qualitative data is observer impression. That is, expert or layman observers examine the data, form an impression, and report their impression in a structured, many times, quantitative form. These impressions can be the final conclusion of the analysis, or some quantitative characteristics of the data to be further analyzed using some quantitative methods. An example of quantitative characteristics is word frequencies in textual data.

Contemporary qualitative studies are sometimes supported by computer programs, such as SPSS and NVivo. The benefits of these types of programs are mostly limited to storing and segregating data, rather than in processing or analyzing them.

Academic Research

By the end of the 1970’s many leading journals began to publish qualitative research articles ^[5] and several new journals emerged which published only qualitative research studies and articles about qualitative research methods ^[6].

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the new qualitative research journals became more multidisciplinary in focus moving beyond qualitative research’s traditional disciplinary roots of anthropology, sociology, and philosophy ^[7].

The new millennium saw a dramatic increase in the number of journals specializing in qualitative research publications with at least one new qualitative research journal being launched each year.

See also

Notes

References

• Adler, P. A. & Adler, P. (1987). Membership roles in field research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• Becker, Howard S., The epistemology of qualitative research. University of Chicago Press, 1996. 53-71. [from Ethnography and human development : context and meaning in social inquiry / edited by Richard Jessor, Anne Colby, and Richard A. Shweder]
• Boas, Franz (1943). Recent anthropology. Science, 98, 311-314, 334-337.
• Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2000). Handbook of qualitative research ( 2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• DeWalt, K. M. & DeWalt, B. R. (2002). Participant observation. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
• Fischer, C.T. (Ed.) (2005). Qualitative research methods for psychologists: Introduction through empirical studies. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-088470-4.
• Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). "Five Misunderstandings About Case Study Research." Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, April 2006, pp. 219-245.
• Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Holliday, A. R. (2007). Doing and Writing Qualitative Research, 2nd Edition. London: Sage Publications
• Kaminski, Marek M. 2004. Games Prisoners Play. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11721-7.
• Malinowski, B. (1922/1961). Argonauts of the Western Pacific. New York: E. P. Dutton.
• Pamela Maykut, Richard Morehouse. 1994 Beginning Qualitative Research. Falmer Press.
• Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods ( 3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Pawluch D. & Shaffir W. & Miall C. (2005). Doing Ethnography: Studying Everyday Life. Toronto, ON Canada: Canadian Scholars' Press.
• Charles C. Ragin, Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method, Pine Forge Press, 1994, ISBN 0-8039-9021-9
• Steven J. Taylor, Robert Bogdan, Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods, Wiley, 1998, ISBN 0-471-16868-8
• Van Maanen, J. (1988) Tales of the field: on writing ethnography, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Wolcott, H. F. (1995). The art of fieldwork. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
• Wolcott, H. F. (1999). Ethnography: A way of seeing. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
• Ziman, John (2000). Real Science: what it is, and what it means. Cambridge, Uk: Cambridge University Press.

External links

• C.Wright Mills, On intellectual Craftsmanship, The Sociological Imagination,1959