The Nature of Qualitative Research

Qualitative researchers are similar to quantitative researchers in the sense that they follow the steps of the scientific method with an effort to understand, describe, and predict human behavior.

While much of TV research is quantitative, a lot is qualitative, too. Below is some information to help differentiate the two types:

The Nature of Qualitative Research

All research, whether quantitative or qualitative, must involve an explicit, disciplined, systematic approach to finding things out, using the method most appropriate to the question being asked. Consideration should be given to these common goals, although the differences between qualitative and quantitative research have often been exaggerated in the past.  The table below summarizes some of the ways in which qualitative and quantitative research do differ:

Table 1

Qualitative research	Quantitative research
tends to focus on how people or groups of people can have (somewhat) different ways of looking at reality (usually social or psychological reality)	tends to focus on ways of describing and understanding reality by the discovery of general “laws”
takes account of complexity by incorporating the  real-world context – can take different perspectives on board	takes account of complexity by precise definition of the focus of interest and techniques that mean that external “noise” can be discounted
studies behavior in natural settings or uses people’s accounts as data; usually no manipulation of variables	involves manipulation of some variables (independent variables) while other variables (which would be considered to be extraneous and confounding variables) are held constant
focuses on reports of experience or on data which cannot be adequately expressed numerically	uses statistical techniques that allow us to talk about how likely it is that something is “true” for a given population in an objective or measurable sense
focuses on description and interpretation and might lead to development of new concepts or theory, or to an evaluation of an organizational process	focuses on cause & effect - e.g. uses experiment to test (try to disprove) an hypothesis
employs a flexible, emergent but systematic research process	requires the research process to be defined in advance

Qualitative research is concerned with developing explanations of social phenomena.  That is to say, it aims to help us to understand the social world in which we live and why things are the way they are.  It is concerned with the social aspects of our world and seeks to answer questions about:

·    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 and practices have developed in the way they have

In a health or social care setting, qualitative research is particularly useful where the research question involves one of the situations below and people’s experiences and views are sought:

·   exploration or identification of concepts or views

·   exploration of “implementability”               

·   the real-life context

·   sensitive topics where flexibility is needed to avoid causing distress

In the past the distinguishing features of qualitative and quantitative research have been used as criticisms by proponents of the “other” methodology. For example, one common criticism leveled at qualitative research has been that the results of a study may not be generalizable to a larger population because the sample group was small and the participants were not chosen randomly.

However if the original research question sought insight into a specific subgroup of the population, not the general population, because the subgroup is “special” or different from the general population and that specialness is the focus of the research, the small sample may have been appropriate.

This would be the case with some ethnic groups or some patient groups suffering from rare conditions, or patient or health care groups in particular circumstances. In such studies, generalizability of the findings to a wider, more diverse population is not an aim.

Another example is the label of reductionism, based on the requirement of the experimental method to eliminate all but one measurable variable, which is used to imply criticism of quantitative methodology. The rigor involved in a well designed and executed experiment is a strength of quantitative research just as an alternative approach which engages with context is a strength of qualitative methodology.

Copyright The National Institute for Health Research