Qualitative Research
What is qualitative research?
Qualitative research refers to investigation methods that use non-numerical data to tell the stories behind the numbers. For example, a researcher might know from a survey that 60% of patients return for follow-up care, but using qualitative methods like focus groups allows the researcher to examine why patients returned, and perhaps why they did not.
The aim of qualitative research is to gather an in-depth understanding of behavior and the reasons or rationale that govern this behavior. Qualitative methods investigate the why and the how of decision making, not just the what, the where, or the when. Typically, smaller, focused samples are used in qualitative research, rather than the large samples seen in quantitative research.
How are qualitative data collected?
Qualitative data can be collected in several ways. Typical methods include in-depth or semi-structured interviews, focus groups, or observational techniques.
- In-depth interviewing involves conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of people to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program, or situation. For example, one could ask clients or staff who attended a program about their experiences and expectations related to the program or their thoughts about program operations, processes, and outcomes.
- The focus group is a form of group interview and can be used to guide, focus, and inform planning and implementation of program activities. Most groups contain six to eight people, are audio-recorded, have a flexible question guide, are led by an experienced moderator, and are held in a location that is convenient to participants. Focus groups can be especially useful for pilot-testing intervention strategies, building organizational capacity, or generating best practices among key stakeholders.
- Observational techniques are typically an immersive experience where the evaluator observes and documents key program activities (e.g., staff trainings or meetings) either as an outsider or as a pretend participant. This method is useful to assess the physical layout, visual atmosphere, and overall feel of a program site.
How are qualitative data analyzed?
Typically qualitative data are analyzed in three phases: organize, reduce, and describe.
- Organize refers to activities such as creating transcripts and reading the data.
- Reduce refers to identifying themes to classify the data or exploring relationships between the classifications of data.
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Describe refers to activities such as writing a final report filled with rich descriptions in the words of the participants.