A qualitative study is one that aims for an in-depth understanding of human behavior and reasons governing such behavior, as opposed to quantitative sudies, which are more concerned with measurement of empirical evidence, statistics and numbers. The qualitative method examines the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused samples are more often needed, rather than large random samples. They are applicable to many disciplines and subject areas, but first appeared in the fields of sociology and anthropology.
Qualitative researchers use different approaches in collecting data, including 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 can include interviews and group discussions, observation and reflection field notes, various texts, pictures, and other materials.
In the academic social sciences the most frequently used qualitative research approaches include:
- Ehtnographic Research
, used for investigating cultures by collecting and describing data that is intended to help in the development of a theory. This method is also called “ethnomethodology” or “methodology of the people”. An example of applied ethnographic research, is the study of a particular culture and their understanding of the role of a particular disease in their cultural framework.
- Foundational Research, examines the foundations for a science, analyses the beliefs and develops ways to specify how a knowledge base should change in light of new information.
- Grounded Theory, is an inductive type of research, based or “grounded” in the observations or data from which it was developed; it uses a variety of data sources, including quantitative data, review of records, interviews, observation and surveys.
- Historical Research, allows one to discuss past and present events in the context of the present condition, and allows one to reflect and provide possible answers to current issues and problems. Historical research helps us in answering questions such as: Where have we come from, where are we, who are we now and where are we going?
- Phenomenological Research, describes the “subjective reality” of an event, as perceived by the study population; it is the study of a phenomenon.
One of the central issues in qualitative research is validity (also known as credibility and/or dependability). There are many different ways of establishing validity, including: member check, interviewer corroboration, peer debriefing, prolonged engagement, negative case analysis, auditability, confirmability, bracketing, and balance. Most of these methods were coined, or at least extensively described by Lincoln and Guba.
Case Studies
One type of qualitative study is the case study. Rather than using samples and following a rigid protocol to examine limited number of variables, case study methods involve an in-depth, longitudinal examination of a single instance or event: a case. They provide a systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results. As a result the researcher may gain a sharpened understanding of why the instance happened as it did, and what might become important to look at more extensively in future research.
For example, when the Harvard Business School was started, the faculty quickly realized that there were no textbooks suitable to a graduate program in business. Their first solution to this problem was to interview leading practitioners of business and to write detailed accounts of what these managers were doing. Of course the professors could not present these cases as practices to be emulated because there were no criteria available for determining what would succeed and what would not succeed. So the professors instructed their students to read the cases and to come to class prepared to discuss the cases and to offer recommendations for appropriate courses of action.
Business case studies recount real life business situations that present to business executives a dilemma. The case puts the scenario into the context of the factors that influence it. Cases are generally written by business school faculty with particular learning objectives in mind and are refined in the classroom before publication. Additional relevant documentation (such as financial statements, time-lines, and short biographies, often referred to in the case as “exhibits”), multimedia supplements (such as video-recordings of interviews with the case protagonist), and a carefully crafted teaching note often accompany cases.
Further Reading:
Social Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches
Learning From Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies
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