Qualitative Method

Concept

Qualitative research aims at understanding meanings, experiences and processes in their natural setting rather than measuring and counting. The researcher is the main instrument, the design is flexible and emergent, reasoning is inductive, and data are words, images and observations gathered through interviews, observation and documents. It produces thick description, a term that Clifford Geertz borrowed from Gilbert Ryle for rich, contextual accounts of the meaning of behaviour. Samples are small and purposive, so results are not statistically generalisable; instead Lincoln and Guba speak of transferability to similar contexts.

Concept

Qualitative sampling is purposive: participants are chosen because they can give rich information. Forms include criterion sampling, maximum-variation sampling, typical-case and extreme or deviant-case sampling, snowball sampling and theoretical sampling in grounded theory, where the next participants are chosen according to the emerging theory. There is no fixed sample size; sampling continues until data saturation, when additional interviews yield no new themes or properties. In grounded theory the equivalent is theoretical saturation. Key informants and gatekeepers help access.

Concept

The in-depth interview, unstructured or semi-structured, explores a participant’s perspective through open questions and probing. A focus group brings together a small group, commonly six to ten people, under a moderator to discuss a topic; the group interaction produces data that individual interviews cannot, and the technique grew from Robert Merton’s focused interview. Field notes record what is observed, with descriptive notes (what happened) kept separate from reflective notes (the researcher’s thoughts); interviews are usually audio-recorded and transcribed. Rapport, probing and a reflexive journal improve quality.

Concept

Analysis begins during data collection and moves from raw text to themes. In thematic analysis, Braun and Clarke (2006) describe six phases: familiarisation with data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and writing up. In grounded theory, coding proceeds from open coding (breaking data into labelled parts) to axial coding (relating categories) to selective coding (integrating around a core category), using the constant comparative method and memo writing. Other forms are content, narrative and discourse analysis. Software such as NVivo, ATLAS.ti and MAXQDA (CAQDAS) helps organise data but does not do the interpretation.

Concept

Lincoln and Guba (1985) replaced the quantitative criteria with four parallel ones. Credibility parallels internal validity, transferability parallels external validity, dependability parallels reliability and confirmability parallels objectivity. Credibility is strengthened by prolonged engagement, persistent observation, triangulation, peer debriefing, negative-case analysis and member checking (asking participants to verify the interpretation). Dependability and confirmability rest on an audit trail, a documented record of decisions. Reflexivity means the researcher critically examines their own influence on the study, and thick description supports transferability.

Concept

Ethnography studies a culture through prolonged participation (Malinowski, Geertz). Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss and Corbin; Charmaz’s constructivist version) generates theory from data. Phenomenology (Husserl) describes lived experience and uses bracketing (epoché) to set aside presuppositions. Narrative inquiry studies stories, and case study gives an in-depth account of a bounded case. The emic–etic distinction (Kenneth Pike) separates the insider’s categories from the outsider’s analytic categories.