The document provides an overview of qualitative research methods. It discusses that qualitative research is exploratory in nature and aims to gain insights and understand underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. Some common qualitative methods mentioned include interviews, focus group discussions, ethnography, case studies, observation, and key informant interviews. The document outlines the process and considerations for conducting interviews, focus groups, ethnography, and case studies. It also discusses sampling techniques in qualitative research like purposive sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling. Content analysis, narrative analysis, and recursive analysis are mentioned as approaches for analyzing qualitative data. The document compares qualitative and quantitative research and emphasizes that qualitative research generates descriptive data to understand processes rather than outcomes.

1. Dr.A.P. Kulkarni
Professor
Community Medicine
Rural Medical College, LONI
Pune
QualitativeResearch Methods

2. “Not everything that counts can be counted, and
not everything that can be counted counts”
--- Albert Einstein
Quantitative methods cannot answer all questions

3. Indications
Primarily exploratory research: Provides
insights into the problem or helps to develop
ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative
research.
To gain an understanding of underlying reasons,
opinions, and motivations -> Behavior
To uncover trends in thought and opinions, and
dive deeper into the problem.

4. Situationswherequalitativemethods
required
Understanding behavior
- People not utilizing health services
- Irregularity observed in patient compliance
Understanding attitude
- People oppose some service
What is people’s perception about health
services provided
- Health center completes one year

5. Why qualitativeresearch?
Qualitative questions:
How
Why
What
When
May not answer HOW MANY
Focus on PROCESS rather than
OUTCOME

6. Misconceptions
Free form of research technique
Generates non-numerical data
Way to study people or systems by
interacting with and observing the
participants regularly

7. Common methods
Methods
Interview
Observation
Study of records
Approaches
Direct interaction
with individuals on a
one to one basis
Direct interaction
with individuals in a
group setting

8. Common methods
Individual interviews
Focus group discussion / interview (FGD)
Key Informant Interview
 Ethnography
Case Study
Observation

9. Interview in Qualitativestudy
Attempt to keep environment informal
Participants co-operation important:
Depends on trust built by investigator
Participant feels involved in project

10. Interview: Un-structured
Can be referred to as 'in depth' interviews
Very little structure/ plan at all
Framing the interview questions based on the
interviewee and his/her previous response
Allows the discussion to cover areas in great
detail
No preconceived plan
Response recorded in respondent’s words

11. Interview: Semi-structured
Called focused interviews
A series of open ended questions based on the
topic areas the researcher wants to cover
Questions may have some prompts to help the
interviewee
'The open ended provides opportunities for
both interviewer and interviewee to discuss
some topics in more detail
……….. Continued

12. Interview: Semi-structured
Allow the researcher to prompt or encourage
the interviewee if they are looking for more
information or find what they are saying
interesting
Freedom to probe the interviewee to elaborate
or to follow a new line of inquiry introduced by
what the interviewee is saying
Work best when the interviewed has a number
of areas he/she wants to be sure to be addressing

13. Interview: Structured
Tightly structured schedule
Same questions in the same way
Limited range / options:Very good, good
or poor‘
Rarely used in qualitative research

14. Focused Group Discussion: What isit?
A carefully planned discussion
To obtain perceptions of a defined
interest area
In a permissive, non-threatening
environment
Group consists of small number (7-10)
Share common characteristics relating
to discussion topic

15. Focused Group Discussion
Indications
Limited resources (time, manpower, finances)
The phenomena being researched requires a
collective discussion
Greater insights may be developed of the group
dynamic - or cause and consequence

16. FGD purposes
Helps in quick initial data gathering in first go
Helps supplement information in situations
when quantitative data is inadequate to explain
the phenomenon/process

17. FGD: When?
Before a program begins, during a program
or after a program ends
Focus groups are effective when
o People have something to share (motivations)
o The goal is to understand human behavior
Focus groups are not effective when
o People are divided or angry
o The goal is to gather factual information
o Organization is trying to improve its image

18. FGD: Participants
Participants share some characteristic
General selection rules:
Set exact specification
Maintain control of the selection process
Use the resources of the sponsoring
organization in recruiting
Beware of bias
Develop a pool of eligible participants and
then randomly select
INCENTIVES

19. Focused Group Discussion
Characteristics of a focus group:
Size of the group is 7 - 10 people
Several focus groups if more than one objective,
adds to breadth
Members have something in common which is
important to the investigation
Co-ordinator / Reporter

20. Focused Group Discussion
Skills of Coordinator/ Moderator
Facilitator
Moderator
Listener
Observer
Analyzer

21. FGD: Moderator
 Is mentally prepared
 Selects appropriate
location
 Records the
discussion
 Uses purposeful
small talk
 Has a smooth &
snappy introduction
 Uses pauses and
probes
 Uses subtle group
control methods
 Controls reactions
 Uses an assistant
moderator

22. FGD Process
1. Set meeting
times for
interviews
2. Contact
potential
participants
fairly in
advance
3. Give an idea
about purpose
 The first few moments in focus
group discussion are critical.
 Create a thoughtful,
permissive atmosphere
 Provide the ground rules
 Set the tone
 Recommended introduction
pattern:
 Welcome
 Overview and topic
 Ground rules
 First question

23. FGD- Process
Use open-ended questions
Avoid dichotomous questions
"Why?" is rarely asked
Use "think back" questions
Carefully prepare focus questions
Ask un-cued questions first, cued
questions second
Consider standardized questions

24. FGD-Process
 Summary question
"Is this an adequate summary?"
 All things considered question
Ask participants to reflect on the entire
discussion and then offer their
positions or opinions
 Final question
"Have we missed anything”?

25. Key Informant Interview
Special type of interview of a person well versed
with the situation and is a local influencer
Better understanding of problem
Not complete method, need to be coupled with
other methods

26. Ethnography
Ethno – refers to human culture
Graphy – means description of
A research process used in the scientific study of
human interactions in social settings
Used extensively in anthropology
Popular in educational research over the past
few years

27. Ethnography: Indications
To define a problem when the problem itself is
not clear
To define a problem that is complex and
embedded in multiple systems or sectors
To clarify the range of settings where the
problem or situation occurs at times when the
settings are not fully identified, known, or
understood

28. Ethnography
Hypotheses and questions – begin as a broad
statement about the purpose of the research,
then are allowed to emerge more specifically as
data are amassed.
Data - verbal descriptions of people,
interactions, settings, objects and phenomena
within the context being studies
Data Sources – the people, settings, and
relevant objects being observed

29. Ethnography- Process
A question or concern is identified for study
A group to study is identified
Typically small
Typically purposively selected
Permission to study the group is obtained
The researcher observes the group
Privileged observer – just observes
Participant observer – functions as part of the group
(has to spend some time in group)

30. Ethnography- Process
Researcher watches and listens attentively and
records as much detail as possible (this is called
naturalistic observation). Large amounts of notes
are typically generated.
Last a week or two or could be years
The researcher analyzes the notes, identifies
themes, looks for answers to research questions,
and makes logical inferences

31. Casestudy
In depth analysis of a single or small number of
units
Unit: Single person / Single organization/ Single
event
Illustrative description of a single event or
occurrence
Explanation of complex circumstances in which a
single event occurred
Capturing multiple variables

32. Casestudies
Valuable when broad, complex questions have to be
answered in complex circumstances
When the question being posed required an
investigation of a real life intervention in detail
Where the focus is on how and why intervention
succeeds or fails
Where the general context will influence the outcome
Where researchers do not have control over events
In situations where number of relevant possibilities can exist and
experimental approaches can not provide answer

33. Ethnography
Data Collection – done by the researcher
through observation, sometimes combined with
interview
Data treatment and analysis – presentation
of verbal descriptions and/or logical analysis of
information to discover salient patterns and
themes

34. Observation
Observation of phenomenon
In natural setting
Researcher takes notes
Analyses notes at leisure

35. Observation: Tools
Written description / notes
Audio /Video recording
Photographs

36. Observations
Limitations
Behavior changes
while being observed
Missing something
while watching and
taking notes
Snap –shot picture
Strengths
On the spot report
Insight into the
bigger picture
Can be used to assist
in the design of the
rest of the research

37. Roleof Investigator
Researcher is observer only
Researcher is observer & participant

38. Sampling in QualitativeStudies
Purposive sampling
Selection according to pre -determined criteria
relevant to study
Sample size may or may not be fixed
Size depends on theoretical saturation (a point
when no additional new information is
emerging)
Most useful when data collection and analysis
are done concurrently.

39. Sampling in QualitativeStudies
Quota sampling
Number of participants with each pre- decided
characteristics is fixed e.g. males, profession,
marital status, etc
Allows focusing on people with pre decided
characteristics
Quota sampling is more specific with respect to
sizes and proportions of sub samples.Then
recruitment is done.

40. Sampling in QualitativeStudies
Snowball sampling
Also known as chain referral sampling
Initial participants refer the more eligible
participants to investigator
Used to find and recruit “hidden populations,”
that is, groups not easily accessible to researchers
like drug abusers.

41. AnalysisMethods: QualitativeStudies
Content analysis
Narrative analysis
Recursive analysis

42. Content analysis
A research tool used to determine the presence
of certain words or concepts within texts or sets
of texts.
Researchers quantify and analyze the presence,
meanings and relationships of such words and
concepts,
Then make inferences about the messages within
the texts, the writer(s), the audience, and even
the culture and time of which these are a part.

43. Content analysis
Coding of text
Manageable categories
Identification of themes

44. Narrativeanalysis
 Analysis of a chronologically told story/ stories
 Focus on how elements are sequenced,
Why some elements are evaluated differently
How the past shapes perceptions of the present,
How the present shapes perceptions of the past,
And how both shape perceptions of the future.
1
2
5
36
4
7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

45. Recursiveanalysis
In cases where data sets are analyzed without coding,
datasets are summarized, those summaries are then
further summarized and so on.
The end result is more compact summary that would
have been difficult to accurately discern without the
preceding steps of distillation.

46. Need of analysis
“Soft data” because the data collected through
this method are subjective as well as
interpretation of expression and belief as well as
values.
 The interpretation and analysis mostly
dependent on the skill of the researcher.
A researcher can not have free fall while
interpreting a phenomena or occurrence.

47. Comparison

48. Comparison
Qualitative Quantitative
Explore & Explain the problem Quantify the problem
Unstructured, semi structured Structured
Helps to develop ideas, hypothesis Help to test hypothesis
Uncover trends in thought and opinions Quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors,
and other defined variables – and
generalize results from a larger sample
population.
Data may NOT be measurable Uses measurable data to formulate facts
and uncover patterns in research.
Interview, FGD, Observation Descriptive, Analytical and
Experimental
Participant observation Non-Participant observation

49. Important for analysis

50. 50
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