An Introduction to

Qualitative Research

Najibullah Safi, MD. MSc. HPM

NPO/PHC, WHO Afghanistan
 Outline

• Introduction
• Differences between qualitative and quantitative
research
• Study design in qualitative research
• Method of data collection
• Handling qualitative data
• Analyzing qualitative data
• Presenting the results of qualitative research

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 Introduction

• Scientist more comfortable with quantitative

research
• Quantitative methods deal with the collection and
processing numerical data
• Answer questions
– How often? To what extent?
– How much? How many … but cannot answer questions on
– Why? how? In what way?

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 Introduction cont.

• Qualitative research can provide insight which is not

possible to elucidate with purely quantitative data
– A means for exploring and understanding the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to social or human
problems
– Study human behavior and social world
• Help us to understand the world in which we live
and why things are the way they are

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 Introduction cont.

• Qualitative research answer questions on:

– 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 have developed
– The difference between social groups

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 Quantitative vs. Qualitative research

No Qualitative research Quantitative research

1 Subjective – concern with opinion, objective
experiences and feelings of individuals
2 Holistic Reductionist – identify a set of variables
3 Phenomenological Scientific
4 Descriptive Experimental
5 Naturalistic Contrived
6 Inductive – generate theories Deductive – test proposed theories
7 Small sample – direct data collection, Representative sample
interview, observation
8 Results – generalizability is not an aim Usually generalizability is an important
aim

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 Qualitative research designs

• Four major types of qualitative research design

include:
– Phenomenology
– Ethnography
– Grounded theory
– Case study

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 Phenomenology

• Study of a phenomena – describing something that

exist as part of the world
• Phenomena might be:
– An event, a situation, an experience or a concept
– e.g. back pain
• It begins with the acknowledgment that there is a
gap in our understanding
• It may not necessarily provide definitive explanations
but it does raise awareness and increase insight

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 Ethnography

• The term means “portrait of people”

• It is a methodology for descriptive studies of cultures
and peoples
– e.g. cultural parameter is suspected of affecting the
population’s response to care or treatment
• It requires extensive fieldwork by the researchers
• Data collection includes formal and informal
interview on several occasion and observation
• It is extremely time consuming

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 Ethnography cont.

• Data analysis – “emic” approach: researcher

interpret data from the prospective of the population
under study
• Results are expressed as they are expressed by the
subjects themselves
• These studies might be problematic when
researchers are not familiar with social norms and
language

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 Grounded theory

• Main feature: development of a new theory through

the collection and analysis of data about a
phenomenon
• It goes beyond phenomenology as the explanation
are genuinely new knowledge and are used to
develop theories
• Various data collection techniques are used
– Literature review, documentary analysis, interviews ,
observation

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 Grounded theory cont.

• Key feature: constant comparative analysis –

simultaneous collection and analysis of data

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 Case study
• Case studies might be qualitative or quantitative
• In-depth analysis of a single or small number of
unites
• It is used to describe an entity that forms a single
unit such as a person, an organization or an
institution
• Complexity: illustration of an event VS. analysis of
social situation over time
• As a research design, it offers rich and in-depth
information which is not usually offered by other
methods
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 Case study cont.

• It is highly versatile method and employs any or all

methods of data collection
• It can be used for different purposes e.g.
development of new services, organizational changes
in planning, purchasing or delivery of health services,
evaluation of a program
• A critic - case may not be representative of similar
cases (findings are not generalizable)
• Can we apply findings elsewhere?

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 Methods of collecting qualitative data

• Direct interaction with individuals

– One to one interaction
– Or interaction with a group
• Interviews
• Focus Group Discussion
• Observation
• Data collection is time consuming
• Benefits of these methods include richness of data
and deeper insight into phenomena under study

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 Interviews
• Structured interviews
– Same questions in same away
– Limited range of responses (e.g. questionnaires)
• Semi structured interviews or focused interviews
– Series of open ended questions
– Provide opportunities to both researchers and
respondents to discuss certain topics in more details

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 Interviews cont.
• Unstructured interviews or in-depth interviews
– Discussing limited number of topics
– Phrase questions in the interviewee’s previous response
• Qualitative interviews are semi structure or
unstructured
• Qualitative interviews should be fairly informal
• Require careful consideration and preparation

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 Focus group discussion

• Collect information from groups of people rather

than a series of individuals
• FGD can be used when
– Resources are limited
– To identify a number of individuals who share a common
factor
– It is desirable to collect the views of several people within
the population sub group
– Group interaction among participants has the potential for
greater insights to be developed

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 Focus group discussion cont.

• Characteristics of a focus group

– Group size: usually 6-10 people
– Several FGD should be run in any research, it would be
wrong to rely on the views of just one group
– Members of each group should have something in common
– May use pre formed groups e.g. pressure groups
– Data collection and analysis is time consuming
– Requires certain skills
• Facilitation, moderating, listening, observing and analyzing

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 Observation

• Might be the only method to collect information in

certain conditions
• Observation of people VS. observation of
environment
• Observation can also serve for verifying or nullifying
information collected through other methods

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 Observation cont.

• Techniques for collecting data

– Written descriptions
• Researcher may miss to record
• May focus on one thing and miss equally or even more important
things
– Video recording
• No need to take notes
• Review time after time
• Recording my affect the behavior of the people under observation
• Fixed camera may limits the range of possible observation

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 Observation cont.

• Photographs
– Good way of collecting observable data of phenomena
which can be captured in a single shots or series of shots
– Photographs of buildings, neighborhoods, dress and
appearance
• Documentation
– Wide range of written materials
– Policy document, annual reports, minutes of meeting,
codes of conduct, notice boards etc.

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 Handling qualitative research data

• Recording VS. note taking

• Transcribing qualitative data
– Procedure for producing written version of interview
– Time consuming , estimated ratio of time required is 5:1
– Produce a lot of written text
• Transcribe may not be essential for each interview
– Tape analysis: taking notes from play back of tape recorded
interviews
– Who should do transcribing?

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 Handling qualitative research data cont.
• Consideration should be given to tone and inflection
– By listening and noting the intensity and feeling in the
interviewee’s voice it is possible to detect:
• Positive/negative continuum
• Certainty/uncertainty
• Enthusiasm/reluctance
• Constant comparative analysis: data collection and data
analysis occur on ongoing basis
– Each interview is analyzed before other interview take place
– Finding of first interview is incorporated in the following one
– Later interviews might be completely different from the
initial ones

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 Analyzing qualitative data

• Involves summarizing data and presenting the

results in a way that communicate the most
important features
• As quantitative research we are interested to
discover the big picture in qualitative research as
well, but by using different technics
• We start labeling or coding every item of information
to recognize differences and similarities between all
different items

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 Analyzing qualitative data cont.

• No system for pre-coding

• Needs a method of identifying and coding items of
data which appear in the text of transcript
• All the items of data from one interview should be
compared with other interviews
• Same procedures are used for qualitative data
collected through interviews, FGDs, observation and
documentary analysis – since all are concerned with
analyzing text

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 Analyzing qualitative data cont.

• Content analysis
– Procedure for categorization of verbal or behavioral data
– It involves coding and classifying data
– Analysis done at two levels:
• Basic or manifest level: descriptive – what was actually said
• Higher or interpretative level: what was meant by response – also
called latent level of analysis

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 Analyzing qualitative data cont.

• Content analysis involves the following steps:

1. Read the transcript and make brief note of interesting or
relevant information
2. Make a list of the different type of information from the
notes
3. Categorization of the listed items
4. Identify the categories that are some how linked to each
other (major categories or themes)
5. Compare and contrast various categories

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 Analyzing qualitative data cont.

• Content analysis involves the following steps:

6. Repeat the process from stage 1-5 on next transcripts
- Identify new categories of information
- Accommodate data in the existing categories
- Color code different categories and review
7. Collect together all the extracts from the transcribed
interviews that you have put into one category
8. Review different categories and move items if required
from one category to another
9. Review and check if two or more categories can fit together
10. Check the initial notes, consider if any previously excluded
data is relevant and should be included in results
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 Computerized data analysis

• Most well known software packages include

– ATLAS/ti
– NVivo
– NUD*IST

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 Presenting the results of qualitative research

• Look at themes and categories and structure the

results accordingly
• The structure can be set out at the beginning as a list
or diagram
• Themes are the main findings of the study
• To support findings, evidence are presented at direct
quotations from respondents

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 Presenting the results of qualitative research
cont.
• A range of quotations should be selected
– Strength of opinion or belief
– Similarities between respondents
– Differences between respondents
• Link between different categories
• Conclusion
• Some qualitative data can be dealt with in
quantitative way
• Using qualitative and quantitative techniques for
analysis of data can strengthen analysis

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 Presenting the results of qualitative research
cont.
Themes Major categories Minor categories
Safe sex
Sexual health Pregnancy
Sexual behavior
Health issues for young people
Smoking
Drugs Alcohol
Illicit drugs
Services available
Lack of knowledge Understanding
Perceptions
Barriers to accessing services
Own beliefs
Attitudes Peer pressure
Expectation of staff

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 Group Work

• Form three groups

• Select group leader and reporter
• Review and discuss all questions (part 1-3) in groups
• Each group will present only one part of the
questions (part 1-3)
• Time for group work: 30 minutes
• Time for presentation of each group: 10 minutes

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