{"id":4495,"date":"2022-01-20T00:50:02","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T00:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/research-methodology.net\/?page_id=4495"},"modified":"2022-01-20T01:27:09","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T01:27:09","slug":"qualitative-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/research-methods\/qualitative-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualitative Data Collection Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Qualitative data collection methods are exploratory in nature and are mainly concerned with gaining insights and understanding on underlying reasons and motivations. Qualitative data is a linguistic or visual material. Qualitative data collection methods emerged after it became evident that traditional quantitative data collection methods were unable to express human feelings and emotions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Monette et al (2010)<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> credit qualitative methods with the acknowledgement of abstraction and generalisation. Polonsky and Waller (2011)<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> categorize vision, images, forms and structures in various media, as well as, spoken and printed word and recorded sound into qualitative data collection methods.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Qualitative data collection methods are used in order to examine the following phenomenon:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Human feelings and experiences<\/li>\n<li>Meanings and relationships<\/li>\n<li>Social norms and cultural practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is noted that \u201cqualitative methods are often regarded as providing rich data about real life people and situations and being more able to make sense of behaviour and to understand behaviour within its wider context. However, qualitative research is often criticised for lacking generalizability, being too reliant on the subjective interpretations by researchers and being incapable of replication by other researchers.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Popular qualitative data collection methods used in business studies include <a href=\"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/research-methods\/qualitative-research\/interviews\/\">interviews<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/research-methods\/qualitative-research\/focus-group\/\">focus groups<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/research-methods\/qualitative-research\/observation\/\">observation<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/research-methods\/action-research\/\">action research<\/a>. Moreover, grounded theory and document analysis can be also used as data collection method in qualitative studies.\u00a0 The main sources and procedures associated with the most popular qualitative methods are presented on Table 1 below as proposed by Yamagata-Lynch (2010)<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a>:<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 541px;\" width=\"818\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"190\"><strong>Methodology<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"180\"><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"208\"><strong>Procedure<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"190\"><em>Document analysis<\/em><\/td>\n<td width=\"180\">Reports, newsletters, publications<\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">Read all materials and documented and descriptive statistics related to the research issue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"190\"><em>Interviews<\/em><\/td>\n<td width=\"180\">Primary participants<\/p>\n<p>Secondary participants<\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">Tape recorded semi-structured interviews, then transcribed the interviews for the participants to review<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"190\"><em>Observations<\/em><\/td>\n<td width=\"180\">Observed participants\u2019 interactions<\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">Took notes and videotaped the observations<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"190\"><em>Exit interviews\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"180\">Primary participants<\/p>\n<p>Secondary participants<\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">Presented findings to participants during individual or group interview sessions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"190\"><em>Focus groups<\/em><\/td>\n<td width=\"180\">Primary participants<\/p>\n<p>Secondary participants<\/td>\n<td width=\"208\">Videotape focus group sessions<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a name=\"_Toc91141367\"><\/a><strong>Table 1 Sources and procedures associated with qualitative data collection<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Table 2 below illustrates strength and weaknesses associated with qualitative research and data collection methods<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 229px;\" width=\"818\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"310\"><strong>Strenghts <\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"310\"><strong>Weaknesses <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"310\">Low constraints of tradition or method<\/p>\n<p>Grounded hypotheses<\/p>\n<p>Non-normative focus<\/p>\n<p>Comprehensiveness<\/p>\n<p>Detail<\/td>\n<td width=\"310\">Poor internal reliability<\/p>\n<p>Weak decisiveness<\/p>\n<p>Poor generalizability<\/p>\n<p>Rarely integrated<\/p>\n<p>Seems easy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a name=\"_Toc91141368\"><\/a><strong>Table 2 Strengths and weaknesses associated with qualitative data collection methods and qualitative research<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>My\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/research-methodology.net\/about-us\/ebook\/\">e-book,\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/research-methodology.net\/about-us\/ebook\/\">The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation in Business Studies: a step by step approach<\/a><\/em><em>\u00a0contains a detailed, yet simple explanation of <\/em><em>qualitative data collecton methods<\/em><em>. The e-book explains all stages of the research process starting from the selection of the research area to writing personal reflection. Important elements of dissertations such as research philosophy, research approach, research design, methods of data collection and data analysis are explained in simple words. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>John Dudovskiy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/research-methodology.net\/about-us\/ebook\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12773\" src=\"http:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Qualitative-Data-Collection-Methods.jpg\" alt=\"Qualitative Data Collection Methods\" width=\"278\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rm-15da4.kxcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Qualitative-Data-Collection-Methods.jpg 278w, https:\/\/rm-15da4.kxcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Qualitative-Data-Collection-Methods-261x300.jpg 261w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Monette, D.R., Gullivan, T.J. &amp; DeJong, C.R. (2010) \u201cApplied Social Research: A Tool for the Human Resources\u201d Cengage Learning<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Polonsky, M.J. &amp; Waller, D.S. (2011) \u201cDesigning and Managing a Research Project: A Business Student\u2019s Guide\u201d 2<sup>nd<\/sup> edition, SAGE<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Vaus, D. (2002) \u201cSurveys in Social Research\u201d Taylor and Francis, p.5<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Yamagata-Lynch, L.C. (2010) \u201cActivity Systems Analysis Methods: Understanding Complex Learning Environments\u201d Springer Publications<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Source: Albery, I. &amp; Munafo, M. (2008) \u201cKey Concepts in Health Psychology\u201d SAGE Publications<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/research-methods\/qualitative-research\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"\" class=\"alignleft wp-post-image tfe\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" \/><\/a><p>Qualitative data collection methods are exploratory in nature and are mainly concerned with gaining insights and understanding on underlying reasons and motivations. Qualitative data is a linguistic or visual material. Qualitative data collection methods emerged after it became evident that traditional quantitative data collection methods were unable to express human feelings and emotions. Monette et al (2010)[1] credit qualitative methods with the acknowledgement of abstraction and generalisation. Polonsky and Waller (2011)[2] categorize vision, images, forms and structures in various media, as well as, spoken and printed word and recorded sound into qualitative data collection methods. Qualitative data collection methods are used in order to examine the following phenomenon: Human feelings and experiences Meanings and relationships Social norms and cultural practices. It is noted that \u201cqualitative methods are often regarded as providing rich data about real life people and situations and being more able to make sense of behaviour and to understand behaviour within its wider context. However, qualitative research is often criticised for lacking generalizability, being too reliant on the subjective interpretations by researchers and being incapable of replication by other researchers.\u201d[3] Popular qualitative data collection methods used in business studies include interviews, focus groups, observation and action research. Moreover, grounded theory and document analysis can be also used as data collection method in qualitative studies.\u00a0 The main sources and procedures associated with the most popular qualitative methods are presented on Table 1 below as proposed by Yamagata-Lynch (2010)[4]: Methodology Sources Procedure Document analysis Reports, newsletters, publications Read all materials and documented and descriptive statistics related to the research issue Interviews Primary participants Secondary participants Tape recorded semi-structured interviews, then transcribed the interviews for the participants to review Observations Observed participants\u2019 interactions Took notes and videotaped the observations Exit interviews\u00a0 &nbsp; Primary participants Secondary participants Presented findings to participants during&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":125,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"tpl-sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4495\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4495"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research-methodology.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}