tour edge pro 723 irons

Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 Irons Review

Tour edge exotics pro 723 irons.

Following a very specific request from their Tour staff, Tour Edge added another option to their Exotics irons family for 2023. Members of their staff were looking for something with a more traditional “player’s” profile with a soft feel and some extra forgiveness. Enter the super sleek Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723. An incredibly clean looking and feeling club, the Pro 723 is an impressive performer that’s a lot of fun to hit.

The Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 irons have a traditional profile that will fit the eye of the better ball striker. From address, the top line is thin and the blade length is on the medium-ish side for a “blade” iron. I would say don’t expect them to be as tiny as an old school muscle back butter knife, but they’re not as large as a “player’s distance” iron. That thin top line, combined with the minimal offset, makes for a compact profile that gives you confidence in being able to find the sweet spot as well as working the ball however necessary.

How Does it Feel?

With forged irons, many people explain the feeling as “solid but soft”. Don’t even get me started on the use of “buttery”… This general phrasing always sits funny with me because it feels like somewhat of an oxymoron. I think a better way to explain it is that the club feels very smooth (soft/buttery/silky), but there’s precision in the feedback from the face (solid). In the case of the Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 irons, they really nailed this feel. A well struck ball has the precision of a forged blade and it’s definitely silky at impact.

Furthermore, the Pro 723 has an even softer feel thanks to the use of Vibrcor in the club. This material doesn’t dampen the club face’s feedback, but rather reduces vibration in your hands. In short, it acts as a shock absorber to remove any sting or harshness in your hands. Add in the cavity weighting enhancing the sweet spot, and the end result is an impressively clean and precise feeling iron. I absolutely love the feel of this golf club.

How Does it Sound?

There’s a certain sound you expect to hear from a well-struck forged blade. It’s a firm, but not overwhelming “whack”. While I would say that Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 iron definitely has “that sound”, it’s still sort of unique. The Vibrcor material adds a hint of “snap” to the sound so it’s a little more of “ whap ” at impact. As mentioned, the sweet spot is fairly generous so the club maintains its tone a little further from the center than normal. There’s definitely a high-level of satisfaction from the Pro 723’s tone that makes you want to come back for more!

On-Course Performance

Somehow the Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 irons fall into a rare hallowed ground where few golf clubs ever make it to. I’m talking about the elusive forged player’s blade that actually has all of the performance benefits it advertises including forgiveness. Players looking for shot shaping and flight versatility will find that in spades. The thin sole, minimal offset, and fairly compact head allow for easy club manipulation to hit any shot the course demands. Low punches, cut stingers, high fades, straight and tight darts – all of it. They do it all, and do it well.

Where the Pro 723 irons really start to set themselves apart with performance is in how easy and reliable they become for all of those mentioned shots. As my testing went on, my confidence in these clubs really grew. Now, I’m not trying to convince you that these are anywhere near a game improvement (GI) iron. They certainly aren’t, however, they are as lenient as a player’s iron gets. Additionally, the Pro 723 was easy to get up in the air with tight control. And let me ask you this, how often do you say a “player’s” 4 iron is easy to hit? Maybe it was just a honeymoon phase with the Pro 723 4 iron, but I know I certainly thought it was.

Final Thoughts – Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 Irons

While I understand my general appreciation of Tour Edge clubs may make me appear biased in this review, I stand behind every word I said about the Pro 723 irons. They do everything very well and are genuinely impressive. From one of the cleaner feels you’ll ever find in a player’s CB iron and a generous performance, the Exotics Pro 723 irons are a real treat to hit. In my opinion, the Pro 723 irons might be the perfect answer for that single digit player that doesn’t need a GI iron, needs to be able to work the ball, but wouldn’t turn down a little forgiveness. Or in other words, a player’s iron for the more mortal, solid ball striker. All I know is that the Pro 723 really impressed me and will be receiving further attention from me in the coming months.

Stock Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 Irons Specs

Watch Bill & Kris talk about the Exotics Pro 723 irons below!

Tour Edge Exotics C723 Irons Review

on October 11, 2023

50 Words or Less

Tour Edge Exotics C723 irons are a players distance iron designed to designed to provide an ideal blend of power, forgiveness, and feel.

Introduction

Increasingly, golfers are looking for more distance and increased forgiveness across the face from their irons. But most aren’t willing to sacrifice the sweet feeling of a well-struck shot. OEMs have set out to solve that puzzle and make an iron that is suitable for a huge percentage of golfers. In the case of Tour Edge, they have brought out the Exotics C723 irons. Find out what kind of tech it uses and how it performs in this review.

The Tour Edge Exotics C723 irons have an updated classic look. Instead of chrome, there’s a matte finish to reduce glare and give a modern feel. At address you see a moderate amount of offset and a somewhat chunky topline. At times, there is just the slightest bit of the “help” portion of the club visible behind the topline at address. While I like just about everything else about the looks of this club, that was one small complaint.

The C723 is the middle of the three irons in Tour Edge’s latest Exotics line , between the Pro 723 [review HERE ] and the E723 [review HERE ]. It strikes a decent balance between the two, a tour-level cavity back and a super game improvement iron.

Sound & Feel

The ball jumps right off the face of the Tour Edge Exotics C723 irons. It feels almost springy, in a good way . If you totally miss the center of the face, you’ll notice, whether it’s a heel, toe, fat, or thin. But the sweet spot seems quite large, and balls struck in that general vicinity sound and feel equally good.

The sound is percussive but not overly loud. Shots out of the center elicit more resonance , which is a nice little bonus for catching one sweetly.

Check out the Tour Edge Exotics Wingman wedge HERE

Performance

Almost universally, the secret sauce of a hollow body multi-material iron is the material injected into the cavity of the clubhead. In this case, that material is VIBRCOR . I’m not a scientist or engineer so one high performance plastic is the same as any other to me, but it’s worth stating that it’s there and it seems to work well, not only in terms of the sound and feel as discussed above, but in the way the ball flies and the distance it produces . The Tour Edge Exotics C723 irons definitely hold their own in terms of distance.

Speaking of distance, I think it’s also worth mentioning that, like many irons in this category, the lofts are a bit stronger than what is typically considered to be traditional. You’ll see a lot bigger gaps between the short irons than the long irons. While some people love their long irons, I would definitely be looking to pair these with hybrids.

As alluded to earlier, forgiveness is also a big part of the draw with these clubs. This is due in part to the club’s Diamond Face VFT . The VFT is a reference to variable fact thickness, and Diamond Face refers to a constellation of diamond shapes across the face. The design is laid out in a way that promotes better results on heel and toe strikes. I found it to be very forgiving.

As usual, Tour Edge has really been thoughtful about its stock shaft offerings , and there is no shortage of quality, regardless of what kind of player you are. I went with the KBS Tour 120, which I really got along well with.

Tour Edge remains one of the most unheralded OEMs. But they have been operating with a such a consistently high level of quality for a while now, it really shouldn’t be the case. The Tour Edge Exotics C723 irons are a great entry in the players distance category and should be in consideration for more golfers than it probably will be.

Buy the Tour Edge Exotics C723 Irons HERE

Visit tour edge here, tour edge exotics c723 irons price & specs.

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INFORMATION

Exotics hot launch get in the game tour media demo retailers shop.

All Other Products

"ARE YOU LOOKING FOR COMPACT POWER? THIS NEW PLAYER’S DISTANCE IRON IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THE PERFECT BLEND OF DISTANCE, FORGIVENESS AND FEEL.”

PRESIDENT, FOUNDER & MASTER CLUB DESIGNER

VIBRCOR TECHNOLOGY

Tpu injected into the hollow body pocket provides incredible feel .

DIAMOND FACE VFT PRODUCES FASTER BALL SPEEDS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE FACE

MARAGING STEEL L-CUP FACE PRODUCES FASTER BA LL SPEEDS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE FACE

HOLLOW BODY DESIGN WITH PLAYER-PREFERRED SHAPE A DESIGN THAT HAS A TON OF FORGIVENESS IN A CLASSIC LOOK

SHAFT SPECIFICATIONS

CLUB SPECIFICATIONS

GRIP: Lamkin Crossline 360 Black

A vailable in right hand.

Women’s length -1"

Custom fitting o ptions include: grip, shaft flex, and length.

BECAUSE WE WIN WITH IT

Tour Championship

East Lake Golf Club

Fairway Woods

Tour Edge Exotics E723

Hot List Silver

Golf Digest Logo Hot List Score

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/hotlist-2024/game-improvement-irons/Tour Edge Exotics E723_GI_HERO.jpg

Why We Like It

This is a lot of club for the money. At a time when many irons are going for $200 a stick, these are half that. Thermoplastic urethane is inserted behind the lower portion of the face. That saves weight that is used for a toe-weight pocket to assist shots hit out in that area—a place many middle-handicappers routinely find. The variable-thickness face is complex, with more than 100 diamond shapes in three thicknesses. Why the different shapes and thicknesses? Because shots hit on the heel and toe behave differently than center strikes, but you want the result to be as consistent as possible across the entire face.

Characteristics

The 360-degree undercut design moves weight away from the face to bolster forgiveness.
Toe weighting helps move the center of gravity toward center of the face for a crisper feel.
7-iron: 27.5 degrees; PW: 42 degrees
Top 5 most forgiving game-improvement irons, high-handicaps
Top 5 highest-flying game-improvement irons, low-handicaps
Top 5 highest-flying game-improvement irons, high-handicaps

$100 per iron

All products featured on Golf Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Golf Digest Logo HOT LIST SCORE The overall star rating is based on a club’s total weighted score across our three Hot List criteria. Our judges’ star ratings reflect each club’s score relative to the other clubs in the category.

The aggregate star rating of all three categories rounded to the nearest half star.

Performance

Look / sound / feel, golf digest logo hot list players feedback.

Ratings are based on players’ assessments in three key performance areas.

Ball Flight

Playability.

This club flat-out performs. The larger, almost oversized clubhead envelops the ball and launches it out with a high, straight ball flight. Confidence grew with each shot.

Makes a pleasing, thunderous crack. Has a powerful feel off the face and is incredibly forgiving. Gets the ball up without trying and produces a high ball flight.

These might have a thick topline and huge sole, but they perform. They come off the face quick. Lots of distance. Nice, almost cushioned sound through impact.

Why Impact Is Critical to Your Iron Play

Consistent shot shape requires one skill above all others: the ability to make flush contact with the ball. It’s the No. 1 fundamental in golf, and without it, this game can be an eternal mystery. Here, Sean Hogan, one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Florida, helps you improve your impact from tee to green.

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back view of Tour Edge Exotics C723 iron

Tour Edge Exotics C723 Irons

Description.

This ultra-premium player’s distance iron loaded with tech like the revolutionary VIBRCOR™ technology and Tour Edge’s breakthrough Diamond Face VFT™ technology that gives these irons incredible power and feel.

VIBRCOR Technology - A high-grade TPU injected into the hollow-body pocket to create a new speed inducing and feel-enhancing internal technology.

VIBRCOR performance gel injected into the hollow-body cavity produces faster ball speed, dampen sound and shock at impact and to create perimeter weighting around the entire clubhead for maximum forgiveness and power off the face. VIBRCOR treatment creates the feel of a full flush cavity iron in a sleek, extremely long and forgiving iron head that has the support, sound and feel of a forged iron in a player’s distance iron body.

Diamond Face VFT - Different diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face function as mini trampolines to create faster ball speeds and expand the sweet spot to outer areas of the face. There are 92 total Diamond shapes featured on Diamond Face VFT that cover the entire face of the C723 iron. Diamond Face VFT features three different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern and features a face thickness reduction on the heel and toe for even greater forgiveness.

The mini trampolines that make-up Diamond Face VFT create faster ball speeds and an expanded sweet spot. The full-face increase in Diamond Face VFT coverage to the extreme heel and toe coverage ball speed on off-center hits while also greatly aiding forgiveness on these strikes.

Military Grade Maraging Steel L-Cup Face - A high-strength forged Military-Grade Maraging Steel Face is plasma-welded onto a 17-4 stainless steel body. This ultra-high-strength steel is used in aerospace, with applications including landing gear, helicopter undercarriages, slat tracks and rocket motor cases and other applications which require a high strength-to-weight material. What does it do? It allowed us to produce a significantly thinner face, the thinnest in an Exotics iron to date. It also helped dramatically increase face flex across a greater surface area of the club face. The L-Cup Face acts as a hinge designed to improve accuracy and protect off-center ball speed.

Hollow-body Design with Player Preferred Shaping - The hollow-body Exotics C723 Iron features a 15% smaller clubhead with a shorter blade length and a thinner topline. The more classic shape of the C723 features more traditional lofting from iron to iron.

This hollow-body iron design of the Exotics C723 Iron offers extreme perimeter weighting to create the distance and forgiveness of a metalwood combined with the feel and control of a forged iron set. The hollow body design allows for increased face flex, and ability to have a thinner face and a deeper CG in a thin-sole iron design.

Iron Specs:

No Upcharge Custom Shaft Specs:

Best of Moscow by high speed train

By shuguley , February 15, 2014 in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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If you are considering this on the 2015 June Baltic cruise on Voyager; my suggestion is don't. There is so much to do in St. Petersburg and although a train is one of my favorite ways to travel the time would be far better spent in St. P.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, this would be on the Voyager during the 2015 season but not yet sure exactly which cruise.

We did the Moscow excursion "on a different luxury line", but from your brief description it sounds very much like the same trip, so I will operate on that assumption. It is a VERY long day! We left the ship at 5:30 AM and returned at 12:30 AM. The highspeed train trip is comfortable, and while they call it "Business Class" it does not compare well to the equivalent class on say Rail Europe. When we did it in 2011, we did have highspeed both ways, and the trip back seemed much longer as the adrenaline and excitement had worn off!:D

Moscow itself is not that terribly different from any other big city in the world, but this Cold War kid never thought he would ever stand in Red Square, never mind walk the grounds of The Kremlin, or tour The Kremlin Palace, or see (but not visit) Lenin's Tomb, or visit The Armoury. But he did, and he loved every minute of it! Yes, it is a long day, and you barely scratch a scratch on the surface, but it is worth it. There is a tremendous amount to see in St. Petersburg, but every Baltic cruise goes to St. Petersburg, so you can go back if you choose to. Not every cruiseline offers you the chance to see Moscow.

I have not personally done this tour, but our last time in St Petersburg, the private guide that we hired for a day was leading the regent tour to Moscow on the high speed train the next day. He said it was way better than the previous alternative, which was flying to Moscow and back. He said that you actually got to Moscow faster because you didn't have to deal with airline checkin etc. it did seem like a very long day to me, and there is so much to see and do in st. Petersburg that I didn't consider doing it.

countflorida

We toured to Moscow from St. Petersburg via the hi-speed SAPSAN train last September, from a Baltic cruise on the Oceania Marina. You need to have a two-night, three day port call in St. Petersburg to take this tour because the tour typically leaves the ship around 5:00 - 5:30 AM and doesn't return until after midnight the next day. We didn't take the ship's tour; we made private arrangements with TravelAllRussia for three days of touring, the first and third days in St. Petersburg and the second day the tour to Moscow by train. Our cost for the private tour for three days was about the same as what the ship charged for the excursion to Moscow alone. There are a number of private tour agencies that operate in St. Petersburg and offer the Moscow train tours; we would strongly recommend them over the ship's tours.

All three days had private guides with car and driver. The second day, the driver picked us up at the ship and took us to the train, but we were alone on the train, and met in Moscow by the guide on the station platform. After our tour and dinner, we were brought back to the train and after the return train trip met by the driver and taken back to the ship. Because you are alone on the train you must have your own Russian visas.

If this is your first visit to St. Petersburg, I would agree there is much more to see there. We found Moscow somewhat a disappointment, particularly Red Square. The Kremlin and the cathedral in Red Square were also worth seeing. But the best thing we saw was the Moscow subway! I worked for the Washington Metro system back in the 1980s as it grew from 40 to 80 miles and although I was in the computer area, I learned a lot about the challenges of running a subway system. We used the Moscow system to get across the city from where we had dinner to the train station, and I was amazed at the cleanliness', speed of operation, the short headways maintained, and the courtesy of everyone involved. A very impressive experience!

We had been to St. Petersburg before, and so had the time to take a day and go to Moscow. Also, I really like trains, and the SAPSAN is a German train set running on Russian rails. Seats are like first class domestic air, spacious but not too plush or comfortable, but with enough room. Not too much recline, and almost 8 hours on the train in two shots is a lot for an old man. They come through and sell drinks, candy, etc. but the sellers don't speak English and no one around us helped, so we had just poor coffee once coming, and brought stuff with us for the trip back. Not too much to see from the train either, particularly on the return when it is night the whole way.

If you decide to go, take a private tour and avoid the overly expensive ship's tour. I'm glad we did it, but wouldn't bother to repeat the tour; we've seen Moscow.

Thanks so much to all of you for the thorough and thought insight. Yhe information you have provided is most helpful.

countflorida: Your detailed post is very helpful. We are not quite ready for a Baltic cruise but should do so within a year. Time enough to do our pre travel research, bookings and visa gathering.:) Thank you!

Emperor Norton

Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day. Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)? My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

I did this on Seabourn. IMO DONT. Take Aeroflop (er Aeroflot). The train has non folding seats where you are literally knee to knee with your fellow passenger (facing each other). Further they don't believe in air conditioning. It's also the worlds slowed bullet train. I think I would have found more enjoyment wandering around the St. Petersburg and Moscow airports.

Countflorida,

This is a little off topic,, however we had planned a river cruise in Russia but decided we would rather stay on land and have booked about two weeks with Travel-All-Russia using the private guide and driver. I'm curious as to how you found them as a tour company.

The guides they provided were fine. We had a different guide each of the days in St. Petersburg, but both were flexible, pleasant, knowledgeable and spoke English very well, as did the guide in Moscow, incidentally. She was a bit aloof, distant, not too friendly, but otherwise fine. In fact, she was the one who suggested taking the Metro, which unexpectedly became one of the highlights of the Moscow excursion. If I have a complaint with AllTravelRussia, it is with their plan and its execution (more later).

I had requested emphasis on World War II (in Russia, the Great Patriotic War) sites and info. In scheduling us, they weren't careful about dates and a couple of the sites we wanted to see were scheduled on the third day, after we'd been to Moscow. But both sites were closed that day of the week, and that info was readily available, right on web sites describing them. Also, the included meals (lunches in St. Pete, dinner in Moscow) were not what we asked for: light meals with some choices, so we could avoid things we didn't like and choose things we did like. My request was ignored; we were given full Russian meals with a fixed menu, no choice. On the first day, a fish dish was the entre, but I am allergic to fish. Fortunately, I had the e-mail I'd sent with me and showed it to the guide, and she was able to change my entre to chicken, which was very good actually. But we didn't want a 3-4 course lunches or dinner (in Moscow). We had the guide drop the lunch the third day, although we never got any credit or refund. But, particularly in contrast to the ship's tours, the prices were so reasonable we didn't worry too much about it.

The people who were on the ship's tour to Moscow saw us boarding the same train for which they were forced to queue up and wait on the way back, and asked us what we had done. I was candid and open so they were not happy when I explained what we had arranged and particularly what it had cost. Also, when we returned to the ship, we found they had laid on a late supper for those who had gone to Moscow, so up we went and had something. Well, it turns out the late supper was supposed to be just for those on the ship's tour, but we and others on 'independent' tours, there were a dozen or more of us, crashed the party, actually got there first, and they didn't realize it until the larger group arrived and there weren't enough tables/places set. By that time, the 'independents' had all gotten served and were eating; what could they do?

A couple from the larger group sat down with us and asked us about our tour, and they were the ones I told about our arrangement and its cost. They turned to others who’d been with them and announced the details, loudly enough so the whole room heard, which started a lot of bitching and complaining. I gathered they weren't very happy with the ship's tour to begin with, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. We finished up and beat it out of there, but overheard later that one of the excursion staff came to check on something and ran into a real mess. I caught a cold on the trip, which forced me to bed the second day following in Tallinn, so by the time we reappeared we heard about the contretemps' but apparently no one recalled who started it, thankfully.

Because of what happened to us, I would probably not use AllTravelRussia if I were to go again, or if I did, I would be sure to get confirmation of every detail of the tour. They do have good reviews generally, and we were certainly helped by their visa department and liked the guides and drivers. Their weakness, I say now with full 20:20 hindsight, is that once the sales person who plans the tour, sells it to you and collects your money, he (or she) transfers the plan to their Russia office for implementation; there is no follow-up to make sure it gets done right. And that is where our problems arose; we paid for a custom tour but got a standard package with a few destinations switched, and no one checked them out, even to see when they were open the day we were scheduled to go. If you check every detail that’s important to you, it should be OK, but that’s a hell of a way to have to do business, in my opinion.

Thank you for the 20/20 hindsight observation on your Russian tour operator, and better priced than the ship's excursion cost.

Thanks very much for the feedback.

We had the same experience as you so far as price. We originally booked a Viking Cruise but, hearing some things about the river cruises that made us unhappy, looked into other options. T-A-R cost the same or less than a cruise and had us in hotels for 11 days. We opted for the private tour. They have three tour levels, based on hotels. We originally opted for the four star as it did not cost much more than the three star hotels. Finally we decided to throw it all in and upgraded to five star. In Moscow we will be at the newly opened Kempinsky which is two blocks from Red Square. In St. Petersburg it is the Grand Hotel Europe, one of the most vaunted luxury hotels in Russia. Location is important for us as the tours use up only part of the day so being in the center of everything for our independent touring is important. As with many other cities, the less you pay, the farther out of the center of town you are.

We have been working with our salesman in D.C. and he seems to get back to us with the changes we want. He recently returned from Russia so is up on everything. When I asked they said they paid the full TA commission if I wanted so I got my usual TA on board so he is watching our back and giving us that extra level of comfort. He also set up our air, which I know pays him little or nothing, and got us business class for much less than T-A-R wanted for economy, though it took working for a while with a consolidator. He's happy to get his 10 percent on this trip without having booked it. He also took care of the trip insurance. We've been doing a lot of research on the CC sister site Trip Advisor and will write a report there. We will, I guess, become a source of info for CC members after having spent 5 days in Moscow and 6 in SP.

4 months later...

scubacruiserx2

Anybody considering a day trip to Moscow from St. Petersburg on the Sapsan may want to look at our travelogue filled with pictures.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1927687

Very informative. Thanks dor sharing. Jeff

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qualitative research chapter 2 examples

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Chapter 2: Foundations of qualitative research – paradigms, philosophical underpinnings

Darshini Ayton and Tess Tsindos

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to:

Recognise and understand the four main paradigms that underpin research.
Understand how paradigms differ between qualitative and quantitative research.
Describe the differences between approaches in inductive and deductive research.

What is a paradigm ?

All research takes place within a paradigm. A paradigm is a worldview – a framework of beliefs, values and methods. For researchers, the paradigm or worldview framing their research informs the meaning they interpret from the data. Each researcher works within their own, unique paradigm; this includes the techniques they choose for collecting and analysing data. 1 There are four main research paradigms in social science (see Table 2.1. ) :

positivist , or scientific , paradigm
interpretivist , or constructivist , paradigm (also known as the naturalistic paradigm)
radical , or critical , paradigm
post – structuralist paradigm. 2,3

These paradigms reflect the researcher ’ s beliefs about what is reality (ontology), knowledge (epistemology), the means to obtain ing knowledge (methodology) and the values of the researcher (axiology). 3 We might think of ontology as ‘what is true’ and epistemology as ‘how do we know those truths?’. The positivist paradigm is suited to quantitative research because it is grounded in the notion of cause and effect . T he remaining three paradigms are suited to qualitative research because they are grounded in exploration and understanding . 3

Qualitative research is embedded in the interpretivist, or constructivist paradigm. The understandings and beliefs of interpretivism or constructivism can be considered in terms of:

Assumptions and values: The research seeks to understand what it is to be human, and the significance and meanings people ascribe to life events. It aims to identify what is important and what is evidence. 4
Researcher–participant relationship: The relationship is ‘intersubjective’ – that is, the researcher is the listener and interpreter of the data obtained from the participant. The researcher discovers the truth of a situation through thinking and analysis, rather than sensory observation. Interpretation is required. 4
Methodology (the research approach): Qualitative research includes study designs such as descriptive, phenomenology, action research, case study, grounded theory and ethnography. 4 These are covered in section 2 of this textbook.
Ontology (the nature of reality): The researcher recognises that there are multiple subjective realities, and that these are socially constructed in the interactions between research participants and between the researcher and participants. 5
Epistemology (the theory of knowledge, or how knowledge is created): Knowledge is derived from the everyday. The researcher creates meaning from the data through their thinking and analysis of the data informed by their encounters with participants. 3
Axiology (the value and ethics of the research): The research will reflect the values of the researcher who aims to present a balanced interpretation of the results. 5

A good example of the interpretivist or constructivist paradigm is a study exploring physical and bodily pain. We humans each experience pain differently, due to many factors, including how we were socialised to respond to pain in our family and communities, our individual pain threshold, our past experiences of pain and the context of our current pain – what else is happening in that moment of pain. Thus, it is reasonable to say that pain is socially constructed. In health care, pain is measured on a numerical scale, but it is the person’s perception of the pain that determines the number assigned to their pain (self-report). We may therefore question whether there is an objective, scientific method for measuring pain. A common facilitator for pain relief – paracetamol – reduces pain for some people and not for others. Consider why this is the case. (It is the person’s perception of what is working to relieve their perceived pain.) Positivists do not rely on subjective experiences, only facts and a singular truth: objectivity. Constructionists and intepretivists contend that subjective and social experiences create reality, and that there are many truths.

Although it is not one of the four main paradigms, post-positivism is another paradigm that appears in the literature. Post-positivism asserts that there are multiple and competing views of science, and multiple truths. Therefore, researchers cannot be completely objective, unbiased and value-free, as the positivist paradigm asserts. 4 This shift in perspective from positivism to post-positivism has led to the incorporation of qualitative methods into the post-positivist paradigm, to enable the research to explore participants’ experiences of the phenomenon under study. This paradigm is included in Table 2.1. since its basic ontology is similar to the positivist paradigm. 6

Table 2.1. Research paradigms in social science

In Table 2.2. an article is provided to highlight the different components of the research paradigms. Note: The aims are reproduced verbatim from the papers (word for word).

Table 2.2. Examples of paradigms within published research

Approaches in qualitative methods

Approaches are how a researcher intends to carry out their research. In qualitative research, there are two main approaches:

Inductive: Driven by the participants and their data

An inductive approach employs a ‘whole world’ view and includes the wider social and historical context. It considers the layers that surround the individual – temporal, spatial, ideational, institutional and structural, and focuses on meanings, ideas and experiences. The inductive approach is concerned with participants’ subjective views. When examining what participants have said in an interview, the researcher searches for themes, setting aside preconceived notions. 6 (Review the example in Chapter 3 of exploring seniors’ perceptions of health and loneliness. T he theoretical drive of the research is inductive because it is describ ing and explor ing the perceptions of seniors . ) An inductive research approa ch is hypothesis – generating – this means the researchers do not have preconceived ideas of what they will find in their research and data , and hypotheses will be generated in the process of analysing the data . 6

Deductive: Driven by a pre-existing theory, framework or series of questions

A deductive approach can employ a theory or framework to guide the research, and responses are usually categorised into pre-determined labels (most often called ‘codes’). This is usually how questionnaires or structured interviews are interpreted. The pre-determined codes are based on the questions asked in interviews or focus groups. A deductive approach, particularly in the positivist paradigm, is hypothesis-testing – the researchers are looking for evidence of specific ideas, concepts and relationships in the research and data. 5

All research takes place within a paradigm, consciously or subconsciously; that is, regardless of whether this is understood by the researcher. To interpret the data well, qualitative researchers must explore and acknowledge their own framework of beliefs, values and methods informing the meaning of their data. Qualitative research is embedded in the interpretivist paradigm. Four main paradigms have been explored and explained in this chapter.

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Qualitative Research – a practical guide for health and social care researchers and practitioners Copyright © 2023 by Darshini Ayton and Tess Tsindos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Chapter 1. Introduction

“Science is in danger, and for that reason it is becoming dangerous” -Pierre Bourdieu, Science of Science and Reflexivity

Why an Open Access Textbook on Qualitative Research Methods?

I have been teaching qualitative research methods to both undergraduates and graduate students for many years. Although there are some excellent textbooks out there, they are often costly, and none of them, to my mind, properly introduces qualitative research methods to the beginning student (whether undergraduate or graduate student). In contrast, this open-access textbook is designed as a (free) true introduction to the subject, with helpful, practical pointers on how to conduct research and how to access more advanced instruction.

Textbooks are typically arranged in one of two ways: (1) by technique (each chapter covers one method used in qualitative research); or (2) by process (chapters advance from research design through publication). But both of these approaches are necessary for the beginner student. This textbook will have sections dedicated to the process as well as the techniques of qualitative research. This is a true “comprehensive” book for the beginning student. In addition to covering techniques of data collection and data analysis, it provides a road map of how to get started and how to keep going and where to go for advanced instruction. It covers aspects of research design and research communication as well as methods employed. Along the way, it includes examples from many different disciplines in the social sciences.

The primary goal has been to create a useful, accessible, engaging textbook for use across many disciplines. And, let’s face it. Textbooks can be boring. I hope readers find this to be a little different. I have tried to write in a practical and forthright manner, with many lively examples and references to good and intellectually creative qualitative research. Woven throughout the text are short textual asides (in colored textboxes) by professional (academic) qualitative researchers in various disciplines. These short accounts by practitioners should help inspire students. So, let’s begin!

What is Research?

When we use the word research , what exactly do we mean by that? This is one of those words that everyone thinks they understand, but it is worth beginning this textbook with a short explanation. We use the term to refer to “empirical research,” which is actually a historically specific approach to understanding the world around us. Think about how you know things about the world. [1] You might know your mother loves you because she’s told you she does. Or because that is what “mothers” do by tradition. Or you might know because you’ve looked for evidence that she does, like taking care of you when you are sick or reading to you in bed or working two jobs so you can have the things you need to do OK in life. Maybe it seems churlish to look for evidence; you just take it “on faith” that you are loved.

Only one of the above comes close to what we mean by research. Empirical research is research (investigation) based on evidence. Conclusions can then be drawn from observable data. This observable data can also be “tested” or checked. If the data cannot be tested, that is a good indication that we are not doing research. Note that we can never “prove” conclusively, through observable data, that our mothers love us. We might have some “disconfirming evidence” (that time she didn’t show up to your graduation, for example) that could push you to question an original hypothesis , but no amount of “confirming evidence” will ever allow us to say with 100% certainty, “my mother loves me.” Faith and tradition and authority work differently. Our knowledge can be 100% certain using each of those alternative methods of knowledge, but our certainty in those cases will not be based on facts or evidence.

For many periods of history, those in power have been nervous about “science” because it uses evidence and facts as the primary source of understanding the world, and facts can be at odds with what power or authority or tradition want you to believe. That is why I say that scientific empirical research is a historically specific approach to understand the world. You are in college or university now partly to learn how to engage in this historically specific approach.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe, there was a newfound respect for empirical research, some of which was seriously challenging to the established church. Using observations and testing them, scientists found that the earth was not at the center of the universe, for example, but rather that it was but one planet of many which circled the sun. [2] For the next two centuries, the science of astronomy, physics, biology, and chemistry emerged and became disciplines taught in universities. All used the scientific method of observation and testing to advance knowledge. Knowledge about people , however, and social institutions, however, was still left to faith, tradition, and authority. Historians and philosophers and poets wrote about the human condition, but none of them used research to do so. [3]

It was not until the nineteenth century that “social science” really emerged, using the scientific method (empirical observation) to understand people and social institutions. New fields of sociology, economics, political science, and anthropology emerged. The first sociologists, people like Auguste Comte and Karl Marx, sought specifically to apply the scientific method of research to understand society, Engels famously claiming that Marx had done for the social world what Darwin did for the natural world, tracings its laws of development. Today we tend to take for granted the naturalness of science here, but it is actually a pretty recent and radical development.

To return to the question, “does your mother love you?” Well, this is actually not really how a researcher would frame the question, as it is too specific to your case. It doesn’t tell us much about the world at large, even if it does tell us something about you and your relationship with your mother. A social science researcher might ask, “do mothers love their children?” Or maybe they would be more interested in how this loving relationship might change over time (e.g., “do mothers love their children more now than they did in the 18th century when so many children died before reaching adulthood?”) or perhaps they might be interested in measuring quality of love across cultures or time periods, or even establishing “what love looks like” using the mother/child relationship as a site of exploration. All of these make good research questions because we can use observable data to answer them.

What is Qualitative Research?

“All we know is how to learn. How to study, how to listen, how to talk, how to tell. If we don’t tell the world, we don’t know the world. We’re lost in it, we die.” -Ursula LeGuin, The Telling

At its simplest, qualitative research is research about the social world that does not use numbers in its analyses. All those who fear statistics can breathe a sigh of relief – there are no mathematical formulae or regression models in this book! But this definition is less about what qualitative research can be and more about what it is not. To be honest, any simple statement will fail to capture the power and depth of qualitative research. One way of contrasting qualitative research to quantitative research is to note that the focus of qualitative research is less about explaining and predicting relationships between variables and more about understanding the social world. To use our mother love example, the question about “what love looks like” is a good question for the qualitative researcher while all questions measuring love or comparing incidences of love (both of which require measurement) are good questions for quantitative researchers. Patton writes,

Qualitative data describe. They take us, as readers, into the time and place of the observation so that we know what it was like to have been there. They capture and communicate someone else’s experience of the world in his or her own words. Qualitative data tell a story. ( Patton 2002:47 )

Qualitative researchers are asking different questions about the world than their quantitative colleagues. Even when researchers are employed in “mixed methods” research ( both quantitative and qualitative), they are using different methods to address different questions of the study. I do a lot of research about first-generation and working-college college students. Where a quantitative researcher might ask, how many first-generation college students graduate from college within four years? Or does first-generation college status predict high student debt loads? A qualitative researcher might ask, how does the college experience differ for first-generation college students? What is it like to carry a lot of debt, and how does this impact the ability to complete college on time? Both sets of questions are important, but they can only be answered using specific tools tailored to those questions. For the former, you need large numbers to make adequate comparisons. For the latter, you need to talk to people, find out what they are thinking and feeling, and try to inhabit their shoes for a little while so you can make sense of their experiences and beliefs.

Examples of Qualitative Research

You have probably seen examples of qualitative research before, but you might not have paid particular attention to how they were produced or realized that the accounts you were reading were the result of hours, months, even years of research “in the field.” A good qualitative researcher will present the product of their hours of work in such a way that it seems natural, even obvious, to the reader. Because we are trying to convey what it is like answers, qualitative research is often presented as stories – stories about how people live their lives, go to work, raise their children, interact with one another. In some ways, this can seem like reading particularly insightful novels. But, unlike novels, there are very specific rules and guidelines that qualitative researchers follow to ensure that the “story” they are telling is accurate , a truthful rendition of what life is like for the people being studied. Most of this textbook will be spent conveying those rules and guidelines. Let’s take a look, first, however, at three examples of what the end product looks like. I have chosen these three examples to showcase very different approaches to qualitative research, and I will return to these five examples throughout the book. They were all published as whole books (not chapters or articles), and they are worth the long read, if you have the time. I will also provide some information on how these books came to be and the length of time it takes to get them into book version. It is important you know about this process, and the rest of this textbook will help explain why it takes so long to conduct good qualitative research!

Example 1 : The End Game (ethnography + interviews)

Corey Abramson is a sociologist who teaches at the University of Arizona. In 2015 he published The End Game: How Inequality Shapes our Final Years ( 2015 ). This book was based on the research he did for his dissertation at the University of California-Berkeley in 2012. Actually, the dissertation was completed in 2012 but the work that was produced that took several years. The dissertation was entitled, “This is How We Live, This is How We Die: Social Stratification, Aging, and Health in Urban America” ( 2012 ). You can see how the book version, which was written for a more general audience, has a more engaging sound to it, but that the dissertation version, which is what academic faculty read and evaluate, has a more descriptive title. You can read the title and know that this is a study about aging and health and that the focus is going to be inequality and that the context (place) is going to be “urban America.” It’s a study about “how” people do something – in this case, how they deal with aging and death. This is the very first sentence of the dissertation, “From our first breath in the hospital to the day we die, we live in a society characterized by unequal opportunities for maintaining health and taking care of ourselves when ill. These disparities reflect persistent racial, socio-economic, and gender-based inequalities and contribute to their persistence over time” ( 1 ). What follows is a truthful account of how that is so.

Cory Abramson spent three years conducting his research in four different urban neighborhoods. We call the type of research he conducted “comparative ethnographic” because he designed his study to compare groups of seniors as they went about their everyday business. It’s comparative because he is comparing different groups (based on race, class, gender) and ethnographic because he is studying the culture/way of life of a group. [4] He had an educated guess, rooted in what previous research had shown and what social theory would suggest, that people’s experiences of aging differ by race, class, and gender. So, he set up a research design that would allow him to observe differences. He chose two primarily middle-class (one was racially diverse and the other was predominantly White) and two primarily poor neighborhoods (one was racially diverse and the other was predominantly African American). He hung out in senior centers and other places seniors congregated, watched them as they took the bus to get prescriptions filled, sat in doctor’s offices with them, and listened to their conversations with each other. He also conducted more formal conversations, what we call in-depth interviews, with sixty seniors from each of the four neighborhoods. As with a lot of fieldwork , as he got closer to the people involved, he both expanded and deepened his reach –

By the end of the project, I expanded my pool of general observations to include various settings frequented by seniors: apartment building common rooms, doctors’ offices, emergency rooms, pharmacies, senior centers, bars, parks, corner stores, shopping centers, pool halls, hair salons, coffee shops, and discount stores. Over the course of the three years of fieldwork, I observed hundreds of elders, and developed close relationships with a number of them. ( 2012:10 )

When Abramson rewrote the dissertation for a general audience and published his book in 2015, it got a lot of attention. It is a beautifully written book and it provided insight into a common human experience that we surprisingly know very little about. It won the Outstanding Publication Award by the American Sociological Association Section on Aging and the Life Course and was featured in the New York Times . The book was about aging, and specifically how inequality shapes the aging process, but it was also about much more than that. It helped show how inequality affects people’s everyday lives. For example, by observing the difficulties the poor had in setting up appointments and getting to them using public transportation and then being made to wait to see a doctor, sometimes in standing-room-only situations, when they are unwell, and then being treated dismissively by hospital staff, Abramson allowed readers to feel the material reality of being poor in the US. Comparing these examples with seniors with adequate supplemental insurance who have the resources to hire car services or have others assist them in arranging care when they need it, jolts the reader to understand and appreciate the difference money makes in the lives and circumstances of us all, and in a way that is different than simply reading a statistic (“80% of the poor do not keep regular doctor’s appointments”) does. Qualitative research can reach into spaces and places that often go unexamined and then reports back to the rest of us what it is like in those spaces and places.

Example 2: Racing for Innocence (Interviews + Content Analysis + Fictional Stories)

Jennifer Pierce is a Professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota. Trained as a sociologist, she has written a number of books about gender, race, and power. Her very first book, Gender Trials: Emotional Lives in Contemporary Law Firms, published in 1995, is a brilliant look at gender dynamics within two law firms. Pierce was a participant observer, working as a paralegal, and she observed how female lawyers and female paralegals struggled to obtain parity with their male colleagues.

Fifteen years later, she reexamined the context of the law firm to include an examination of racial dynamics, particularly how elite white men working in these spaces created and maintained a culture that made it difficult for both female attorneys and attorneys of color to thrive. Her book, Racing for Innocence: Whiteness, Gender, and the Backlash Against Affirmative Action , published in 2012, is an interesting and creative blending of interviews with attorneys, content analyses of popular films during this period, and fictional accounts of racial discrimination and sexual harassment. The law firm she chose to study had come under an affirmative action order and was in the process of implementing equitable policies and programs. She wanted to understand how recipients of white privilege (the elite white male attorneys) come to deny the role they play in reproducing inequality. Through interviews with attorneys who were present both before and during the affirmative action order, she creates a historical record of the “bad behavior” that necessitated new policies and procedures, but also, and more importantly , probed the participants ’ understanding of this behavior. It should come as no surprise that most (but not all) of the white male attorneys saw little need for change, and that almost everyone else had accounts that were different if not sometimes downright harrowing.

I’ve used Pierce’s book in my qualitative research methods courses as an example of an interesting blend of techniques and presentation styles. My students often have a very difficult time with the fictional accounts she includes. But they serve an important communicative purpose here. They are her attempts at presenting “both sides” to an objective reality – something happens (Pierce writes this something so it is very clear what it is), and the two participants to the thing that happened have very different understandings of what this means. By including these stories, Pierce presents one of her key findings – people remember things differently and these different memories tend to support their own ideological positions. I wonder what Pierce would have written had she studied the murder of George Floyd or the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 or any number of other historic events whose observers and participants record very different happenings.

This is not to say that qualitative researchers write fictional accounts. In fact, the use of fiction in our work remains controversial. When used, it must be clearly identified as a presentation device, as Pierce did. I include Racing for Innocence here as an example of the multiple uses of methods and techniques and the way that these work together to produce better understandings by us, the readers, of what Pierce studied. We readers come away with a better grasp of how and why advantaged people understate their own involvement in situations and structures that advantage them. This is normal human behavior , in other words. This case may have been about elite white men in law firms, but the general insights here can be transposed to other settings. Indeed, Pierce argues that more research needs to be done about the role elites play in the reproduction of inequality in the workplace in general.

Example 3: Amplified Advantage (Mixed Methods: Survey Interviews + Focus Groups + Archives)

The final example comes from my own work with college students, particularly the ways in which class background affects the experience of college and outcomes for graduates. I include it here as an example of mixed methods, and for the use of supplementary archival research. I’ve done a lot of research over the years on first-generation, low-income, and working-class college students. I am curious (and skeptical) about the possibility of social mobility today, particularly with the rising cost of college and growing inequality in general. As one of the few people in my family to go to college, I didn’t grow up with a lot of examples of what college was like or how to make the most of it. And when I entered graduate school, I realized with dismay that there were very few people like me there. I worried about becoming too different from my family and friends back home. And I wasn’t at all sure that I would ever be able to pay back the huge load of debt I was taking on. And so I wrote my dissertation and first two books about working-class college students. These books focused on experiences in college and the difficulties of navigating between family and school ( Hurst 2010a, 2012 ). But even after all that research, I kept coming back to wondering if working-class students who made it through college had an equal chance at finding good jobs and happy lives,

What happens to students after college? Do working-class students fare as well as their peers? I knew from my own experience that barriers continued through graduate school and beyond, and that my debtload was higher than that of my peers, constraining some of the choices I made when I graduated. To answer these questions, I designed a study of students attending small liberal arts colleges, the type of college that tried to equalize the experience of students by requiring all students to live on campus and offering small classes with lots of interaction with faculty. These private colleges tend to have more money and resources so they can provide financial aid to low-income students. They also attract some very wealthy students. Because they enroll students across the class spectrum, I would be able to draw comparisons. I ended up spending about four years collecting data, both a survey of more than 2000 students (which formed the basis for quantitative analyses) and qualitative data collection (interviews, focus groups, archival research, and participant observation). This is what we call a “mixed methods” approach because we use both quantitative and qualitative data. The survey gave me a large enough number of students that I could make comparisons of the how many kind, and to be able to say with some authority that there were in fact significant differences in experience and outcome by class (e.g., wealthier students earned more money and had little debt; working-class students often found jobs that were not in their chosen careers and were very affected by debt, upper-middle-class students were more likely to go to graduate school). But the survey analyses could not explain why these differences existed. For that, I needed to talk to people and ask them about their motivations and aspirations. I needed to understand their perceptions of the world, and it is very hard to do this through a survey.

By interviewing students and recent graduates, I was able to discern particular patterns and pathways through college and beyond. Specifically, I identified three versions of gameplay. Upper-middle-class students, whose parents were themselves professionals (academics, lawyers, managers of non-profits), saw college as the first stage of their education and took classes and declared majors that would prepare them for graduate school. They also spent a lot of time building their resumes, taking advantage of opportunities to help professors with their research, or study abroad. This helped them gain admission to highly-ranked graduate schools and interesting jobs in the public sector. In contrast, upper-class students, whose parents were wealthy and more likely to be engaged in business (as CEOs or other high-level directors), prioritized building social capital. They did this by joining fraternities and sororities and playing club sports. This helped them when they graduated as they called on friends and parents of friends to find them well-paying jobs. Finally, low-income, first-generation, and working-class students were often adrift. They took the classes that were recommended to them but without the knowledge of how to connect them to life beyond college. They spent time working and studying rather than partying or building their resumes. All three sets of students thought they were “doing college” the right way, the way that one was supposed to do college. But these three versions of gameplay led to distinct outcomes that advantaged some students over others. I titled my work “Amplified Advantage” to highlight this process.

These three examples, Cory Abramson’s The End Game , Jennifer Peirce’s Racing for Innocence, and my own Amplified Advantage, demonstrate the range of approaches and tools available to the qualitative researcher. They also help explain why qualitative research is so important. Numbers can tell us some things about the world, but they cannot get at the hearts and minds, motivations and beliefs of the people who make up the social worlds we inhabit. For that, we need tools that allow us to listen and make sense of what people tell us and show us. That is what good qualitative research offers us.

How Is This Book Organized?

This textbook is organized as a comprehensive introduction to the use of qualitative research methods. The first half covers general topics (e.g., approaches to qualitative research, ethics) and research design (necessary steps for building a successful qualitative research study). The second half reviews various data collection and data analysis techniques. Of course, building a successful qualitative research study requires some knowledge of data collection and data analysis so the chapters in the first half and the chapters in the second half should be read in conversation with each other. That said, each chapter can be read on its own for assistance with a particular narrow topic. In addition to the chapters, a helpful glossary can be found in the back of the book. Rummage around in the text as needed.

Chapter Descriptions

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Research Design Process. How does one begin a study? What is an appropriate research question? How is the study to be done – with what methods ? Involving what people and sites? Although qualitative research studies can and often do change and develop over the course of data collection, it is important to have a good idea of what the aims and goals of your study are at the outset and a good plan of how to achieve those aims and goals. Chapter 2 provides a road map of the process.

Chapter 3 describes and explains various ways of knowing the (social) world. What is it possible for us to know about how other people think or why they behave the way they do? What does it mean to say something is a “fact” or that it is “well-known” and understood? Qualitative researchers are particularly interested in these questions because of the types of research questions we are interested in answering (the how questions rather than the how many questions of quantitative research). Qualitative researchers have adopted various epistemological approaches. Chapter 3 will explore these approaches, highlighting interpretivist approaches that acknowledge the subjective aspect of reality – in other words, reality and knowledge are not objective but rather influenced by (interpreted through) people.

Chapter 4 focuses on the practical matter of developing a research question and finding the right approach to data collection. In any given study (think of Cory Abramson’s study of aging, for example), there may be years of collected data, thousands of observations , hundreds of pages of notes to read and review and make sense of. If all you had was a general interest area (“aging”), it would be very difficult, nearly impossible, to make sense of all of that data. The research question provides a helpful lens to refine and clarify (and simplify) everything you find and collect. For that reason, it is important to pull out that lens (articulate the research question) before you get started. In the case of the aging study, Cory Abramson was interested in how inequalities affected understandings and responses to aging. It is for this reason he designed a study that would allow him to compare different groups of seniors (some middle-class, some poor). Inevitably, he saw much more in the three years in the field than what made it into his book (or dissertation), but he was able to narrow down the complexity of the social world to provide us with this rich account linked to the original research question. Developing a good research question is thus crucial to effective design and a successful outcome. Chapter 4 will provide pointers on how to do this. Chapter 4 also provides an overview of general approaches taken to doing qualitative research and various “traditions of inquiry.”

Chapter 5 explores sampling . After you have developed a research question and have a general idea of how you will collect data (Observations? Interviews?), how do you go about actually finding people and sites to study? Although there is no “correct number” of people to interview , the sample should follow the research question and research design. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research involves nonprobability sampling. Chapter 5 explains why this is so and what qualities instead make a good sample for qualitative research.

Chapter 6 addresses the importance of reflexivity in qualitative research. Related to epistemological issues of how we know anything about the social world, qualitative researchers understand that we the researchers can never be truly neutral or outside the study we are conducting. As observers, we see things that make sense to us and may entirely miss what is either too obvious to note or too different to comprehend. As interviewers, as much as we would like to ask questions neutrally and remain in the background, interviews are a form of conversation, and the persons we interview are responding to us . Therefore, it is important to reflect upon our social positions and the knowledges and expectations we bring to our work and to work through any blind spots that we may have. Chapter 6 provides some examples of reflexivity in practice and exercises for thinking through one’s own biases.

Chapter 7 is a very important chapter and should not be overlooked. As a practical matter, it should also be read closely with chapters 6 and 8. Because qualitative researchers deal with people and the social world, it is imperative they develop and adhere to a strong ethical code for conducting research in a way that does not harm. There are legal requirements and guidelines for doing so (see chapter 8), but these requirements should not be considered synonymous with the ethical code required of us. Each researcher must constantly interrogate every aspect of their research, from research question to design to sample through analysis and presentation, to ensure that a minimum of harm (ideally, zero harm) is caused. Because each research project is unique, the standards of care for each study are unique. Part of being a professional researcher is carrying this code in one’s heart, being constantly attentive to what is required under particular circumstances. Chapter 7 provides various research scenarios and asks readers to weigh in on the suitability and appropriateness of the research. If done in a class setting, it will become obvious fairly quickly that there are often no absolutely correct answers, as different people find different aspects of the scenarios of greatest importance. Minimizing the harm in one area may require possible harm in another. Being attentive to all the ethical aspects of one’s research and making the best judgments one can, clearly and consciously, is an integral part of being a good researcher.

Chapter 8 , best to be read in conjunction with chapter 7, explains the role and importance of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) . Under federal guidelines, an IRB is an appropriately constituted group that has been formally designated to review and monitor research involving human subjects . Every institution that receives funding from the federal government has an IRB. IRBs have the authority to approve, require modifications to (to secure approval), or disapprove research. This group review serves an important role in the protection of the rights and welfare of human research subjects. Chapter 8 reviews the history of IRBs and the work they do but also argues that IRBs’ review of qualitative research is often both over-inclusive and under-inclusive. Some aspects of qualitative research are not well understood by IRBs, given that they were developed to prevent abuses in biomedical research. Thus, it is important not to rely on IRBs to identify all the potential ethical issues that emerge in our research (see chapter 7).

Chapter 9 provides help for getting started on formulating a research question based on gaps in the pre-existing literature. Research is conducted as part of a community, even if particular studies are done by single individuals (or small teams). What any of us finds and reports back becomes part of a much larger body of knowledge. Thus, it is important that we look at the larger body of knowledge before we actually start our bit to see how we can best contribute. When I first began interviewing working-class college students, there was only one other similar study I could find, and it hadn’t been published (it was a dissertation of students from poor backgrounds). But there had been a lot published by professors who had grown up working class and made it through college despite the odds. These accounts by “working-class academics” became an important inspiration for my study and helped me frame the questions I asked the students I interviewed. Chapter 9 will provide some pointers on how to search for relevant literature and how to use this to refine your research question.

Chapter 10 serves as a bridge between the two parts of the textbook, by introducing techniques of data collection. Qualitative research is often characterized by the form of data collection – for example, an ethnographic study is one that employs primarily observational data collection for the purpose of documenting and presenting a particular culture or ethnos. Techniques can be effectively combined, depending on the research question and the aims and goals of the study. Chapter 10 provides a general overview of all the various techniques and how they can be combined.

The second part of the textbook moves into the doing part of qualitative research once the research question has been articulated and the study designed. Chapters 11 through 17 cover various data collection techniques and approaches. Chapters 18 and 19 provide a very simple overview of basic data analysis. Chapter 20 covers communication of the data to various audiences, and in various formats.

Chapter 11 begins our overview of data collection techniques with a focus on interviewing , the true heart of qualitative research. This technique can serve as the primary and exclusive form of data collection, or it can be used to supplement other forms (observation, archival). An interview is distinct from a survey, where questions are asked in a specific order and often with a range of predetermined responses available. Interviews can be conversational and unstructured or, more conventionally, semistructured , where a general set of interview questions “guides” the conversation. Chapter 11 covers the basics of interviews: how to create interview guides, how many people to interview, where to conduct the interview, what to watch out for (how to prepare against things going wrong), and how to get the most out of your interviews.

Chapter 12 covers an important variant of interviewing, the focus group. Focus groups are semistructured interviews with a group of people moderated by a facilitator (the researcher or researcher’s assistant). Focus groups explicitly use group interaction to assist in the data collection. They are best used to collect data on a specific topic that is non-personal and shared among the group. For example, asking a group of college students about a common experience such as taking classes by remote delivery during the pandemic year of 2020. Chapter 12 covers the basics of focus groups: when to use them, how to create interview guides for them, and how to run them effectively.

Chapter 13 moves away from interviewing to the second major form of data collection unique to qualitative researchers – observation . Qualitative research that employs observation can best be understood as falling on a continuum of “fly on the wall” observation (e.g., observing how strangers interact in a doctor’s waiting room) to “participant” observation, where the researcher is also an active participant of the activity being observed. For example, an activist in the Black Lives Matter movement might want to study the movement, using her inside position to gain access to observe key meetings and interactions. Chapter 13 covers the basics of participant observation studies: advantages and disadvantages, gaining access, ethical concerns related to insider/outsider status and entanglement, and recording techniques.

Chapter 14 takes a closer look at “deep ethnography” – immersion in the field of a particularly long duration for the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of a particular culture or social world. Clifford Geertz called this “deep hanging out.” Whereas participant observation is often combined with semistructured interview techniques, deep ethnography’s commitment to “living the life” or experiencing the situation as it really is demands more conversational and natural interactions with people. These interactions and conversations may take place over months or even years. As can be expected, there are some costs to this technique, as well as some very large rewards when done competently. Chapter 14 provides some examples of deep ethnographies that will inspire some beginning researchers and intimidate others.

Chapter 15 moves in the opposite direction of deep ethnography, a technique that is the least positivist of all those discussed here, to mixed methods , a set of techniques that is arguably the most positivist . A mixed methods approach combines both qualitative data collection and quantitative data collection, commonly by combining a survey that is analyzed statistically (e.g., cross-tabs or regression analyses of large number probability samples) with semi-structured interviews. Although it is somewhat unconventional to discuss mixed methods in textbooks on qualitative research, I think it is important to recognize this often-employed approach here. There are several advantages and some disadvantages to taking this route. Chapter 16 will describe those advantages and disadvantages and provide some particular guidance on how to design a mixed methods study for maximum effectiveness.

Chapter 16 covers data collection that does not involve live human subjects at all – archival and historical research (chapter 17 will also cover data that does not involve interacting with human subjects). Sometimes people are unavailable to us, either because they do not wish to be interviewed or observed (as is the case with many “elites”) or because they are too far away, in both place and time. Fortunately, humans leave many traces and we can often answer questions we have by examining those traces. Special collections and archives can be goldmines for social science research. This chapter will explain how to access these places, for what purposes, and how to begin to make sense of what you find.

Chapter 17 covers another data collection area that does not involve face-to-face interaction with humans: content analysis . Although content analysis may be understood more properly as a data analysis technique, the term is often used for the entire approach, which will be the case here. Content analysis involves interpreting meaning from a body of text. This body of text might be something found in historical records (see chapter 16) or something collected by the researcher, as in the case of comment posts on a popular blog post. I once used the stories told by student loan debtors on the website studentloanjustice.org as the content I analyzed. Content analysis is particularly useful when attempting to define and understand prevalent stories or communication about a topic of interest. In other words, when we are less interested in what particular people (our defined sample) are doing or believing and more interested in what general narratives exist about a particular topic or issue. This chapter will explore different approaches to content analysis and provide helpful tips on how to collect data, how to turn that data into codes for analysis, and how to go about presenting what is found through analysis.

Where chapter 17 has pushed us towards data analysis, chapters 18 and 19 are all about what to do with the data collected, whether that data be in the form of interview transcripts or fieldnotes from observations. Chapter 18 introduces the basics of coding , the iterative process of assigning meaning to the data in order to both simplify and identify patterns. What is a code and how does it work? What are the different ways of coding data, and when should you use them? What is a codebook, and why do you need one? What does the process of data analysis look like?

Chapter 19 goes further into detail on codes and how to use them, particularly the later stages of coding in which our codes are refined, simplified, combined, and organized. These later rounds of coding are essential to getting the most out of the data we’ve collected. As students are often overwhelmed with the amount of data (a corpus of interview transcripts typically runs into the hundreds of pages; fieldnotes can easily top that), this chapter will also address time management and provide suggestions for dealing with chaos and reminders that feeling overwhelmed at the analysis stage is part of the process. By the end of the chapter, you should understand how “findings” are actually found.

The book concludes with a chapter dedicated to the effective presentation of data results. Chapter 20 covers the many ways that researchers communicate their studies to various audiences (academic, personal, political), what elements must be included in these various publications, and the hallmarks of excellent qualitative research that various audiences will be expecting. Because qualitative researchers are motivated by understanding and conveying meaning , effective communication is not only an essential skill but a fundamental facet of the entire research project. Ethnographers must be able to convey a certain sense of verisimilitude , the appearance of true reality. Those employing interviews must faithfully depict the key meanings of the people they interviewed in a way that rings true to those people, even if the end result surprises them. And all researchers must strive for clarity in their publications so that various audiences can understand what was found and why it is important.

The book concludes with a short chapter ( chapter 21 ) discussing the value of qualitative research. At the very end of this book, you will find a glossary of terms. I recommend you make frequent use of the glossary and add to each entry as you find examples. Although the entries are meant to be simple and clear, you may also want to paraphrase the definition—make it “make sense” to you, in other words. In addition to the standard reference list (all works cited here), you will find various recommendations for further reading at the end of many chapters. Some of these recommendations will be examples of excellent qualitative research, indicated with an asterisk (*) at the end of the entry. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. A good example of qualitative research can teach you more about conducting research than any textbook can (this one included). I highly recommend you select one to three examples from these lists and read them along with the textbook.

A final note on the choice of examples – you will note that many of the examples used in the text come from research on college students. This is for two reasons. First, as most of my research falls in this area, I am most familiar with this literature and have contacts with those who do research here and can call upon them to share their stories with you. Second, and more importantly, my hope is that this textbook reaches a wide audience of beginning researchers who study widely and deeply across the range of what can be known about the social world (from marine resources management to public policy to nursing to political science to sexuality studies and beyond). It is sometimes difficult to find examples that speak to all those research interests, however. A focus on college students is something that all readers can understand and, hopefully, appreciate, as we are all now or have been at some point a college student.

Patton’s Ten Suggestions for Doing Qualitative Research

The following ten suggestions were made by Michael Quinn Patton in his massive textbooks Qualitative Research and Evaluations Methods . This book is highly recommended for those of you who want more than an introduction to qualitative methods. It is the book I relied on heavily when I was a graduate student, although it is much easier to “dip into” when necessary than to read through as a whole. Patton is asked for “just one bit of advice” for a graduate student considering using qualitative research methods for their dissertation. Here are his top ten responses, in short form, heavily paraphrased, and with additional comments and emphases from me:

Make sure that a qualitative approach fits the research question. The following are the kinds of questions that call out for qualitative methods or where qualitative methods are particularly appropriate: questions about people’s experiences or how they make sense of those experiences; studying a person in their natural environment; researching a phenomenon so unknown that it would be impossible to study it with standardized instruments or other forms of quantitative data collection.
Study qualitative research by going to the original sources for the design and analysis appropriate to the particular approach you want to take (e.g., read Glaser and Straus if you are using grounded theory )
Find a dissertation adviser who understands or at least who will support your use of qualitative research methods. You are asking for trouble if your entire committee is populated by quantitative researchers, even if they are all very knowledgeable about the subject or focus of your study (maybe even more so if they are!)
Really work on design. Doing qualitative research effectively takes a lot of planning. Even if things are more flexible than in quantitative research, a good design is absolutely essential when starting out.
Practice data collection techniques, particularly interviewing and observing. There is definitely a set of learned skills here! Do not expect your first interview to be perfect. You will continue to grow as a researcher the more interviews you conduct, and you will probably come to understand yourself a bit more in the process, too. This is not easy, despite what others who don’t work with qualitative methods may assume (and tell you!)
Have a plan for analysis before you begin data collection. This is often a requirement in IRB protocols , although you can get away with writing something fairly simple. And even if you are taking an approach, such as grounded theory, that pushes you to remain fairly open-minded during the data collection process, you still want to know what you will be doing with all the data collected – creating a codebook? Writing analytical memos? Comparing cases? Having a plan in hand will also help prevent you from collecting too much extraneous data.
Be prepared to confront controversies both within the qualitative research community and between qualitative research and quantitative research. Don’t be naïve about this – qualitative research, particularly some approaches, will be derided by many more “positivist” researchers and audiences. For example, is an “n” of 1 really sufficient? Yes! But not everyone will agree.
Do not make the mistake of using qualitative research methods because someone told you it was easier, or because you are intimidated by the math required of statistical analyses. Qualitative research is difficult in its own way (and many would claim much more time-consuming than quantitative research). Do it because you are convinced it is right for your goals, aims, and research questions.
Find a good support network. This could be a research mentor, or it could be a group of friends or colleagues who are also using qualitative research, or it could be just someone who will listen to you work through all of the issues you will confront out in the field and during the writing process. Even though qualitative research often involves human subjects, it can be pretty lonely. A lot of times you will feel like you are working without a net. You have to create one for yourself. Take care of yourself.
And, finally, in the words of Patton, “Prepare to be changed. Looking deeply at other people’s lives will force you to look deeply at yourself.”
We will actually spend an entire chapter ( chapter 3 ) looking at this question in much more detail! ↵
Note that this might have been news to Europeans at the time, but many other societies around the world had also come to this conclusion through observation. There is often a tendency to equate “the scientific revolution” with the European world in which it took place, but this is somewhat misleading. ↵
Historians are a special case here. Historians have scrupulously and rigorously investigated the social world, but not for the purpose of understanding general laws about how things work, which is the point of scientific empirical research. History is often referred to as an idiographic field of study, meaning that it studies things that happened or are happening in themselves and not for general observations or conclusions. ↵
Don’t worry, we’ll spend more time later in this book unpacking the meaning of ethnography and other terms that are important here. Note the available glossary ↵

An approach to research that is “multimethod in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials – case study, personal experience, introspective, life story, interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts – that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings in individuals’ lives." ( Denzin and Lincoln 2005:2 ). Contrast with quantitative research .

In contrast to methodology, methods are more simply the practices and tools used to collect and analyze data. Examples of common methods in qualitative research are interviews , observations , and documentary analysis . One’s methodology should connect to one’s choice of methods, of course, but they are distinguishable terms. See also methodology .

A proposed explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation. The positing of a hypothesis is often the first step in quantitative research but not in qualitative research. Even when qualitative researchers offer possible explanations in advance of conducting research, they will tend to not use the word “hypothesis” as it conjures up the kind of positivist research they are not conducting.

The foundational question to be addressed by the research study. This will form the anchor of the research design, collection, and analysis. Note that in qualitative research, the research question may, and probably will, alter or develop during the course of the research.

An approach to research that collects and analyzes numerical data for the purpose of finding patterns and averages, making predictions, testing causal relationships, and generalizing results to wider populations. Contrast with qualitative research .

Data collection that takes place in real-world settings, referred to as “the field;” a key component of much Grounded Theory and ethnographic research. Patton ( 2002 ) calls fieldwork “the central activity of qualitative inquiry” where “‘going into the field’ means having direct and personal contact with people under study in their own environments – getting close to people and situations being studied to personally understand the realities of minutiae of daily life” (48).

The people who are the subjects of a qualitative study. In interview-based studies, they may be the respondents to the interviewer; for purposes of IRBs, they are often referred to as the human subjects of the research.

The branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. For researchers, it is important to recognize and adopt one of the many distinguishing epistemological perspectives as part of our understanding of what questions research can address or fully answer. See, e.g., constructivism , subjectivism, and objectivism .

An approach that refutes the possibility of neutrality in social science research. All research is “guided by a set of beliefs and feelings about the world and how it should be understood and studied” (Denzin and Lincoln 2005: 13). In contrast to positivism , interpretivism recognizes the social constructedness of reality, and researchers adopting this approach focus on capturing interpretations and understandings people have about the world rather than “the world” as it is (which is a chimera).

The cluster of data-collection tools and techniques that involve observing interactions between people, the behaviors, and practices of individuals (sometimes in contrast to what they say about how they act and behave), and cultures in context. Observational methods are the key tools employed by ethnographers and Grounded Theory .

Research based on data collected and analyzed by the research (in contrast to secondary “library” research).

The process of selecting people or other units of analysis to represent a larger population. In quantitative research, this representation is taken quite literally, as statistically representative. In qualitative research, in contrast, sample selection is often made based on potential to generate insight about a particular topic or phenomenon.

A method of data collection in which the researcher asks the participant questions; the answers to these questions are often recorded and transcribed verbatim. There are many different kinds of interviews - see also semistructured interview , structured interview , and unstructured interview .

The specific group of individuals that you will collect data from. Contrast population.

The practice of being conscious of and reflective upon one’s own social location and presence when conducting research. Because qualitative research often requires interaction with live humans, failing to take into account how one’s presence and prior expectations and social location affect the data collected and how analyzed may limit the reliability of the findings. This remains true even when dealing with historical archives and other content. Who we are matters when asking questions about how people experience the world because we, too, are a part of that world.

The science and practice of right conduct; in research, it is also the delineation of moral obligations towards research participants, communities to which we belong, and communities in which we conduct our research.

An administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of the institution with which it is affiliated. The IRB is charged with the responsibility of reviewing all research involving human participants. The IRB is concerned with protecting the welfare, rights, and privacy of human subjects. The IRB has the authority to approve, disapprove, monitor, and require modifications in all research activities that fall within its jurisdiction as specified by both the federal regulations and institutional policy.

Research, according to US federal guidelines, that involves “a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research: (1) Obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (2) Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens.”

One of the primary methodological traditions of inquiry in qualitative research, ethnography is the study of a group or group culture, largely through observational fieldwork supplemented by interviews. It is a form of fieldwork that may include participant-observation data collection. See chapter 14 for a discussion of deep ethnography.

A form of interview that follows a standard guide of questions asked, although the order of the questions may change to match the particular needs of each individual interview subject, and probing “follow-up” questions are often added during the course of the interview. The semi-structured interview is the primary form of interviewing used by qualitative researchers in the social sciences. It is sometimes referred to as an “in-depth” interview. See also interview and interview guide .

A method of observational data collection taking place in a natural setting; a form of fieldwork . The term encompasses a continuum of relative participation by the researcher (from full participant to “fly-on-the-wall” observer). This is also sometimes referred to as ethnography , although the latter is characterized by a greater focus on the culture under observation.

A research design that employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, as in the case of a survey supplemented by interviews.

An epistemological perspective that posits the existence of reality through sensory experience similar to empiricism but goes further in denying any non-sensory basis of thought or consciousness. In the social sciences, the term has roots in the proto-sociologist August Comte, who believed he could discern “laws” of society similar to the laws of natural science (e.g., gravity). The term has come to mean the kinds of measurable and verifiable science conducted by quantitative researchers and is thus used pejoratively by some qualitative researchers interested in interpretation, consciousness, and human understanding. Calling someone a “positivist” is often intended as an insult. See also empiricism and objectivism.

A place or collection containing records, documents, or other materials of historical interest; most universities have an archive of material related to the university’s history, as well as other “special collections” that may be of interest to members of the community.

A method of both data collection and data analysis in which a given content (textual, visual, graphic) is examined systematically and rigorously to identify meanings, themes, patterns and assumptions. Qualitative content analysis (QCA) is concerned with gathering and interpreting an existing body of material.

A word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data (Saldaña 2021:5).

Usually a verbatim written record of an interview or focus group discussion.

The primary form of data for fieldwork , participant observation , and ethnography . These notes, taken by the researcher either during the course of fieldwork or at day’s end, should include as many details as possible on what was observed and what was said. They should include clear identifiers of date, time, setting, and names (or identifying characteristics) of participants.

The process of labeling and organizing qualitative data to identify different themes and the relationships between them; a way of simplifying data to allow better management and retrieval of key themes and illustrative passages. See coding frame and codebook.

A methodological tradition of inquiry and approach to analyzing qualitative data in which theories emerge from a rigorous and systematic process of induction. This approach was pioneered by the sociologists Glaser and Strauss (1967). The elements of theory generated from comparative analysis of data are, first, conceptual categories and their properties and, second, hypotheses or generalized relations among the categories and their properties – “The constant comparing of many groups draws the [researcher’s] attention to their many similarities and differences. Considering these leads [the researcher] to generate abstract categories and their properties, which, since they emerge from the data, will clearly be important to a theory explaining the kind of behavior under observation.” (36).

A detailed description of any proposed research that involves human subjects for review by IRB. The protocol serves as the recipe for the conduct of the research activity. It includes the scientific rationale to justify the conduct of the study, the information necessary to conduct the study, the plan for managing and analyzing the data, and a discussion of the research ethical issues relevant to the research. Protocols for qualitative research often include interview guides, all documents related to recruitment, informed consent forms, very clear guidelines on the safekeeping of materials collected, and plans for de-identifying transcripts or other data that include personal identifying information.

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Methodology

What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

Published on June 19, 2020 by Pritha Bhandari . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.

Qualitative research is the opposite of quantitative research , which involves collecting and analyzing numerical data for statistical analysis.

Qualitative research is commonly used in the humanities and social sciences, in subjects such as anthropology, sociology, education, health sciences, history, etc.

How does social media shape body image in teenagers?
How do children and adults interpret healthy eating in the UK?
What factors influence employee retention in a large organization?
How is anxiety experienced around the world?
How can teachers integrate social issues into science curriculums?

Approaches to qualitative research, qualitative research methods, qualitative data analysis, advantages of qualitative research, disadvantages of qualitative research, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about qualitative research.

Qualitative research is used to understand how people experience the world. While there are many approaches to qualitative research, they tend to be flexible and focus on retaining rich meaning when interpreting data.

Common approaches include grounded theory, ethnography , action research , phenomenological research, and narrative research. They share some similarities, but emphasize different aims and perspectives.

Note that qualitative research is at risk for certain research biases including the Hawthorne effect , observer bias , recall bias , and social desirability bias . While not always totally avoidable, awareness of potential biases as you collect and analyze your data can prevent them from impacting your work too much.

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Each of the research approaches involve using one or more data collection methods . These are some of the most common qualitative methods:

Observations: recording what you have seen, heard, or encountered in detailed field notes.
Interviews: personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations.
Focus groups: asking questions and generating discussion among a group of people.
Surveys : distributing questionnaires with open-ended questions.
Secondary research: collecting existing data in the form of texts, images, audio or video recordings, etc.
You take field notes with observations and reflect on your own experiences of the company culture.
You distribute open-ended surveys to employees across all the company’s offices by email to find out if the culture varies across locations.
You conduct in-depth interviews with employees in your office to learn about their experiences and perspectives in greater detail.

Qualitative researchers often consider themselves “instruments” in research because all observations, interpretations and analyses are filtered through their own personal lens.

For this reason, when writing up your methodology for qualitative research, it’s important to reflect on your approach and to thoroughly explain the choices you made in collecting and analyzing the data.

Qualitative data can take the form of texts, photos, videos and audio. For example, you might be working with interview transcripts, survey responses, fieldnotes, or recordings from natural settings.

Most types of qualitative data analysis share the same five steps:

Prepare and organize your data. This may mean transcribing interviews or typing up fieldnotes.
Review and explore your data. Examine the data for patterns or repeated ideas that emerge.
Develop a data coding system. Based on your initial ideas, establish a set of codes that you can apply to categorize your data.
Assign codes to the data. For example, in qualitative survey analysis, this may mean going through each participant’s responses and tagging them with codes in a spreadsheet. As you go through your data, you can create new codes to add to your system if necessary.
Identify recurring themes. Link codes together into cohesive, overarching themes.

There are several specific approaches to analyzing qualitative data. Although these methods share similar processes, they emphasize different concepts.

Qualitative research often tries to preserve the voice and perspective of participants and can be adjusted as new research questions arise. Qualitative research is good for:

Flexibility

The data collection and analysis process can be adapted as new ideas or patterns emerge. They are not rigidly decided beforehand.

Natural settings

Data collection occurs in real-world contexts or in naturalistic ways.

Meaningful insights

Detailed descriptions of people’s experiences, feelings and perceptions can be used in designing, testing or improving systems or products.

Generation of new ideas

Open-ended responses mean that researchers can uncover novel problems or opportunities that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

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Researchers must consider practical and theoretical limitations in analyzing and interpreting their data. Qualitative research suffers from:

Unreliability

The real-world setting often makes qualitative research unreliable because of uncontrolled factors that affect the data.

Subjectivity

Due to the researcher’s primary role in analyzing and interpreting data, qualitative research cannot be replicated . The researcher decides what is important and what is irrelevant in data analysis, so interpretations of the same data can vary greatly.

Limited generalizability

Small samples are often used to gather detailed data about specific contexts. Despite rigorous analysis procedures, it is difficult to draw generalizable conclusions because the data may be biased and unrepresentative of the wider population .

Labor-intensive

Although software can be used to manage and record large amounts of text, data analysis often has to be checked or performed manually.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Chi square goodness of fit test
Degrees of freedom
Null hypothesis
Discourse analysis
Control groups
Mixed methods research
Non-probability sampling
Quantitative research
Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Research bias

Rosenthal effect
Implicit bias
Cognitive bias
Selection bias
Negativity bias
Status quo bias

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

There are five common approaches to qualitative research :

Grounded theory involves collecting data in order to develop new theories.
Ethnography involves immersing yourself in a group or organization to understand its culture.
Narrative research involves interpreting stories to understand how people make sense of their experiences and perceptions.
Phenomenological research involves investigating phenomena through people’s lived experiences.
Action research links theory and practice in several cycles to drive innovative changes.

Data collection is the systematic process by which observations or measurements are gathered in research. It is used in many different contexts by academics, governments, businesses, and other organizations.

There are various approaches to qualitative data analysis , but they all share five steps in common:

Prepare and organize your data.
Review and explore your data.
Develop a data coding system.
Assign codes to the data.
Identify recurring themes.

The specifics of each step depend on the focus of the analysis. Some common approaches include textual analysis , thematic analysis , and discourse analysis .

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> Doing Interview-based Qualitative Research
> Some examples of interpretative research

Book contents

Frontmatter
1 Introduction
2 Some examples of interpretative research
3 Planning and beginning an interpretative research project
4 Making decisions about participants
5 Designing the interview guide
6 Doing the interview
7 Preparing for analysis
8 Finding meanings in people's talk
9 Analyzing stories in interviews
10 Analyzing talk-as-action
11 Analyzing for implicit cultural meanings
12 Reporting your project

2 - Some examples of interpretative research

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2015

One of the best ways to learn about interpretative research is to get acquainted with some actual projects. In this chapter, we describe five projects. Our intention is to show what the researchers were interested in, how they specified what they wanted to study in order to make it researchable, how they gathered their material, some examples of analyses, and some findings that the projects yielded. The projects we describe concern diverse topics, locales, and peoples: childrearing practices in the USA and Taiwan; repeated re-hospitalizations of people in the USA who had severe mental illnesses; how heterosexual couples in the Nordic countries make sense of gender-equal practices in daily life; Canadian women's accounts of their depressive experiences; and the spiral of suicide-like behavior among adolescent girls in Sri Lanka.

We have two reasons for presenting these projects. First, we want to give a sense of what interpretative research is like; for instance, how such projects might be structured and the kinds of questions that researchers can answer. Second, we use some of these projects as examples when we describe different ways of analyzing interviews. Before you read further, let us point out that these five studies do not cover all types of interpretative research. The selected studies illustrate some possibilities of such research, not all such possibilities.

As you will see, two of the project descriptions in this chapter stem from studies in which one of us was the researcher. We do not include these studies because they are necessarily the best examples of interpretative research, but rather because we have full knowledge of all the details, including details that normally are not described in research articles. (Quite a lot of what goes on in research is omitted in research publications.) Furthermore, we have extensive material from these studies, including, for example, interview transcripts, our research journals, and unpublished reports.

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Some examples of interpretative research
Eva Magnusson , Umeå Universitet, Sweden , Jeanne Marecek , Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
Book: Doing Interview-based Qualitative Research
Online publication: 05 October 2015
Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107449893.002

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Qualitative Research Definition

Qualitative research methods and examples, advantages and disadvantages of qualitative approaches, qualitative vs. quantitative research, showing qualitative research skills on resumes, what is qualitative research methods and examples.

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What Is Qualitative Research? Examples and methods

Forage puts students first. Our blog articles are written independently by our editorial team. They have not been paid for or sponsored by our partners. See our full editorial guidelines .

Qualitative research seeks to understand people’s experiences and perspectives by studying social organizations and human behavior. Data in qualitative studies focuses on people’s beliefs and emotional responses. Qualitative data is especially helpful when a company wants to know how customers feel about a product or service, such as in user experience (UX) design or marketing .

Researchers use qualitative approaches to “determine answers to research questions on human behavior and the cultural values that drive our thinking and behavior,” says Margaret J. King, director at The Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis in Philadelphia.

Data in qualitative research typically can’t be assessed mathematically — the data is not sets of numbers or quantifiable information. Rather, it’s collections of images, words, notes on behaviors, descriptions of emotions, and historical context. Data is collected through observations, interviews, surveys, focus groups, and secondary research.

However, a qualitative study needs a “clear research question at its base,” notes King, and the research needs to be “observed, categorized, compared, and evaluated (along a scale or by a typology chart) by reference to a baseline in order to determine an outcome with value as new and reliable information.”

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Who Uses Qualitative Research?

Researchers in social sciences and humanities often use qualitative research methods, especially in specific areas of study like anthropology, history, education, and sociology.

Qualitative methods are also applicable in business, technology , and marketing spaces. For example, product managers use qualitative research to understand how target audiences respond to their products. They may use focus groups to gain insights from potential customers on product prototypes and improvements or surveys from existing customers to understand what changes users want to see.

Other careers that may involve qualitative research include:

Marketing analyst
UX and UI analyst
Market researcher
Statistician
Business analyst
Data analyst
Research assistant
Claims investigator

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Good research begins with a question, and this question informs the approach used by qualitative researchers.

Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is an inductive approach to theory development. In many forms of research, you begin with a hypothesis and then test it to see if you’re correct. In grounded theory, though, you go in without any assumptions and rely on the data you collect to form theories. You start with an open question about a phenomenon you are studying and collect and analyze data until you can form a fully-fledged theory from the information.

Example: A company wants to improve its brand and marketing strategies. The company performs a grounded theory approach to solving this problem by conducting interviews and surveys with past, current, and prospective customers. The information gathered from these methods helps the company understand what type of branding and marketing their customer-base likes and dislikes, allowing the team to inductively craft a new brand and marketing strategy from the data.

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Action Research

Action research is one part study and one part problem-solving . Through action research, analysts investigate a problem or weakness and develop practical solutions. The process of action research is cyclical —- researchers assess solutions for efficiency and effectiveness, and create further solutions to correct any issues found.

Example: A manager notices her employees struggle to cooperate on group projects. She carefully reviews how team members interact with each other and asks them all to respond to a survey about communication. Through the survey and study, she finds that guidelines for group projects are unclear. After changing the guidelines, she reviews her team again to see if there are any changes to their behavior.

>>MORE: Explore how action research helps consultants serve clients with Accenture’s Client Research and Problem Identification job simulation .

Phenomenological Research

Phenomenological research investigates a phenomenon in depth, looking at people’s experiences and understanding of the situation. This sort of study is primarily descriptive and seeks to broaden understanding around a specific incident and the people involved. Researchers in phenomenological studies must be careful to set aside any biases or assumptions because the information used should be entirely from the subjects themselves.

Example : A researcher wants to better understand the lived experience of college students with jobs. The purpose of this research is to gain insights into the pressures of college students who balance studying and working at the same time. The researcher conducts a series of interviews with several college students, learning about their past and current situations. Through the first few interviews, the researcher builds a relationship with the students. Later discussions are more targeted, with questions prompting the students to discuss their emotions surrounding both work and school and the difficulties and benefits arising from their situation. The researcher then analyzes these interviews, and identifies shared themes to contextualize the experiences of the students.

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Ethnography

Ethnography is an immersive study of a particular culture or community. Through ethnographic research, analysts aim to learn about a group’s conventions, social dynamics, and cultural norms. Some researchers use active observation methods, finding ways to integrate themselves into the culture as much as possible. Others use passive observation, watching closely from the outside but not fully immersing themselves.

Example: A company hires an external researcher to learn what their company’s culture is actually like. The researcher studies the social dynamics of the employees and may even look at how these employees interact with clients and with each other outside of the office. The goal is to deliver a comprehensive report of the company’s culture and the social dynamics of its employees.

Case Studies

A case study is a type of in-depth analysis of a situation. Case studies can focus on an organization, belief system, event, person, or action. The goal of a case study is to understand the phenomenon and put it in a real-world context. Case studies are also commonly used in marketing and sales to highlight the benefits of a company’s products or services.

Example: A business performs a case study of its competitors’ strategies. This case study aims to show why the company should adopt a specific business strategy. The study looks at each competitor’s business structure, marketing campaigns, product offerings, and historical growth trends. Then, using this data on other businesses, the researcher can theorize how that strategy would benefit their company.

>>MORE: Learn how companies use case study interviews to assess candidates’ research and problem-solving skills.

Qualitative research methods are great for generating new ideas. The exploratory nature of qualitative research means uncovering unexpected information, which often leads to new theories and further research topics. Additionally, qualitative findings feel meaningful. These studies focus on people, emotions, and societies and may feel closer to their communities than quantitative research that relies on more mathematical and logical data.

However, qualitative research can be unreliable at times. It’s difficult to replicate qualitative studies since people’s opinions and emotions can change quickly. For example, a focus group has a lot of variables that can affect the outcome, and that same group, asked the same questions a year later, may have entirely different responses. The data collection can also be difficult and time-consuming with qualitative research. Ultimately, interviewing people, reviewing surveys, and understanding and explaining human emotions can be incredibly complex.

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While qualitative research deals with data that isn’t easily manipulated by mathematics, quantitative research almost exclusively involves numbers and numerical data. Quantitative studies aim to find concrete details, like units of time, percentages, or statistics.

Besides the types of data used, a core difference between quantitative and qualitative research is the idea of control and replication.

“Qualitative is less subject to control (as in lab studies) and, therefore, less statistically measurable than quantitative approaches,” says King.

One person’s interview about a specific topic can have completely different responses than every other person’s interview since there are so many variables in qualitative research. On the other hand, quantitative studies can often be replicated. For instance, when testing the effects of a new medication, quantifiable data, like blood test results, can be repeated. Qualitative data, though, like how people feel about the medication, may differ from person to person and from moment to moment.

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You can show your experience with qualitative research on your resume in your skills or work experience sections and your cover letter .

In your skills section , you can list types of qualitative research you are skilled at, like conducting interviews, performing grounded theory research, or crafting case studies.
In your work or internship experience descriptions , you can highlight specific examples, like talking about a time you used action research to solve a complex issue at your last job.
In your cover letter , you can discuss in-depth qualitative research projects you’ve completed. For instance, say you spent a summer conducting ethnographic research or a whole semester running focus groups to get feedback on a product. You can talk about these experiences in your cover letter and note how these skills make you a great fit for the job.

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An Introduction to Qualitative Research

Student resources, chapter 2: the qualitative–quantitative distinction.

Doyle, L., Brady, A. -M., & Byrne, G. (2016). An overview of mixed methods research – revisited.

This article gives a short overview of mixed methods in an applied discipline.

Doyle, L., Brady, A.-M., & Byrne, G. (2016). An overview of mixed methods research – revisited. Journal of Research in Nursing , 21 (8), 623–635. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987116674257

Flick, U., Garms-Homolová, V., Herrmann, W. J., Kuck, J. and Röhnsch, G. (2012)‘I can’t prescribe something just because someone asks for it …’: Using mixed methods in the framework of triangulation

This article discusses the use of mixed methods in the context of a triangulation study as a way of strengthening the theoretical framework of mixed methods.

Flick, U., Garms-Homolová, V., Herrmann, W. J., Kuck, J. and Röhnsch, G. (2012) ‘I can’t prescribe something just because someone asks for It …’: Using mixed methods in the framework of triangulation. Journal of Mixed Methods Research , 6 (2), 97–110.

Flick, U. (2017). Mantras and myths: The disenchantment of mixed-methods research and revisiting triangulation as a perspective

This article tempers the excitement and expectations concerning mixed methods and illustrates why qualitative research still has its relevance in times of mixed methods.

Flick, U. (2017). Mantras and myths: The disenchantment of mixed-methods research and revisiting triangulation as a perspective. Qualitative Inquiry , 23 , 46–57.

How To Write The Results/Findings Chapter

For qualitative studies (dissertations & theses).

By: Jenna Crossley (PhD). Expert Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | August 2021

So, you’ve collected and analysed your qualitative data, and it’s time to write up your results chapter. But where do you start? In this post, we’ll guide you through the qualitative results chapter (also called the findings chapter), step by step.

Overview: Qualitative Results Chapter

What (exactly) the qualitative results chapter is
What to include in your results chapter
How to write up your results chapter
A few tips and tricks to help you along the way
Free results chapter template

What exactly is the results chapter?

The results chapter in a dissertation or thesis (or any formal academic research piece) is where you objectively and neutrally present the findings of your qualitative analysis (or analyses if you used multiple qualitative analysis methods ). This chapter can sometimes be combined with the discussion chapter (where you interpret the data and discuss its meaning), depending on your university’s preference. We’ll treat the two chapters as separate, as that’s the most common approach.

In contrast to a quantitative results chapter that presents numbers and statistics, a qualitative results chapter presents data primarily in the form of words . But this doesn’t mean that a qualitative study can’t have quantitative elements – you could, for example, present the number of times a theme or topic pops up in your data, depending on the analysis method(s) you adopt.

Adding a quantitative element to your study can add some rigour, which strengthens your results by providing more evidence for your claims. This is particularly common when using qualitative content analysis. Keep in mind though that qualitative research aims to achieve depth, richness and identify nuances , so don’t get tunnel vision by focusing on the numbers. They’re just cream on top in a qualitative analysis.

So, to recap, the results chapter is where you objectively present the findings of your analysis, without interpreting them (you’ll save that for the discussion chapter). With that out the way, let’s take a look at what you should include in your results chapter.

Free template for results section of a dissertation or thesis

What should you include in the results chapter?

As we’ve mentioned, your qualitative results chapter should purely present and describe your results , not interpret them in relation to the existing literature or your research questions . Any speculations or discussion about the implications of your findings should be reserved for your discussion chapter.

In your results chapter, you’ll want to talk about your analysis findings and whether or not they support your hypotheses (if you have any). Naturally, the exact contents of your results chapter will depend on which qualitative analysis method (or methods) you use. For example, if you were to use thematic analysis, you’d detail the themes identified in your analysis, using extracts from the transcripts or text to support your claims.

While you do need to present your analysis findings in some detail, you should avoid dumping large amounts of raw data in this chapter. Instead, focus on presenting the key findings and using a handful of select quotes or text extracts to support each finding . The reams of data and analysis can be relegated to your appendices.

While it’s tempting to include every last detail you found in your qualitative analysis, it is important to make sure that you report only that which is relevant to your research aims, objectives and research questions . Always keep these three components, as well as your hypotheses (if you have any) front of mind when writing the chapter and use them as a filter to decide what’s relevant and what’s not.

Need a helping hand?

How do I write the results chapter?

Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to look at how to structure your chapter. Broadly speaking, the results chapter needs to contain three core components – the introduction, the body and the concluding summary. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Section 1: Introduction

The first step is to craft a brief introduction to the chapter. This intro is vital as it provides some context for your findings. In your introduction, you should begin by reiterating your problem statement and research questions and highlight the purpose of your research . Make sure that you spell this out for the reader so that the rest of your chapter is well contextualised.

The next step is to briefly outline the structure of your results chapter. In other words, explain what’s included in the chapter and what the reader can expect. In the results chapter, you want to tell a story that is coherent, flows logically, and is easy to follow , so make sure that you plan your structure out well and convey that structure (at a high level), so that your reader is well oriented.

The introduction section shouldn’t be lengthy. Two or three short paragraphs should be more than adequate. It is merely an introduction and overview, not a summary of the chapter.

Pro Tip – To help you structure your chapter, it can be useful to set up an initial draft with (sub)section headings so that you’re able to easily (re)arrange parts of your chapter. This will also help your reader to follow your results and give your chapter some coherence. Be sure to use level-based heading styles (e.g. Heading 1, 2, 3 styles) to help the reader differentiate between levels visually. You can find these options in Word (example below).

Section 2: Body

Before we get started on what to include in the body of your chapter, it’s vital to remember that a results section should be completely objective and descriptive, not interpretive . So, be careful not to use words such as, “suggests” or “implies”, as these usually accompany some form of interpretation – that’s reserved for your discussion chapter.

The structure of your body section is very important , so make sure that you plan it out well. When planning out your qualitative results chapter, create sections and subsections so that you can maintain the flow of the story you’re trying to tell. Be sure to systematically and consistently describe each portion of results. Try to adopt a standardised structure for each portion so that you achieve a high level of consistency throughout the chapter.

For qualitative studies, results chapters tend to be structured according to themes , which makes it easier for readers to follow. However, keep in mind that not all results chapters have to be structured in this manner. For example, if you’re conducting a longitudinal study, you may want to structure your chapter chronologically. Similarly, you might structure this chapter based on your theoretical framework . The exact structure of your chapter will depend on the nature of your study , especially your research questions.

As you work through the body of your chapter, make sure that you use quotes to substantiate every one of your claims . You can present these quotes in italics to differentiate them from your own words. A general rule of thumb is to use at least two pieces of evidence per claim, and these should be linked directly to your data. Also, remember that you need to include all relevant results , not just the ones that support your assumptions or initial leanings.

In addition to including quotes, you can also link your claims to the data by using appendices , which you should reference throughout your text. When you reference, make sure that you include both the name/number of the appendix , as well as the line(s) from which you drew your data.

As referencing styles can vary greatly, be sure to look up the appendix referencing conventions of your university’s prescribed style (e.g. APA , Harvard, etc) and keep this consistent throughout your chapter.

Section 3: Concluding summary

The concluding summary is very important because it summarises your key findings and lays the foundation for the discussion chapter . Keep in mind that some readers may skip directly to this section (from the introduction section), so make sure that it can be read and understood well in isolation.

In this section, you need to remind the reader of the key findings. That is, the results that directly relate to your research questions and that you will build upon in your discussion chapter. Remember, your reader has digested a lot of information in this chapter, so you need to use this section to remind them of the most important takeaways.

Importantly, the concluding summary should not present any new information and should only describe what you’ve already presented in your chapter. Keep it concise – you’re not summarising the whole chapter, just the essentials.

Tips for writing an A-grade results chapter

Now that you’ve got a clear picture of what the qualitative results chapter is all about, here are some quick tips and reminders to help you craft a high-quality chapter:

Your results chapter should be written in the past tense . You’ve done the work already, so you want to tell the reader what you found , not what you are currently finding .
Make sure that you review your work multiple times and check that every claim is adequately backed up by evidence . Aim for at least two examples per claim, and make use of an appendix to reference these.
When writing up your results, make sure that you stick to only what is relevant . Don’t waste time on data that are not relevant to your research objectives and research questions.
Use headings and subheadings to create an intuitive, easy to follow piece of writing. Make use of Microsoft Word’s “heading styles” and be sure to use them consistently.
When referring to numerical data, tables and figures can provide a useful visual aid. When using these, make sure that they can be read and understood independent of your body text (i.e. that they can stand-alone). To this end, use clear, concise labels for each of your tables or figures and make use of colours to code indicate differences or hierarchy.
Similarly, when you’re writing up your chapter, it can be useful to highlight topics and themes in different colours . This can help you to differentiate between your data if you get a bit overwhelmed and will also help you to ensure that your results flow logically and coherently.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to help. If you’d like 1-on-1 help with your results chapter (or any chapter of your dissertation or thesis), check out our private dissertation coaching service here or book a free initial consultation to discuss how we can help you.

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20 Comments

This was extremely helpful. Thanks a lot guys

Hi, thanks for the great research support platform created by the gradcoach team!

I wanted to ask- While “suggests” or “implies” are interpretive terms, what terms could we use for the results chapter? Could you share some examples of descriptive terms?

I think that instead of saying, ‘The data suggested, or The data implied,’ you can say, ‘The Data showed or revealed, or illustrated or outlined’…If interview data, you may say Jane Doe illuminated or elaborated, or Jane Doe described… or Jane Doe expressed or stated.

I found this article very useful. Thank you very much for the outstanding work you are doing.

What if i have 3 different interviewees answering the same interview questions? Should i then present the results in form of the table with the division on the 3 perspectives or rather give a results in form of the text and highlight who said what?

I think this tabular representation of results is a great idea. I am doing it too along with the text. Thanks

That was helpful was struggling to separate the discussion from the findings

this was very useful, Thank you.

Very helpful, I am confident to write my results chapter now.

It is so helpful! It is a good job. Thank you very much!

Very useful, well explained. Many thanks.

Hello, I appreciate the way you provided a supportive comments about qualitative results presenting tips

I loved this! It explains everything needed, and it has helped me better organize my thoughts. What words should I not use while writing my results section, other than subjective ones.

Thanks a lot, it is really helpful

Thank you so much dear, i really appropriate your nice explanations about this.

Thank you so much for this! I was wondering if anyone could help with how to prproperly integrate quotations (Excerpts) from interviews in the finding chapter in a qualitative research. Please GradCoach, address this issue and provide examples.

what if I’m not doing any interviews myself and all the information is coming from case studies that have already done the research.

Very helpful thank you.

This was very helpful as I was wondering how to structure this part of my dissertation, to include the quotes… Thanks for this explanation

This is very helpful, thanks! I am required to write up my results chapters with the discussion in each of them – any tips and tricks for this strategy?

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What is qualitative data? How to understand, collect, and analyze it

A comprehensive guide to qualitative data, how it differs from quantitative data, and why it's a valuable tool for solving problems.

What is qualitative research?

Importance of qualitative data.

Differences between qualitative and quantitative data

Characteristics of qualitative data

Types of qualitative data.

Pros and cons
Collection methods

Everything that’s done digitally—from surfing the web to conducting a transaction—creates a data trail. And data analysts are constantly exploring and examining that trail, trying to find out ways to use data to make better decisions.

Different types of data define more and more of our interactions online—one of the most common and well-known being qualitative data or data that can be expressed in descriptions and feelings.

This guide takes a deep look at what qualitative data is, what it can be used for, how it’s collected, and how it’s important to you.

Key takeaways:

Qualitative data gives insights into people's thoughts and feelings through detailed descriptions from interviews, observations, and visual materials.

The three main types of qualitative data are binary, nominal, and ordinal.

There are many different types of qualitative data, like data in research, work, and statistics.

Both qualitative and quantitative research are conducted through surveys and interviews, among other methods.

What is qualitative data?

Qualitative data is descriptive information that captures observable qualities and characteristics not quantifiable by numbers. It is collected from interviews, focus groups, observations, and documents offering insights into experiences, perceptions, and behaviors.

Qualitative data analysis cannot be counted or measured because it describes the data. It refers to the words or labels used to describe certain characteristics or traits.

This type of data answers the "why" or "how" behind the analysis . It’s often used to conduct open-ended studies, allowing those partaking to show their true feelings and actions without direction.

Think of qualitative data as the type of data you’d get if you were to ask someone why they did something—what was their reasoning?

Qualitative research not only helps to collect data, it also gives the researcher a chance to understand the trends and meanings of natural actions.

This type of data research focuses on the qualities of users—the actions behind the numbers. Qualitative research is the descriptive and subjective research that helps bring context to quantitative data.

It’s flexible and iterative. For example:

The music had a light tone that filled the kitchen.

Every blue button had white lettering, while the red buttons had yellow.

The little girl had red hair with a white hat.

Qualitative data is important in determining the frequency of traits or characteristics.

Understanding your data can help you understand your customers, users, or visitors better. And, when you understand your audience better, you can make them happier. First-party data , which is collected directly from your own audience, is especially valuable as it provides the most accurate and relevant insights for your specific needs.

Qualitative data helps the market researcher answer questions like what issues or problems they are facing, what motivates them, and what improvements can be made.

Examples of qualitative data

You’ve most likely used qualitative data today. This type of data is found in your everyday work and in statistics all over the web. Here are some examples of qualitative data in descriptions, research, work, and statistics.

Qualitative data in descriptions

Analysis of qualitative data requires descriptive context in order to support its theories and hypothesis. Here are some core examples of descriptive qualitative data:

The extremely short woman has curly hair and brilliant blue eyes.

A bright white light pierced the small dark space.

The plump fish jumped out of crystal-clear waters.

The fluffy brown dog jumped over the tall white fence.

A soft cloud floated by an otherwise bright blue sky.

Qualitative data in research

Qualitative data research methods allow analysts to use contextual information to create theories and models. These open- and closed-ended questions can be helpful to understand the reasoning behind motivations, frustrations, and actions —in any type of case.

Some examples of qualitative data collection in research:

What country do you work in?

What is your most recent job title?

How do you rank in the search engines?

How do you rate your purchase: good, bad, or exceptional?

Qualitative data at work

Professionals in various industries use qualitative observations in their work and research. Examples of this type of data in the workforce include:

A manager gives an employee constructive criticism on their skills. "Your efforts are solid and you understand the product knowledge well, just have patience."

A judge shares the verdict with the courtroom. "The man was found not guilty and is free to go."

A sales associate collects feedback from customers. "The customer said the check-out button did not work.”

A teacher gives feedback to their student. "I gave you an A on this project because of your dedication and commitment to the cause."

A digital marketer watches a session replay to get an understand of how users use their platform.

Qualitative data in statistics

Qualitative data can provide important statistics about any industry, any group of users, and any products. Here are some examples of qualitative data set collections in statistics:

The age, weight, and height of a group of body types to determine clothing size charts.

The origin, gender, and location for a census reading.

The name, title, and profession of people attending a conference to aid in follow-up emails.

Difference between qualitative and quantitative data

Qualitative and quantitative data are much different, but bring equal value to any data analysis. When it comes to understanding data research, there are different analysis methods, collection types and uses.

Here are the differences between qualitative and quantitative data :

Qualitative data is individualized, descriptive, and relating to emotions.

Quantitative data is countable, measurable and relating to numbers.

Qualitative data helps us understand why, or how something occurred behind certain behaviors .

Quantitative data helps us understand how many, how much, or how often something occurred.

Qualitative data is subjective and personalized.

Quantitative data is fixed and ubiquitous.

Qualitative research methods are conducted through observations or in-depth interviews.

Quantitative research methods are conducted through surveys and factual measuring.

Qualitative data is analyzed by grouping the data into classifications and topics.

Quantitative data is analyzed using statistical analysis.

Both provide a ton of value for any data collection and are key to truly understanding trending use cases and patterns in behavior . Dig deeper into quantitative data examples .

The characteristics of qualitative data are vast. There are a few traits that stand out amongst other data that should be understood for successful data analysis.

Descriptive : describing or classifying in an objective and nonjudgmental way.

Detailed : to give an account in words with full particulars.

Open-ended : having no determined limit or boundary.

Non-numerical : not containing numbers.

Subjective : based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

With qualitative data samples, these traits can help you understand the meaning behind the equation—or for lack of a better term, what’s behind the results.

As we narrow down the importance of qualitative data, you should understand that there are different data types. Data analysts often categorize qualitative data into three types:

1. Binary data

Binary data is numerically represented by a combination of zeros and ones. Binary data is the only category of data that can be directly understood and executed by a computer.

Data analysts use binary data to create statistical models that predict how often the study subject is likely to be positive or negative, up or down, right or wrong—based on a zero scale.

2. Nominal data

Nominal data , also referred to as “named, labeled data” or “nominal scaled data,” is any type of data used to label something without giving it a numerical value.

Data analysts use nominal data to determine statistically significant differences between sets of qualitative data.

For example, a multiple-choice test to profile participants’ skills in a study.

3. Ordinal data

Ordinal data is qualitative data categorized in a particular order or on a ranging scale. When researchers use ordinal data, the order of the qualitative information matters more than the difference between each category. Data analysts might use ordinal data when creating charts, while researchers might use it to classify groups, such as age, gender, or class.

For example, a Net Promoter Score ( NPS ) survey has results that are on a 0-10 satisfaction scale.

When should you use qualitative research?

One of the important things to learn about qualitative data is when to use it.

Qualitative data is used when you need to determine the particular trends of traits or characteristics or to form parameters for larger data sets to be observed. Qualitative data provides the means by which analysts can quantify the world around them.

You would use qualitative data to help answer questions like who your customers are, what issues or problems they’re facing, and where they need to focus their attention, so you can better solve those issues.

Qualitative data is widely used to understand language consumers speak—so apply it where necessary.

Pros and cons of qualitative data

Qualitative data is a detailed, deep understanding of a topic through observing and interviewing a sample of people. There are both benefits and drawbacks to this type of data.

Pros of qualitative data

Qualitative research is affordable and requires a small sample size.

Qualitative data provides a predictive element and provides specific insight into development.

Qualitative research focuses on the details of personal choice and uses these individual choices as workable data.

Qualitative research works to remove bias from its collected data by using an open-ended response process.

Qualitative data research provides useful content in any thematic analysis.

Cons of qualitative data

Qualitative data can be time-consuming to collect and can be difficult to scale out to a larger population.

Qualitative research creates subjective information points.

Qualitative research can involve significant levels of repetition and is often difficult to replicate.

Qualitative research relies on the knowledge of the researchers.

Qualitative research does not offer statistical analysis, for that, you have to turn to quantitative data.

Qualitative data collection methods

Here are the main approaches and collection methods of qualitative studies and data:

1. Interviews

Personal interviews are one of the most commonly used deductive data collection methods for qualitative research, because of its personal approach.

The interview may be informal and unstructured and is often conversational in nature. The interviewer or the researcher collects data directly from the interviewee one-to-one. Mostly the open-ended questions are asked spontaneously, with the interviewer allowing the flow of the interview to dictate the questions and answers.

The point of the interview is to obtain how the interviewee feels about the subject.

2. Focus groups

Focus groups are held in a discussion-style setting with 6 to 10 people. The moderator is assigned to monitor and dictate the discussion based on focus questions.

Depending on the qualitative data that is needed, the members of the group may have something in common. For example, a researcher conducting a study on dog sled runners understands dogs, sleds, and snow and would have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter.

3. Data records

Data doesn’t start with your collection, it has most likely been obtained in the past.

Using already existing reliable data and similar sources of information as the data source is a surefire way to obtain qualitative research. Much like going to a library, you can review books and other reference material to collect relevant data that can be used in the research.

For example, if you were to study the trends of dictionaries, you would want to know the past history of every dictionary made, starting with the very first one.

4. Observation

Observation is a longstanding qualitative data collection method, where the researcher simply observes behaviors in a participant's natural setting. They keep a keen eye on the participants and take down transcript notes to find out innate responses and reactions without prompting.

Typically observation is an inductive approach, which is used when a researcher has very little or no idea of the research phenomenon.

Other documentation methods, such as video recordings, audio recordings, and photo imagery, may be used to obtain qualitative data.

Further reading: Site observations through heatmaps

5. Case studies

Case studies are an intensive analysis of an individual person or community with a stress on developmental factors in relation to the environment.

In this method, data is gathered by an in-depth analysis and is used to understand both simple and complex subjects. The goal of a case study is to see how using a product or service has positively impacted the subject, showcasing a solution to a problem or the like.

6. Longitudinal studies

A longitudinal study is where people who share a single characteristic are studied over a period of time.

This data collection method is performed on the same subject repeatedly over an extended period. It is an observational research method that goes on for a few years and, in some cases, decades. The goal is to find correlations of subjects with common traits.

For example, medical researchers conduct longitudinal studies to ascertain the effects of a drug or the symptoms related.

Qualitative data analysis tools

And, as with anything—you aren’t able to be successful without the right tools. Here are a few qualitative data analysis tools to have in your toolbox:

MAXQDA —A qualitative and mixed-method data analysis software

Fullstory —A behavioral data and analysis platform

ATLAS.ti —A powerful qualitative data tool that offers AI-based functions

Quirkos —Qualitative data analysis software for the simple learner

Dedoose —A project management and analysis tool for collaboration and teamwork

Taguette —A free, open-source, data analysis and organization platform

MonkeyLearn —AI-powered, qualitative text analysis, and visualization tool

Qualtrics —Experience management software

Frequently asked questions about qualitative data

Is qualitative data subjective.

Yes, categorical data or qualitative data is information that cannot generally be proven. For instance, the statement “the chair is too small” depends on what it is used for and by whom it is being used.

Who uses qualitative data?

If you’re interested in the following, you should use qualitative data:

Understand emotional connections to your brand

Identify obstacles in any funnel, for example with session replay

Uncover confusion about your messaging

Locate product feature gaps

Improve usability of your website, app, or experience

Observe how people talk, think, and feel about your brand

Learn how an organization selects vendors and partners

What are the steps for qualitative data?

1. Transcribe your data : Once you’ve collected all the data, you need to transcribe it. The first step in analyzing your data is arranging it systematically. Arranging data means converting all the data into a text format.

2. Organize your data : Go back to your research objectives and organize the data based on the questions asked. Arrange your research objective in a table, so it appears visually clear. Avoid working with unorganized data, there will be no conclusive results obtained.

3. Categorize and assign the data : The coding process of qualitative data means categorizing and assigning variables, properties, and patterns. Coding is an important step in qualitative data analysis, as you can derive theories from relevant research findings. You can then begin to gain in-depth insight into the data that help make informed decisions.

4. Validate your data : Data validation is a recurring step that should be followed throughout the research process. There are two sides to validating data: the accuracy and reliability of your research methods, which is the extent to which the methods produce accurate data consistently.

5. Conclude the data analysis : Present your data in a report that shares the method used to conduct the research studies, the outcomes, and the projected hypothesis of your findings in any related areas.

Is qualitative data better than quantitative data?

One is not better than the other, rather they work cohesively to create a better overall data analysis experience. Understanding the importance of both qualitative and quantitative data is going to produce the best possible data content analysis outcome for any study.

Further reading : Qualitative vs. quantitative data — what's the difference?

Learn how to analyze qualitative data. We show examples of how to collect, organize, and analyze qualitative data to gain insights.

Here's how you can quantitatively analyze your qualitative digital experience data to unlock an entirely new workflow.

Quantitative data is used for calculations or obtaining numerical results. Learn about the different types of quantitative data uses cases and more.

Qualitative and quantitative data differ on what they emphasize—qualitative focuses on meaning, and quantitative emphasizes statistical analysis.

Chapter 2. Research Design Getting Started. When I teach undergraduates qualitative research methods, the final product of the course is a "research proposal" that incorporates all they have learned and enlists the knowledge they have learned about qualitative research methods in an original design that addresses a particular research question.

Chapter 2. Research Design. Chapter 3. A Short Chapter on Epistemology (How Do We Know What We Know?) ... Finding a Research Question and Approaches to Qualitative Research. Chapter 4. Finding a Research Question and Approaches to Qualitative Research ... Examples of "Sample" Sections in Journal Articles . 70 . Final Words . 72 . Further ...

1. Recognize that there is no simple distinction between qualitative and quan-titative research 2. Understand the uses and limitations of both forms of research 3. Understand that qualitative researchrefers to a wide range of models and research practices 4. Work out whether qualitative methods are appropriate to your research topic

Part 2 (Chapters 6 - 13): Research Design. Chapter 6: Formulating a Research Question; Chapter 7: Choosing and Constructing the Research Design; Chapter 8: Planning the Process in Qualitative Research; Chapter 9: Ethics of Doing Qualitative Research; Chapter 10: Using The Existing Literature; Chapter 11: Access, Fields Relations, and ...

Chapter 2: Foundations of qualitative research - paradigms, philosophical underpinnings ... Methodologies allow for complexity and contradiction in data. Discourse analysis, feminist post-structuralism and queer research are examples. Ontology: ... (Review the example in Chapter 3 of exploring seniors' perceptions of health and loneliness.

Although qualitative research studies can and often do change and develop over the course of data collection, it is important to have a good idea of what the aims and goals of your study are at the outset and a good plan of how to achieve those aims and goals. Chapter 2 provides a road map of the process.

The chapter concludes by describing the to acknowledge their own research lens and its approval procedure and some of the challenges potential effect when making research choices. it poses. In qualitative research, such a lens plays an. The field-based nature of qualitative research creates a distinctive challenge.

The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, second edition, presents a comprehensive retrospective and prospective review of the field of qualitative research. Original, accessible chapters written by interdisciplinary leaders in the field make this a critical reference work. Filled with robust examples from real-world research; ample ...

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS 15 1. The assumptions provide guidance for conducting your research. They ... CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS 17 a time, holding the rest of the environment con- ... As an example, positivist researchers might look at discrimination in the workplace, sorting ...

res thata research topic can and should be researched. Even though the literature review is the second chapter of the dissertation, students begin this process first since an extensive review of the literatur. is necessary for developing a proposed research topi. ps are taken, a dissertati.

Researchers in social sciences and humanities often use qualitative research methods, especially in specific areas of study like anthropology, history, education, and sociology. Qualitative methods are also applicable in business, technology, and marketing spaces. For example, product managers use qualitative research to understand how target ...

Freedom from a preemptive research design should never be seen as release from a requirement to have a research design. In Chapter 2, we established how a research purpose points to a research question and how the question informs the choice of method. But these choices do not remove the task of designing a qualitative project. Therefore we ...

Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 6 (2), 97-110. Flick, U. (2017). Mantras and myths: The disenchantment of mixed-methods research and revisiting triangulation as a perspective. This article tempers the excitement and expectations concerning mixed methods and illustrates why qualitative research still has its relevance in times of mixed methods.

Male workforce participation has been on a continuously downward trend as well, since the 1960s decreasing from 84% participation in 1960 to 71% in 2008 with projections. showing a continuing decrease (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). Men 25-54 years of age have a. workforce participation rate of 89.3% (U.S. Census, 2008).

Qualitative Research Design: Chapter 2. In this chapter, Maxwell focuses on the importance of having a clear understanding of the goals of your research, as they are an important part of the research design and justification of your research. Maxwell refers to goals in the broadest sense including "motives, desires, and purposes" of your ...

INTRODUCTION. A review of literature is a classification and evaluation of what accredited scholars and. researchers have written on a topic, organized according to a guiding concept such as a ...

In the following pages you will find a sample of the full BGS research qualitative paper. pleted research paper beginning with thetitle page and working through each c. 46. Full Title of the Paper. Your Full Name (as it appears on your transcript) Trinity Washington University.

Qualitative data in research. Qualitative data research methods allow analysts to use contextual information to create theories and models. These open- and closed-ended questions can be helpful to understand the reasoning behind motivations, frustrations, and actions—in any type of case. Some examples of qualitative data collection in research:

CHAPTER 2: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH. What is qualitative research? Qualitative research is a type of scientific research. In general terms, scientific research consists of an investigation that: - seeks answers to a question - systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question • collects evidence - produces findings that were not determined in advance - produces findings ...

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qualitative research chapter 2 examples

Chapter 2: Foundations of qualitative research – paradigms, philosophical underpinnings

Learning outcomes

What is a paradigm ?

Table 2.1. Research paradigms in social science

Table 2.2. Examples of paradigms within published research

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Chapter 1. Introduction

Why an Open Access Textbook on Qualitative Research Methods?

What is Research?

What is Qualitative Research?

Examples of Qualitative Research

Example 1 : The End Game (ethnography + interviews)

Example 2: Racing for Innocence (Interviews + Content Analysis + Fictional Stories)

Example 3: Amplified Advantage (Mixed Methods: Survey Interviews + Focus Groups + Archives)

How Is This Book Organized?

Chapter Descriptions

Recommended Reading: Other Qualitative Research Textbooks

Patton’s Ten Suggestions for Doing Qualitative Research

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What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

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