Qualitative Research Unit

Qualitative research is a methodology for scientific inquiry that emphasizes the depth and richness of context and voice in understanding social phenomena.

This methodology is constructive or interpretive (Lim, 2023) aiming to unveil the “what,” “why,” “when,” “where,” “who,” and “how” (or the “5W1H”) behind social behaviors and interactions, rather than merely quantifying occurrences. In the exploration of the subjective experiences, perspectives, and meanings that individuals attribute to their social world, qualitative research embraces openness and employs a variety of equivalent methods such as open-ended questions, in-depth and focus group interviews, and participant observation, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of the phenomena.

Read more about qualitative research here.

Understanding the differences between qualitative data and quantitative data is crucial to understanding the value of qualitative data in the research. See the table here, which distinguishes how qualitative inquiry differs from quantiative inquiry. 

To understand the IRB approval process for qualitative research protocol, please visit Weill Cornell Medicine Research Team Resources, which will provide you with the basic information to get your IRB submission started. Protocol templates for Social, Behavioral, or Educational (SBE) research are best suited for qualitative research and can be found here. 

After collecting qualitative data, open-ended inquiry methods, the mainstay of qualitative techniques, are essential in formative, hypothesis-generating research for exploring contextual factors and rationales for risk behaviors that do not fit neatly into predefined categories.

In program evaluations, qualitative methods can assist the investigator in diagnosing what went right or wrong as part of a process evaluation or in troubleshooting why a program might not be working as well as expected. When designing an intervention, qualitative methods can be useful in exploring dimensions of acceptability to increase the chances of intervention acceptance and success, or helping to define outcome measures to be used in a later quantitative study. Read more about how to approach qualitative data analysis here.

Analyzing qualitative data can be a rewarding process, as it helps uncover deeper insights into people's experiences, emotions, and motivations.

Here are the key steps to get you started:

• Gather and Collect Data: Begin by collecting your qualitative data. This can come from various sources such as interviews, open-ended survey responses, focus groups, observations, and documents.
• Organize and Structure Data: Once you have your data, organize it in a way that makes it manageable. This might involve transcribing interviews, categorizing responses, or digitizing handwritten notes.
• Coding the Data: Coding involves labeling sections of your data with tags or codes that represent different themes or concepts. This helps in identifying patterns and making sense of the data. You can do this manually or use software tools like NVivo or Atlas.
• Analyze the Data: Look for patterns, themes, and insights within your coded data. This step involves interpreting the data to understand the underlying meanings and relationships. Techniques like thematic analysis, content analysis, or narrative analysis can be useful.
• Iterate: As qualitative research is inherently interpretive, it requires the researcher(s) to reflect on their processes in recursive, iterative re-coding and re-analysis of their data to understand how their prior perspectives and viewpoints may contribute to or detract from their analysis methods.    

Read more about analyzing qualitative data here.