Chapter 3.1: Qualitative methods

Qualitative research involves disciplined inquiry that examines people’s lives, experiences and behaviours, and the stories and meanings individuals ascribe to them.4 It can also investigate organisational functioning, relationships between individuals and groups, and social environments.

This approach to research can involve the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials such as case studies, personal experience, life stories, interviews, observations, and cultural texts. It may bring new insights into the experiences of individuals, groups or communities, or into issues such as environmental change, public policies and planning. Qualitative research may also have quantitative elements or aspects.

Qualitative research contributes to the development of new knowledge by:

• enabling researchers to gain a better understanding of complex concepts or social processes;
• investigating how communities and individuals interpret and make sense of their experiences;
• eliciting contextual data in order to improve the validity of quantitative tools such as surveys.

Commonly used approaches to data collection in qualitative research

Data in qualitative research can be collected using a range of approaches. The following are some common examples.

• Interviews involve researchers talking to one or more participants, where the categories of response are focused but not necessarily pre-determined. Interviews are usually recorded by audio- or video-tape, or notes. These records are research data in themselves, but also may be transcribed. Interviews are usually conducted in locations mutually acceptable to participants and interviewers.
  Interviews can take many forms, including:
    • structured interviews, which follow a set list of questions;
    • semi-structured interviews, which use an interview guide listing a set of issues to be explored;
    • unstructured interviews, which involve spontaneous generation of questions in the natural flow of interaction, and where the interview is driven by the interviewee rather than the interviewer.
  The reason for choosing an ‘informant’ for interview may vary. For example:
    • Key informant interviews are conducted with individuals or groups with specific knowledge or expertise about the issue being investigated; for example, interviews with political leaders about historical events in which they played important roles.
    • Sample informant interviews are conducted with people whose experience or expertise is taken as representative of a broader group; for example, interviews with ordinary people about their experiences during a time of social turmoil or difficulty, or interviews with employees of a particular firm.
• Life story or oral history can involve structured, semi-structured orunstructured interviews. This is a form of research commonly undertaken in the humanities.
• Focus groups of participants discuss a set of research questions or topics. This may entail the researcher acting as a moderator for the discussion.
• Observation involves the researcher observing participant/s in their own environment, or in the environment being studied. Data collection through observation can be structured or unstructured, with the observer as a collaborative participant (participant observation) or external to the environment.
• Archival research refers to materials that are usually but not necessarily deposited in official or private libraries or archives.
• On-line research includes conducting on-line real-time group discussions using web-based chat-room technology (also known as E-groups) through the use of electronic bulletin boards and moderated email groups. On-line recruitment of participants provides the opportunity for extensive global participation in research. Data collection and dissemination can also be utilised on-line.
• Action research is often community- or organisation-based and is carried out in the field. This approach involves testing ideas in practice as a means of improving social, economic or environmental conditions and increasing knowledge. Action research proceeds in a spiral of steps consisting of planning, action, and evaluation. It provides a basis for further planning of critically informed action.

Values, principles and themes that must inform the design, ethical review and conduct of all human research are set out in Sections 1 and of this National Statement. The guidelines and headings below show how those values, principles and themes apply specifically in research that is the subject of this chapter.

Guidelines

Research merit and integrity

3.1.1 A range of rrelationships between participants and researchers may develop as a result of the duration and nature of the interaction. Where such relationships threaten to compromise the research role, researchers must consider whether to modify those relationships, or to modify or even discontinue the research.

3.1.2 Where a researcher has professional skills (for example, counselling) that become relevant to the relationship with a participant, the researcher needs to decide, when continuing the research, whether:

1. it is ethically acceptable to exercise those skills; or
2. to refer that participant to another professional.

3.1.3 Researcher have a duty to inform participants whenever they are acting in a non-research professional role.

3.1.4 Qualitative research emphasises the significance of particular contexts and settings. It is not necessary to be able to generalise the results of qualitative research. Even so, qualitative research should aim to provide a sufficiently detailed account and/or analysis to enable others to determine whether there are other circumstances to which the findings may be applicable.

3.1.5 If a sampling strategy is used, the most common type is purposive sampling, which aims at the selection of information-rich cases relevant to the research question. While random and representative sampling are not precluded in qualitative studies, many sampling frames are grounded in the specific aims of the research question.

3.1.6 The rigour of a qualitative study should not be judged on sample size. When sampling is appropriate, the objectives and theoretical basis of the research should determine the size of the sample and the sampling strategy. For example, some qualitative methods use a principle of ‘saturation’, where sampling occurs until no new information is being obtained. This is only one of several criteria for assessing sample size.

3.1.7 Research proposals that include sampling should clearly describe the recruitment strategy and criteria for selecting participants.

3.1.8 The rigour of qualitative research should be assessed primarily by criteria of quality and credibility of data collection and analysis, and not by matters of validity and reliability as defined in research designs that employ quantitative methods.

Justice

3.1.9 The criteria for inclusion and exclusion of participants in qualitative research are often complex. For this reason, researchers should state these criteria clearly and be able to justify them (see also paragraphs 3.1.14 to 3.1.16).

Beneficence

3.1.10 Participants are often easily identifiable (for example, as members of small communities or groups, or as key informants), and the information they provide may be sensitive. For these reasons, care should be taken that participants are not identifiable by the information they provide, unless they have agreed to be identified. Special care should be taken to protect the identity of participants when disseminating information and storing material.

3.1.11 Where possible, participants should be informed about any potential to be identified in the results of research even if identifiers, such as name and address, are removed.

3.1.12 Qualitative research that explores sensitive topics in depth may involve emotional and other risks to both participant and researcher. There should be clear protocols for dealing with distress that might be experienced by participants.

3.1.13 Predicting what topics are likely to lead to distress will not always be easy. Researchers should have sufficient training to help them in making such predictions.

3.1.14 Qualitative research may involve methods of data collection that require the development of personal relationships with participants. Researchers should reflect on the impact that they may have on the participants and vice versa, and as far as possible should describe in the research proposal any anticipated impact of this nature.

Respect

3.1.15 Researchers should consider whether respect for the participants requires that the accuracy or completeness of each interview transcript should be verified by the relevant participant before analysis is complete.

3.1.16 The method of providing consent in qualitative research depends on various factors, including the type of research, its level of sensitivity, its cultural context, and the potential vulnerability of the participants. In some contexts, the protection of vulnerable participants may favour a formal, written process of consent; in other contexts, an oral process.

3.1.17 In some circumstances, consent may be implied by participation, for example the return of a survey, or the answering of a verbal question (see also paragraph 2.2.5).
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4 Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (eds) 2000. Handbook of Qualitative Research, Sage: California.