Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Karisma Amjad
Lecturer
Department of Social Work
Asian University of Bangladesh

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What is qualitative research?
• Qualitative research uses a naturalistic approach that seeks to
understand phenomena in context- specific settings, such as
"real world setting [where] the researcher dose not attempt
to manipulate the phenomenon of interest" (Patton, 2001).

• Qualitative research, badly defined, means "any kind of

research that produces findings not arrived at by means of
statistical procedures or other means of qualification" (Strauss
& Corbin, 1990) and instead, the kind of research that
produces findings arrived from real-world settings where the
"phenomenon of interest unfold naturally" (Patton, 2001). 2
What is qualitative research?
• Investigation
• Deeper understanding
• Finding meaning
• Investigating the subtle interplay of a number of factors
• Experiences
• Behaviors
• Politics
• Sensitive or high risk issues
• Non- mainstream ideas or behaviors
• Social and cultural influences
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The Nature of Qualitative Research

• Qualitative Research is the collection, analysis, and in

order to gain insights into a particular phenomenon
of interest

• Useful for describing and answering questions about

participants and contexts

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Goal of Qualitative Research
• Create and test new interpretation
• Develop new empirically grounded theories
• Small sample sizes- purposefully chosen
• Often allows study of phenomena (objects) in their everyday
context
• Information rich data
• Concentrates on words and objections to express reality and
attempts to describe people in natural situations
• Findings must be grounded in empirical material
• Methods must be appropriately selected and applied to the object
under study 5
Why do Qualitative Research?

• Understand meaning people attach to their

experiences
• Creative way of developing theories
• Provides insight into new areas of research
• Can be combined with qualitative methods
• Research phenomena cannot always be understood
properly by measuring them objectively
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Characteristics of qualitative research
• a concern with meaning, especially the subjective meanings of
participants
• a commitment to viewing (and sometimes explaining) Phenomena from
the perspective of those being studied
• an awareness and consideration of the researcher's role and perspective
• naturalistic inquiry in the 'real world' rather than in experimental or
manipulated settings
• a concern with micro- social processes (i.e. their manifestation at the level
of individuals, groups or organization)
• a mainly inductive rather than deductive analytical process (i. e. broadly,
deriving theories or findings from empirical research data, rather than
deducting a hypothesis a priori which is then tested by empirical research)
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Characteristic of Qualitative Methods
(Bryman,1992)
• Emphasis on individual interpretation
 the understanding principle in qualitative research is that social
phenomena are best understood from the person' s own
perspective
• Focus on description
 to appreciate why people adopt certain views, behave that do etc.
it is important to gain a through understanding of the person and
their social situation
Not just understanding WHAT people do, but understanding WHY
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Characteristics of Qualitative Methods

• Flexibility
# beginning with a minimum of preconceived ideas
• Emergent theories
# theories emergency as data is collected (not
before)
• Obtaining rich data
• Researcher as research instrument
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Six General Steps
• Identify the research topic
• Review the literature
• Select the participants
• Collect data
• Analyze the data
• Report the result

These are the same steps as those used in qualitative research

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Qualitative Research Output

• New theories
• Description of previously unexplained situation or
behavior
• Narratives about experiences
• New ways to comprehend events or behaviours *
New ideas
• Understanding
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Research Methodology

• Survey
• Ethnographic
• Case study
• Discourse analysis
• Documentation survey/ content analysis

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Qualitative Data Collection techniques
• Interview
 Individual,
 In-depth Focus group discussion
 Observation
• Participation observation
 In- depth case study
 Social mapping
 Questionnaire
• Mail Questionnaire
 Documentation
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What is quantitative research?
• Qualitative research is described by the terms
‘empiricism’ (Leach, 1990) and ‘positivism’ (Duffy, 1985).
It derives from the scientific method used in the physical
sciences (Cormack, 1991).
• This research approach is an objective, formal systematic
process in which numerical data findings.
• It describes, tests, and examines cause and effect
relationship (Burns & Grove, 1987), using a deductive
process of knowledge attainment (Duffy, 1985). 14
Characteristics of Quantitative research
• Qualitative methodologies test theory deductively from existing
knowledge, through developing hypothesized relationship and
proposed outcomes for study.

• Henwood and Pidgeon (1993) stated that qualitative research deals

with quantitates and numbers.

• Its measures concepts or variables that are predetermined

objectively and to examine the relationship between them
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numerically and statistically.
Data Collection
Qualitative Research Design
• Direct observation
• Key informatics
• Documents
• Photographs/Films
• Taste/Touch/ Smell
• Symbolism/ Imagery
• In- depth Interviewing
• Focus groups
• Sampling observation Unit
• Sampling Unit of Analysis
Quantitative Research Design
• Questionnaires
• Direct observation
• Archival Data
• Compendia of statistics (wide Ranging)
• Secondary data Banks
• Sampling observation Unit
• Sampling Unit of Analysis
• Time dimension
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Thanks
Karisma Amjad
Lecturer
Department of Social Work
Asian University of Bangladesh
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