Reality is complex, constructed and

ultimately subjective
Research is an interpretative processes
Knowledge is best achieved by conducting
research in the natural setting

Qualitative research
Qualitative research is unstructured.
Qualitative designs are emergent rather
than fixed.
The results of qualitative research are
unpredictable.
Morse, 1994
What is qualitative research?
Qualitative research seeks out the why, not the how of its topic through the analysis of unstructured
information things like interview transcripts, open ended survey responses, emails, notes, feedback forms,
photos and videos. It doesnt just rely on statistics or numbers, which are the domain of quantitative
researchers.
Qualitative research is used to gain insight into people's attitudes, behaviours, value systems, concerns,
motivations, aspirations, culture or lifestyles. Its used to inform business decisions, policy formation,
communication and research. Focus groups, in-depth interviews, content analysis, ethnography,
evaluation and semiotics are among the many formal approaches that are used, but qualitative research
also involves the analysis of any unstructured material, including customer feedback forms, reports or media
clips.
Collecting and analyzing this unstructured information can be messy and time consuming using manual
methods. When faced with volumes of materials, finding themes and extracting meaning can be a daunting
task. Gill Ereaut, Director,
Linguistic Landscapes, UK

QSR International Pty Ltd 2007

Qualitative research is all about exploring issues, understanding phenomena, and

answering questions.
Shank (2002) defines qualitative research as a form of systematic empirical inquiry into
meaning (p. 5). By systematic he means planned, ordered and public, following rules
agreed upon by members of the qualitative research community. By empirical, he means
that this type of inquiry is grounded in the world of experience. Inquiry into meaning says
researchers try to understand how others make sense of their experience. Denzin and
Lincoln (2000) claim that qualitative research involves an interpretive and naturalistic
approach: This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings,
attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people
bring to them (p. 3).

Qualitative methods provide results that are usually rich and detailed, offering many
ideas and concepts to inform your program. Qualitative methods can tell you how
people feel and what they think, but cannot tell you how many of your audience feel
or think that way.
Qualitative research is designed to reveal a target audiences range of behavior and the perceptions that
drive it with reference to specific topics or issues. It uses in-depth studies of small groups of people to guide
and support the construction of hypotheses. The results of qualitative research are descriptive rather than
predictive.

Qualitative research focuses on subjective data that is not easily coded

into numbers. The emphasis is on words and feelings rather than
numbers. Qualitative research tends to work with fewer subjects or
respondents (cases) but analyses each case to a deeper level.