Chittagong University

Social Science Research Institute (SSRI)

Training Workshop on Research Methodology
5-7 October 2015

Data Collection Methods and Procedures in Qualitative Research

Professor Farid Uddin Ahamed

9/22/2018 1
 What is Qualitative Research?

• Concerned with opinions, feelings and experiences.

• Describes social phenomena as they occur naturally - no attempt is
made to manipulate the situation - just understand and describe.
• Understanding is sought by taking a holistic perspective/approach,
rather than looking at a set of variables.
• Qualitative data is used to help us to develop concepts and theories.
• Qualitative data is collected through direct encounters i.e. key-
informant interview or observation

9/22/2018 2
 Methods of collecting qualitative data

 There are many forms of qualitative data one can collect, some of
them are:
• Verbal Data: Interviews of many types including key-informant
and Group interviews (FGD)
• Multi-focus data: Observation, Case study and Ethnography
• Visual Data: Photography (photos as instrument and object of
research), Film (film analysis as an instrument of research),
Video (using video in qualitative research)

9/22/2018 3
 What are the various strategies of interview
methods in qualitative research?

 Three basic strategies of interview:

• You can use interviews based on questions.
• Alternatively, you can use peoples’ stories as collectable data for
your research. Using narratives is embedded again in special
forms of interviews that tell you the story of their lives or more
specific situations with the issues that you want to study.
• The third alternative is not to interview a single person but to
collect data from groups making themto discuss the issue you
want to study. Here you can use group discussion and the more
trendy approach of focus groups.

9/22/2018 4
 What are types of interview method?
Structured interview:
• The interviewer may just go with the aim of discussing a limited
number of topics, sometimes as few as just one or two.
• Interviewer may also involve finding out more about a specific topic
with structure or a preconceived plan as to how they will deal with the
topic.
• In structured interview, the questions may be phrased in order in order
to get limited range of responses, for example, ‘Do you rate our
workshop as ‘very good, good or poor'
Semi structured:
• A series of open ended questions based on the topic areas the researcher
wants to cove.
• This method gives researcher more freedom to probe the interviewee to
elaborate a new line of inquiry introduced by what the interviewee is
saying
9/22/2018 5
 How to plan focused interview?

• After presentation of a uniform stimulus (a film, a radio broadcast,

etc) its impact on the interviewee is studied using an interview
guide.
• The aim of the interview is to provide a basis for interpreting
significant findings on the impact of media in mass communication.
• This enables a distinction to be made between the ‘subjective’ facts
of the situation and interviewee’s subjective definitions of the
situation with a view to comparing them.

9/22/2018 6
 Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

What is FGD?
• The FGD is used when it is to obtain information from a group
rather than individuals.
• Group interviews can be used when there are limited resources
(time, manpower, finances).
• If the research topics require a collective discussion in order to
understand the circumstances, behaviour or opinions, FGD is
effective.
• In FGD, greater insights may be developed about the group
dynamics
• The aim of the focus group is to make use of participants' feelings,
perceptions and opinions.

9/22/2018 7
 What is key-informant interview?
• Key informant interviews are qualitative in-depth interviews with a
small number of people who have specialized knowledge about the
study problem and the community.
• As the key informants are knowledgeable on the study problem, they
provide in-depth information that in most cases is not possible to obtain
from general informants; moreover, they may be used to validating the
information already gathered from others.
• The purpose of key informant interviews is to collect information from
a wide range of people—including community leaders, professionals,
or residents—who have first-hand knowledge about the community.
• A key informant interviews are a loosely structured conversation with
people who have specialized knowledge about the topic you wish to
understand.
• Key informant interviews are developed by researchers/ethnographers
to help understand cultures of his own or other than their own.

9/22/2018 Continue………8
 What is key-informant interview?

• Key informant interviews let you explore a subject in depth. They are
likely to provide needed information, ideas, and insights on a particular
subject. Also help in selecting other informants and making the setting
easier for the researcher in many ways (residence, food, etc.).
• Key informant interviews have some advantages over other forms of
data collection. They are easier and less expensive than focus groups
since they involve only one respondent and one interviewer. In fact, it is
one of the simplest research techniques in qualitative research in terms
of time and cost.
• Gathering information through key-informant interviews is effective
when cultural barriers make survey or focus group research difficult.

9/22/2018 9
 Who are the key-informants?

• Key informants are those special individuals who like to talk, who
know the setting, and who understand the study objectives.
• A good key informant can convey this specialized knowledge to
you, for example, interviews with school inspection specialists
might help you understand the gaps in their services and school
drops out which may help you to target your program to fill these
gaps. 

• Key informants can help you to understand the specialized system or
processes that he/she is familiar with, for example, key informant
interviews with community leaders, who know their communities
well, can provide insights information of the community.

9/22/2018 10
 How to conduct key-informant interviews?
• Let your informant know about your purpose and the ultimate use of the
information.
• Start with an easy question; for example, like introductory how long your
respondents have been in their jobs? This will set them at ease and provide a
context for analysis.
• Ask your most important questions first because you might run out of time. This
is especially important with one to one conversation.
• Ask the same (or parallel) questions to several respondents because,for example,
you might want to ask all respondents connected with a particular program (or
system) with list things so answers from a number of different people in a system
can reveal programming obstacles.
• Do not move to a new topic prematurely because if you leave important issues
hanging you might run out of time before you can return to them. Also, you will
get more useful information by discussing one subject at a time. 

• Do not let the interview go much longer because people you chose as key
informants are likely to be busy. The quality of the conversation can deteriorate if
they feel rushed.
• 9/22/2018
Record the interview, if possible also take notes. 11
 What is case study Method?

• A case study is defined as the study of a social phenomenon.

• A ‘case’ is generally a bounded entity (a person, organization,
behavioral condition, event, or any other social phenomenon).
• Case study is an in-depth study of distinct event(s) for
comprehensive understanding of a single or small number of sets in
the study context, for example, the history of a patient and his
complains, the account of a life-cycle or ritual etc.

9/22/2018 12
 Common Sources of Doing Case Studies

• Direct observations, for example of human actions or a physical

environment.
• Interviews, for example, open-ended conversations with key
participants. 

• Archival records, for example, student records. 

• Documents, for example, newspaper articles, letters and e-mails,
reports etc.

9/22/2018 13
 What are the advantages of case study method
of qualitative data collection?

• Case study method is responsible for intensive study of a unit. It is

the investigation and exploration of an event thoroughly and deeply.
• Since case studies are social unit in its entire perspectives. It means
there is no sampling in case study method. 

• It compares different type of facts about the study of a unity.
• It gives the analytical power of a person to increase knowledge
about a social phenomenon.
• Case study method provides grounds for generalization of data for
illustrating statistical findings.
• It is a comprehensive method of data collection in social research.

9/22/2018 14
 Disadvantage of case study method of data
collection

• Due to as narrow focuses a case study has limited representatives

and generalization is impossible. 

• No classification is possible due to studying a small unit. 

• It is a subjective method rather than objective.

9/22/2018 15
 Observation

• Observation is a method watching what people do.

• Participant and nonparticipant observation are at two ends of a
continuum, and most researchers engage in a mix of participant and
nonparticipant observation, depending upon the context and
circumstances.
• But regardless of level of participation, the most important element
of fieldwork is being there—to observe, to ask seemingly stupid yet
insightful questions, and to write down what is seen and heard.

9/22/2018 16
 What is participant observation?
• Participant observation is a qualitative method frequently used in social science
research. It is based on a long tradition of ethnographic study in anthropology.
• In Participant Observation, the researcher shares as intimately as possible in the
life of the people and their activities in the setting under study.
• The method usually involves the researcher's spending considerable time ‘in the
field’ as anthropologists do.
• The hallmark of participant observation is interaction between the researcher and
the participants.
• The participant observer comes to a social situation with two purposes:
 to engage in activities appropriate to the situation and
 to observe the activities, people, and physical aspects of the situation.
• Participant observers take part in whatever is going on in the site in order to
better understand the insider, or emic experience.
• In participant observation, the observer becomes ‘part’ of the environment, or the
cultural context.
9/22/2018 17
 Nonparticipant Observation

• Nonparticipant observation is one of several methods for collecting

data considered to be relatively unobtrusive.
• In nonparticipant observation, the observer does not interact to a
great degree with those he or she is observing. The researcher
primarily observes and records, and has no specific role as a
participant.
• Nonparticipant observation is often used to study focused aspects of
a setting in order to answer specific questions within a study.

9/22/2018 18
 What is ethnography?

• Ethnography is a systematic study of a particular cultural group or

phenomenon, based upon extensive fieldwork in one or more
selected settings.
• Ethnographic research focuses on cultural interpretation for the
purpose of description.
• The ethnography is a data collection instrument.

• Ethnographers use multiple data sources and methods of data
collection to increase the validity and trustworthiness of the
findings.
• Ethnography brings complex, personal, and thoughtful insights and
meaning to the inner workings of social settings.
• Ethnography is an exciting enterprise. It reveals what people think,
and shows the cultural meanings of what they use in everyday life.
• Ethnography is both methods and methodology

9/22/2018 19
What do ethnographers do during their time in the
field?
• In ethnographic study, fieldwork is a fundamental part of that study.
Ethnographic fieldwork involves documenting people’s beliefs and
practices from the people’s own perspectives.
• Some classical fieldwork Ethnographic Studies: Margaret Mead (1928)
went to the Pacific Islands for nine months to document the ways of
adolescence; Clifford Geertz (1965) studied religious practices in Bali;
Sherry Ortner (1978) traveled to Tibet to study the relationships among
cultural symbols in the organization of a society.
• They gather information by watching and talking with people, and by
reading available reports and records.
• Observation is a main tool in an ethnographer’s toolbox.
• Ethnographers use informal interviews to help classify and organize an
individual’s perception of reality. In fact, the best ethnographic interview is
more like a conversation than a traditional interview.
• In addition, case study, FGD, life-history, key-informant techniques are all
or some of them may be used in an ethnographic study.
9/22/2018 20
 Thank You All

9/22/2018 21