Qualitative Data Research

Qualitative data analysis

C² works with clients to identify the optimal methodology based on their individual research objectives. Research techniques include but are not limited to:

• Focus groups
• Mini-groups
• Dyads/triads/one-on-one interviews
• Friendship pairs
• Ethnographic/consumer immersion interviews
• “Man on the street” interviews
• Ongoing panels

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative data is an observer-participant research methodology used in naturalistic settings as opposed to the controlled environment of a laboratory. Subjectivity issues potentially arising from qualitative observation is regulated by the establishment of important variables before initiating a qualitative study. The primary goal of coordinators pursuing a qualitative research design method is to collect data, analyze interaction of variables affecting the data and generate hypotheses or theories from the received data.

What is qualitative data and how is it obtained?

Qualitative data can be culled from the following sources:

• Surveys
• Participant or non-participant observation
• Field notes (such as observing animals behaving in the wild and making detailed notes)
• Structured interviews (questions are predetermined and follow a linear pattern)
• Unstructured interviews (mostly open-ended questions)
• Social media platforms
• Document analysis
• Focus group discussions
• Questionnaires based on ratings scales (where answers range from strongly disagree to strongly agree–the Likert Rating Scale, for example)

Characteristics of Qualitative Data:

• Emergent and natural
• Interpretative
• Non-random and hypothetical
• Inductive and insightful
• Researchers represent the fundamental instruments essential to the success of a qualitative research study
• Context sensitive
• Contributes to the construction of concepts, theories and previously unknown abstractions as opposed to theories that already exists

Advantages of using qualitative research methodologies to analyze behavior that may or may not be controlled by select variables include the ability to delve deeply into cases and issues that are not constrained by fixed categories and the comprehensiveness of analysis permitted by naturalistic inquiry. For these reasons, fieldwork is essential to accumulating exceptional qualitative data that captures the genuine effects of environmental variables interacting and influencing entities comprising the context of a valid, qualitative research program.