Example of Qualitative research methods


Introduction:
Qualitative research methods are initiated in social and human behavioral science. Qualitative methods are designed in a way that brings actual information and the perception of target variables. Qualitative research is based on several psychological variables that examine what people think and why they think. There are some systematic ways to conduct a qualitative study in the field level that vary regarding the research topics and its aim. Qualitative research may conduct in several ways that mainly depend on the research outline. 
 The qualitative methods are used to survey questions about experience, sense, and perspective, sometimes from the viewpoint of the participant. These data are generally not responsive to including or assessing. The Qualitative research systems contain ‘group discussions’ for examining beliefs of people, attitudes, and concepts of normative behavior of participant; ‘semi-structured interviews’, to look for observations on a focused topic or, with key informants, for contextual data or an institutional perception; ‘in-depth interviews’ to understand a circumstance, involvement, or event from an individual perspective; and ‘analysis of  record texts and documents’, such as administrative reports, scholar’s  articles, websites or diaries, to learn about distributed or private knowledge (Hammarberg, Kirkman, & de Lacey, 11 January 2016).

Qualitative research methods have been applied to disclose, for example, possible problems in implementing a proposed experimental of elective single embryo transfer, where small-group considerations enabled staff to explain their own resistance, leading to an amended method (Porter & Bhattacharya, 2005).
  
Qualitative methods:
The Research method is a procedure of study on how data collected from the field and analyze it. There are several qualitative research methods such interview, focus group discussion, participatory research method, visual method and ethnography that discuss below:

1.      Interview method 
There are three types of interview like unstructured, semi-structured, and structured. Conducting in-depth interviews for data collection is one of the most common qualitative research methods. It is an individual interview that is agreed out with one respondent at a time. The interview mainly contains some sets of predetermined questions that ask the participant. The interview can be conducted through face to face or on a telephone call that usually half an hour to two hours regarding the question and research’s skills.

2.      Focus group discussion (FGD):
It is a form of qualitative research involving interviews in which a group of people is asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement idea or packaging. Through this method, researchers will try to find out the problem of the study. Does it exist in our society? It remains what is the recommendation of the participant for reducing this problem. Here have arranged FGD for generating actual data from the participant.
FGD is often used as a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of social issues regarding the study topic. The objective of FGD is to obtain data from a selected group of persons rather than from a statistically representative ( Nyumba, Wilson, Derrick, & Mukherjee, 2018)

3.      Participatory research method:
The Participatory research method is another way of qualitative research. Towards the planning and conducting the research development with those individuals whose life-world and significant actions are under study. Therefore, this means that the goal of the survey and the research questions develop out of the integration of two perspectives—that of science and of practice life.
The participatory research method allows to co-researchers to step back cognitively from familiar routines, forms of interaction, and power relationships in order to deeply question and rethink conventional clarifications of situations and approaches. It is meaningful considering the presence of participatory research elements in research designs of qualitative research. Besides, we believe that exactly because of the participation of all study partners is the essential guiding principle for this research method a methodological design that can be confidential as a participatory design procedure in the narrower sense, characterizes an attractive and productive knowledge stimulating option when it comes to investigating the social world in the sense of habitual practice (Bergold & Thomas, 2012)


4.      Visual method:
In the methods of qualitative research visual method can be a good option for data collection for research. Visual methods are applied to understand and interpret images and it contains photography, video, film, painting, collection, sculpture, sketch, graffiti, advertising, and animations, etc. Visual approaches are a new and novel method to qualitative research derived from traditional ethnography techniques mainly used in the field of anthropology and sociology. There has been the latest enthusiasm for the application of visual methods in qualitative research. It added value to already existing approaches by bringing another dimension.  Investigators use these images and approaches to generate knowledge which is becoming increasingly recognized as beneficial in health and illness research ( Glaw, Inder, Kable, & Hazelton, December 19, 2017)

5.      Ethnography:
The ethnography method of qualitative research is an important technique of data collection that mostly focuses social interactions and behaviors, perceptions exist within groups, teams, organizations, and communities. The main focus of Ethnography is human behavior that relates to anthropology, and it applied to a variety of urban settings in their studies of social life. The purpose is to ‘get close’ the way each group of people sees the world. It is a strong prominence on exploring the nature of a specific social phenomenon, rather than setting out to test hypotheses about it and define variables.  Investigation of a small number of cases for accumulates real data in the field study (Reeves & Hodges, 2008).



Research questions: 
The research question is 'a question that a research project sets out to answer'.  Selecting a research question is very critical part of both quantitative and qualitative study. In the whole study will require data collection and analysis, and the approach for this will vary widely in research field. There are some common types of research questions specifically descriptive, comparative and causal types. Then while preparing questions it is, therefore, essential to know which question falls under which direction to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the research. In every study, the research question is very important to collect data and overcome the target variables.  In this question vary the hypothesis and define variables. Questionnaire is design through the research question. 

Sampling methods 
 Sampling is an important part of the research method. Concerning the research topic, it is not possible to collect data from all people, in these situations sample is a way to customize a large population and select a small group to collect data.  Several techniques are the most common qualitative sampling methods.  In the context of qualitative research area selection and sample size also need to include. There are some methods in qualitative research like purposive sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling. As data collectors, researchers will not be responsible for selecting the sampling method ( Qualitative Sampling Techniques).


Conclusion:
The Qualitative research is a kind of scientific study. In broad terms, scientific research consists of an investigation that is seeking answers to a question and scientifically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question, collects evidence from the field. The Qualitative research it searches for to understand a particular research problem or issue from the perspectives of the local population that it involves. Qualitative research is especially effective in obtaining culturally specific information about the belief, ethics, attitudes, behaviors, and social contexts of particular populations.





   Reference:

Glaw, X., Inder, K., Kable, A., & Hazelton, M. (December 19, 2017). Visual Methodologies in Qualitative Research: Autophotography and Photo Elicitation Applied to Mental Health Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.
Nyumba, T., Wilson, K., Derrick, C., & Mukherjee, N. (2018). The use of focus group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation. researchgate.
Qualitative Sampling Techniques. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.statisticssolutions.com: https://www.statisticssolutions.com/qualitative-sampling-techniques/
Bergold , J., & Thomas, S. (2012, January ). Participatory Research Methods: A Methodological Approach in Motion. Retrieved from www.qualitative-research.net: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1801/3334
Carminati, L. (July 2018). Generalizability in Qualitative Research: A Tale of Two Traditions. researchgate.
Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & de Lacey, S. (11 January 2016). Qualitative research methods: when to use them and how to judge them.
Porter, M., & Bhattacharya, S. (2005). Investigation of staff and patients' opinions of a proposed trial of elective single embryo transfer. Hum Reprod.
Reeves, S., & Hodges, B. D. (2008, August 7 ). Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography. Retrieved from www.bmj.com: https://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a1020.full

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