Qualitative research is an important part of scientific discovery, especially in the field of social sciences. It’s how we learn about people, culture and societal issues that impact daily life or present an opportunity for meaningful change.
Whether you’re a scientist embarking on a research project or just a citizen who wants to know more about how researchers reach conclusions, this article is a great starting point to learn the basics of qualitative research.
What Is Qualitative Research?
First and foremost, let’s establish exactly what qualitative research is. Qualitative research is a type of scientific research that focuses on collecting qualitative data or information — data that cannot be reflected by numbers or firm metrics. This is often thoughts, feelings or opinions of people in the sample group.
Qualitative research is used most often in the social science fields, such as psychology, sociology or anthropology. Scientists use this type of research to dive deeply into problems or questions pertaining to people and communities, such as how a change in their environment has affected them or what factors contribute to their personal beliefs.
Now that we’re all on the same page, we can move on to the six steps in the research process.
Step 1: Form a Hypothesis
The very first step in performing qualitative research is to form a hypothesis. This is your theory about what is happening, why it’s happening and the potential results.
For example, if the city government is building an interstate through a rural part of your town, you might hypothesize that in 10 years the land surrounding the road will be developed into a business corridor.
Your hypothesis should be as specific as possible to help you ensure your next steps are aligned with the information you want to find.
Step 2: Define Your Audience
Next, you need to define your audience. Who do you need to survey to find out if your hypothesis is true? This step often relies on specific demographical factors, such as geographic location, age, race, ethnicity or gender.
It’s important to choose the audience that will be most affected by the event or situation you’re studying so you can get the most impactful information. Have willing participants sign up for your study and let them know what they’ll have to do.
Step 3: Create a Survey
With your audience in mind, it’s time to create the survey that you’ll use to gather data. Include clear, concise questions that encourage people to pick a definitive answer. It’s always wise to have someone else review your survey, too, so you don’t risk biased or leading questions.
Step 4: Administer the Survey
Now it’s time to get people to take your survey. Sometimes it helps to give people a survey sample first so they have a chance to see what kind of questions they’re going to answer and how to fill in the answers. Be sure to encourage people to ask questions if they’re unsure about a question. This helps you make sure you get the most accurate results.
Step 5: Report Survey Answers
After you collect all of the completed surveys, it’s time to compile the answers. Most researchers will input all of the answers into a single spreadsheet or database so they have a full record of all their raw data. From there, you can code answers into categories to make the data easier to analyze in the next step. There are also some programs that will manage this process for you if you’re a professional researcher.
Step 6: Analyze Results
Finally, you can analyze the results of your study by evaluating your coded data. Many qualitative researchers look for trends or similar ideas, thoughts and feelings among participants to determine if their hypothesis was correct or incorrect. Qualitative research is an important part of scientific discovery and something that people of all ages and backgrounds can use to learn more about the world around them.