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Qualitative Research: Definition, Types and The Important Aspects

In order to make your research successful, the most important part is to conduct a proper research methodology with the appropriate research methods and data collection methods. Without proper methods applied for your research paper, you will fail to obtain proper results for the research paper topic.

A good research paper format will make you understand the two types of research methods in depth: qualitative research and quantitative research. If you still further need any help to get information regarding the types of methods, visit the page of the Management Paper to get in-sights about how to write a research paper properly.

Definition

Qualitative research is referred to as a type of research methodology that includes the collection and analysing of non-numerical data, such as any audio, video or text, for statistical analysis and to get a proper understanding of the experiences, opinions or concepts. It is used to acquire deep insights into a particular problem or to generate new ideas for the research.

It is mostly defined as a market research method that mainly focuses on acquiring information and data through controversial and open-ended communications. This method revolves around two important questions:

• What do people think?
• Why do people think so?

The kinds of methods chosen decide the result of the paper which makes up a significant part of the research paper conclusion and helps you to end your paper on a good note.

The Different Types of Qualitative Research Conducted

These kinds of research methods are designed in such a manner that it helps a lot in revealing the perception and behaviour of a particular set of audience with reference to a specific topic. A research paper outline, drafted before writing the research paper, helps a lot in deciding the type of research to be conducted. The various kinds of qualitative research methods are: in-depth interview, ethnographic research, case study research, focus groups and content analysis.

• One-to-one interview: This is the most common method of conducting qualitative research. In such a scenario, a direct conversation takes place with one respondent who is connected directly to the research paper topic. In-depth insights are provided by the respondent which gives the researcher more opportunities to explore more on the given research problem. Precise data can be gathered through this method about what are the people’s motivations and what do they believe in. asking the needful questions can yield the researcher lots of valuable information. There is an opportunity to ask as many follow up questions as you want. These interviews are generally conducted face to face or through online video calling platforms like Skype or Google Meet.
• Ethnographic research: The most apt observational method is the ethnographic research that helps you to analyse deeply and study people within their own natural ecosystem or naturally occurring environment. The researcher is required to adapt to the environment of the target audience which may vary from a company to a bigger city or any other remote location. Though the geographical constraints can be a hurdle in the smooth conduction of the research. This type of research is aimed at understanding the settings, motivations, challenges and cultures that take place. The natural setting will be experienced by you and will provide you with firsthand information. They can last from days to years due to its involvement in collecting and observing the data on those grounds.
• Case study research: In order to explain an entity or an organisation, the case study research is being used. The past records or existing literature or any news report regarding the topic of the research is being studied carefully to find the link with the research you are conducting. These data are being tallied with the existing ones and the used up as valuable data for your research.
• Focus groups: It is also one of the most commonly used forms of qualitative research. The total number of respondents is limited to 6-10 and has to be from the target market. The main objective of focus groups is to look for answers to the questions ‘how’, ‘what’ and ‘why’. One of the advantages of such a group is that you do not need to personally interact with the person. An online survey can be sent to these focus groups and they can respond just by a simple click. As compared to the other methods, this is a bit expensive.
• Content analysis:  This method is conducted by making use of the already existing literatures like the reliable documents and other sources of information as the data source. This data can be utilised well in your research. It is almost like going to a library.

The experienced and knowledgeable experts from the Managementpaper can help and guide you efficiently to write your research paper by conducting effective and in-depth methods to find out the result of the research.

Some Prominent Characteristics of This Kind of Research Method

• In such a research method, data is usually at the site where the respondents are experiencing and facing the problems. Real time data is collected through this method and it hardly requires the respondents to get out of their geographical location.
• Multiple forms of data are being collected mostly by the qualitative researchers such as documents, observations and interviews rather than depending on a single source of data.
• The complex issues are commonly solved by this type of research method by breaking the problem down into meaningful inferences which in turn can be easily understood and readable by all.
• People are able to build upon their trust on the researcher as it is a more communicative method and the data and information retrieved is unadulterated and raw in form.
• A qualitative research method does not form a part of the research paper introduction but a part of it is mentioned in the research paper abstract as well as in the research proposal.

Advantages of Qualitative Research

The perspective and voice of the participants are often preserved by qualitative research and can be adjusted according to the new research questions that arise. Qualitative research is apt for:

• With emerging patterns and new ideas, the data collection and data analysis process can be modified. They are not strictly decided beforehand.
• The data collection takes place in an entire natural setting, that is, in naturalistic ways or in the context of the real world.
• You will be able to retrieve meaningful insights. In-depth descriptions of the people’s or the respondent’s perceptions, feelings and experiences which can be used in improving, testing or designing various products and systems.
• Open-ended questions lead to the generating of new thoughts and ideas.  The researcher gets the advantage of uncovering opportunities or novel problems which they perhaps have never thought of earlier.

Disadvantages of Qualitative Research

Theoretical and practical limitations may be considered by the researchers to interpret and analyse the data. This type of research suffers from:

• Due to the various uncontrollable factors that have an direct or indirect effect on the information and data, the qualitative research becomes unreliable with respect to the real world setting.
• It is impossible to replicate qualitative data because of the primary role of the researcher in interpreting and analysing data. It is completely up to the researcher to decide which data is relevant and which is important during the analysis of data. This makes the interpretation of the same data vary greatly from one another.
• Small samples are generally used for gathering data regarding specific contexts. Bereft of the rigorous procedures of analysis, it becomes a difficult task to draw generalised conclusions as the data can be unrepresentative of the great population and biased.
• The data analysis often requires be manually performing and checking, although various softwares can be used to record and manage huge amounts of text.

To know more about the research methodologies for your research paper, you can take paper writing help from the team of Management paper to score excellent grades at your paper.