Qualitative research methods 定性研究方法的基本知识 英语写作技巧.docx

Qualitative research methods 定性研究方法的基本知识 英语写作技巧.docx

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Qualitativeresearchmethods定性研究方法的基本知识英语写作技巧

Basicthingsyoushouldknowaboutqualitativeresearchmethods

定性研究方法的基本知识

Helloreaders!

Asyouarereadingyouwillgettoknowthebasicthingsaboutqualitativeresearchmethods.Fromtheirdefinitiontotheirimportanceandtypes,youwillgettoknoweverythingaboutthem.

Moreover,youcangetpersonalisedassistanceifyouareanewbietoresearchorgatheringinformationasitisnotatopicoverwhichyouhavemastered.Youcangotoresearchexpertsforassignmenthelpandworkinabetterway.

Qualitativeresearchdefinition

Qualitativeresearchisdefinedasaresearchmethodthatfocusesonobtainingdatathroughopen-endedandconversationalcommunication.

Thismethodisnotonlyabout“what”peoplethinkbutalso“why”theythinkso.Forexample,consideraconveniencestorelookingtoimproveitspatronage.Asystematicobservationconcludesthatthenumberofmenvisitingthisstorearemore.Onegoodmethodtodeterminewhywomenwerenotvisitingthestoreistoconductanin-depthinterviewofpotentialcustomersinthecategory.

Onsuccessfullyinterviewingfemalecustomers,visitingthenearbystoresandmalls,andselectingthemthroughrandomsampling,itwasknownthatthestoredoesn’thaveenoughitemsforwomenandsotherewerefewerwomenvisitingthestore,whichwasunderstoodonlybypersonallyinteractingwiththemandunderstandingwhytheydidn’tvisitthestore,becausethereweremoremaleproductsthanfemaleones.

Therefore,thequalitativeresearchmethodsallowforin-depthandfurtherprobingandquestioningofrespondentsbasedontheirresponses,wheretheinterviewer/researcheralsotriestounderstandtheirmotivationandfeeling.

Howisqualitativeresearchconducted?

1.Questions

Quantitativeresearchmethodutilisespollsandsurveystogatherinformationonagivensubject.Thereisavariedrangeofsurveyquestionsbasedonanatureoftheresearchstudy.

ForExample:

Ifyouwanttoconductacustomersatisfactionquantitativeresearch,theNetPromoterSurveyisoneofthecriticallyacclaimedsurveyquestionsforthispurpose.

2.Distribution

Quantitativeresearchusesemailsurveysastheprimarymodeofgatheringresponsestoquestions.Alternatively,technologyhasgivenrisetoofflinedistributionmethodsforrelativelyremotelocationsusingvariousmobiledatacaptureappsavailableonline.Forsocialsciencesandpsychologicalquantitativeresearch,socialmediasurveysarealsousedtogatherdata.

3.StatisticalAnalysis

Quantitativeresearchusesawiderangeofdataanalysistechniquessuchascrosstabulation,trendanalysisandconjointanalysis.

Qualitativeresearchmethodswithexamples

Qualitativeresearchmethodsaredesignedinamannerthattheyhelprevealthebehaviorandperceptionofatargetaudiencewithreferencetoaparticulartopic.Therearedifferenttypesofqualitativeresearchmethodslikeanin-depthinterview,focusgroups,ethnographicresearch,contentanalysis,casestudyresearchthatareusuallyused.

Theresultsofqualitativemethodsaremoredescriptiveandtheinferencescanbedrawnquiteeasilyfromthedatathatisobtained.

Qualitativeresearchmethodsoriginatedinthesocialandbehavioralsciences.Todayourworldismorecomplicatedanditisdifficulttounderstandwhatpeoplethinkandperceive.Qualitativeresearchmethodsmakeiteasiertounderstandthatasitismorecommunicativeanddescriptive.

Ifyouwantsomemoreexamplesandunderstanditbetter,youcangoforassignmenthelponlineandlearnthetechniquesandtacticsbyexperts.

Typesofqualitativeresearchmethods

1.One-on-OneInterview

Conductingin-depthinterviewsisoneofthemostcommonqualitativeresearchmethods.Itisapersonalinterviewthatiscarriedoutwithonerespondentatatime.Thisispurelyaconversationalmethodandinvitesopportunitiestogetdetailsindepthfromtherespondent.

Oneoftheadvantagesofthismethodprovidesagreatopportunitytogatherprecisedataaboutwhatpeoplebelieveandwhattheirmotivationsare.Iftheresearcheriswellexperiencedaskingtherightquestionscanhelphim/hercollectmeaningfuldata.Iftheyshouldneedmoreinformationtheresearchersshouldasksuchfollowupquestionsthatwillhelpthemcollectmoreinformation.

Theseinterviewscanbeperformedface-to-faceoronphoneandusuallycanlastbetweenhalfanhourtotwohoursorevenmore.Whenthein-depthinterviewisconductedfacetofaceitgivesabetteropportunitytoreadthebodylanguageoftherespondentsandmatchtheresponses.

2.Focusgroups

Focusgroupsareoneofthemostcommonlyusedqualitativeresearchmethods,practicedforAfocusgroupusuallyincludesalimitednumberofrespondentsfromwithinyourtargetmarket.

Themainaimofthefocusgroupistofindanswerstothewhywhatandhowquestions.Oneadvantageoffocusgroupsis,youdon’tnecessarilyneedtointeractwiththegroupinperson.Nowadaysfocusgroupscanbesentansurveyonlineonvariousdevicesandresponsescanbecollectedattheclickofabutton.

Focusgroupsareanexpensivemethodascomparedtotheotherqualitativeresearchmethods.Typicallytheyareusedtoexplaincomplexprocesses.Thismethodisveryusefulwhenitcomestomarketresearchonnewproducts.

3.Ethnographicresearch

Itisthemostin-depthobservationalmethodthatstudiespeopleintheirnaturallyoccurringenvironment.

Thismethodrequirestheresearcherstoadapttothetargetaudiences’environmentswhichcouldbeanywherefromanorganizationtoacityoranyremotelocation.Heregeographicalconstraintscanbeanissuewhilecollectingdata.

Thisresearchdesignaimstounderstandthecultures,challenges,motivations,andsettingsthatoccur.Insteadofrelyingoninterviewsanddiscussions,youexperiencethenaturalsettingsfirsthand.

Thistypeofresearchmethodcanlastfromafewdaystoafewyears,asitinvolvesin-depthobservationandcollectingdataonthosegrounds.It’sachallengingandatime-consumingmethodandsolelydependsontheexpertiseoftheresearchertobeabletoanalyze,observeandinferthedata.

4.Casestudyresearch

Thecasestudymethodhasevolvedoverthepastfewyearsanddevelopedasintoavaluablequalitativeresearchmethod.Asthenamesuggestsitisusedforexplaininganorganizationoranentity.

Thistypeofresearchmethodisusedwithinanumberofareaslikeeducation,socialsciencesandsimilar.Thismethodmaylookdifficulttooperate,however,itisoneofthesimplestwaysofconductingresearchasitinvolvesadeepdiveandthoroughunderstandingofthedatacollectionmethodsandinferringthedata.

5.Recordkeeping

Thismethodmakesuseofthealreadyexistingreliabledocumentsandsimilarsourcesofinformationasthedatasource.Thisdatacanbeusedinanewresearch.Thisissimilartogoingtoalibrary.Thereonecangooverbooksandotherreferencematerialtocollectrelevantdatathatcanlikelybeusedintheresearch.

6.Processofobservation

Itisaprocessofresearchthatusessubjectivemethodologiestogathersystematicinformationordata.Since,thefocusonqualitativeobservationistheresearchprocessofusingsubjectivemethodologiestogatherinformationordata.Thequalitativeobservationisprimarilyusedtoequatequalitydifferences.

Qualitativeobservationdealswiththe5majorsensoryorgansandtheirfunctioning–sight,smell,touch,taste,andhearing.Thisdoesn’tinvolvemeasurementsornumbersbutinsteadcharacteristics.

Dataandanalysis

A.QualitativeDataCollection

Qualitativedatacollectionallowscollectingdatathatisnon-numericandhelpsustoexplorehowdecisionsaremadeandprovideuswithdetailedinsight.Forreachingsuchconclusionsthedatathatiscollectedshouldbeholistic,richandnuancedandfindingstoemergethroughcarefulanalysis.

1.Whatevermethodaresearcherchoosesforcollectingqualitativedataoneaspectisverycleartheprocesswillgeneratealargeamountofdata.Inadditiontothevarietyofmethodsavailable,therearealsodifferentmethodsofcollectingandrecordingthedata.

Forexample,ifthequalitativedataiscollectedthroughfocusgrouporone-to-onediscussion,therewillbehandwrittennotesorvideorecordedtapes.Iftherearerecordingtheyshouldbetranscribedandbeforetheprocessofdataanalysiscanbegin.

2.Asaroughguide,itcantakeaseasonedresearcher8-10hourstotranscribetherecordingsofaninterview,whichcangenerateroughly20-30pagesofdialogues.Manyresearchersalsoliketomaintainseparatefolderstomaintaintherecordingcollectedfromthedifferentfocusgroup.Thishelpsthemcompartmentalisethedatacollected.

3.Incasetherearerunningnotestaken,whicharealsoknownasfieldnotes,theyarehelpfulinmaintainingcomments,environmentalcontexts,nonverbalcuesetc.Thesefilednotesarehelpfulandcanbecomparedwhiletranscribingaudiorecordeddata.Suchnotesareusuallyinformalbutshouldbesecuredinasimilarmannerasthevideorecordingsortheaudiotapes.

B.QualitativeDataAnalysis

Qualitativedataanalysissuchasnotes,videos,audiorecordingsimages,andtextdocuments.Oneofthemostusedmethodsforqualitativedataanalysisistextanalysis.

Textanalysisisadataanalysismethodthatisdistinctlydifferentfromallotherqualitativeresearchmethods,whereresearchersanalyzethesociallifeoftheparticipantsintheresearchstudyanddecodethewords,actionsetc.

Thereareimagesalsothatareusedinthisresearchstudyandtheresearchersanalyzethecontextinwhichtheimagesareusedanddrawinferencesfromthem.Inthelastdecade,text