Video providing definition of Qualitative Research
Search Terms
Keywords
| Action research | Descriptive qualitative research | Generic qualitative description | Oral history |
| Activities of daily living | Descriptive qualitative stud* | Grounded theory | Participatory action research |
| Appreciative inquiry | Descriptive stud* | Health-related quality of life | Participant observation |
| Assessment* | Discourse analysis | Hermeneutic* | Phenomengraph* |
| Autoethnograph* | Ethnograph* | Interview | Phenomenolog* |
| Biographical research | Ethnomethodolog* | Lived experience | Qualitative |
| Case stud* | Exploratory stud* | Narrativ* | Qualitative meta-synthesis |
| Constant comparative | Field notes | Naturalistic study | Qualitative method* |
| Content analysis | Field stud* | Observational method* | Qualitative research |
| Conservation analysis | Focus group* | Opinion* | Qualitative stud* |
Definition
Qualitative research is an inquiry approach useful for exploring and understanding a central phenomenon. To learn about the phenomenon, the inquirer asks participants broad general questions, collects the detailed views of participants in the form of words or images, and analyzes the information for description and themes. From this data, the researcher interprets the meaning of the information, drawing on personal reflections and past research. The final structure of the final report is flexible, and it displays the researcher's biases and thoughts. (Creswell, 2008).
What to learn more? Search within the online version of The SAGE Dictionary of Social Research Methods (requires login).
Explore Further
A larger guide exists focused on qualitative research. https://libguides.nova.edu/qual