Summary Qualitative Research
Pre-master Communication Science University of Twente 2020
Britt Heuvel
,Content
During course in Qualitative Research, students will be introduced to various research
techniques which rely on qualitative research settings and/ or depend on qualitative analysis
techniques. The lectures will be organized around these different research techniques.
While discussing the research techniques, various chapters of the handbook on Analysis in
Qualitative Research of Boeije (2009) will be used. Next to the handbook of Boeije (2009),
articles will be used as well to explain the rationale behind the qualitative research
techniques. The qualitative research techniques central in the course are following: Focus
Group Research, Interviews + use of ATLAS T.I., Think Aloud Protocols in Usability testing,
Content Analysis & Observation Techniques. The course will be assessed by an online exam
consisting out of 20 multiple choice questions and 5 open questions, each of the open
questions is related to one of the above-mentioned qualitative research techniques. The
exam materials are: Boeije, H. (2009). Analysis in qualitative research. Sage publications
(chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10), Lecture articles & Lecture slides / lecture content.
Chapter 1 Introduction of Qualitative Research – Mark Tempelman
Chapter 2 Focus Group Research – Sikke Jansma
Chapter 3 Interview Techniques – Suzanne Janssen
Chapter 4 Analyzing Qualitative Data – Suzanne Janssen
Chapter 5 Think Aloud Protocols in Usability Testing – Joyce Karreman
Chapter 6 Research Ethics – Mark Tempelman
Chapter 7 Content Analysis – Jordy Gosselt
Chapter 8 Observation Techniques – Joris van Hoof
,Chapter 1 Introduction of Qualitative Research – Mark Tempelman
1.1 What is Qualitative Research?
In a nutshell, qualitative research generates “textual data” (non-numerical). Quantitative research, on the
contrary, produces “numerical data” or information that can be converted into numbers. Qualitative Research is
relatively small scale, in-depth, explanatory (deepening), sense-making (interpretation) and non pre-structured
data. Some methods are interviews, content analysis, discourse analysis, observation and focus groups.
The essence of qualitative research = “Qualitative research generally starts with the assumptions that individuals
have an active role in the construction of social reality and that research methods that can capture this process of
social construction are required.” (Boeije, 2009. p. 6).
Diversity in qualitative research
• Conversation and/or discourse analysis from a language point of view or…,
• Qualitative research to interpret and explain human experiences and behaviour.
o Phenomenology (i.e. by interviewing)
o Ethnographic studies (i.e. by observing)
o Case study analysis (i.e. by focus group research)
o Participatory research (i.e. by usability research)
o Narrative studies (i.e. by content analysis)
Three key elements of qualitative research by Boeije:
1) Qualitative research is looking for meaning
2) Qualitative research is using methods enabling contact with or between humans/ participants
3) Qualitative research involves the reporting of qualitative findings
1.2 How to design a Qualitative Research?
In chapter 2 of Boeije (2009), the process outline of designing a
qualitative research is presented. Basically, Boeije distinguishes
following steps in setting-up a qualitative research:
1) Draft a research planning / proposal
2) Perform a literature review
3) Formulate the research question and purpose of the study
4) Legitimize the choice for qualitative research
5) Formulate a strategy for sampling and recruiting participants
Qualitative Research Process à
Explanation of some steps from Boeije:
(2) Perform a literature review à Boeije (2009) challenges whether literature research actually relevant when
conducting qualitative research à It was argued that, performing a literature review may block researchers from
being open-minded towards the topic being researched. However, currently - and in general - a proper literature
review in qualitative research is perceived as very important:
• to accumulate on to other / previous research findings
• to proper introduce the central problem area or domain
• to indicate the gaps in literature addressed by the study
• to convince funding commissioners of the (scientific) relevance of the proposed study
(4) Legitimize the choice for qualitative researchà It is important that choosing a qualitative approach is in line
with the central research question and purpose. Depending on the topic(s) studied, reasons to choose for a
qualitative design can be because of:
• The explorative nature of the topic
• The descriptive nature of the topic
• The explanatory nature of the study
• The changing nature of the topic(s) studied / responsiveness of the method
• The (direct) usability of findings
• The sensitive nature of the topic(s) studied
,(5) Formulate a strategy for sampling and recruiting participants à Choose or select the appropriate research
context or setting to collect data and define a strategy to recruit participants. Ultimately this is important to
demonstrate (face) validity of research findings.
• Purposive sampling of participants:
o More or less contrary to the (random) sampling procedures in quantitative research, selecting
participants based on their specific characteristics is often applied in qualitative research.
o However, and depending on the topic, sampling of participants may also involve looking for a
degree of diversity in the population.
o Hence, depending on the topics studied, you may need to focus, or you may need to diverge
participant selection and recruitment
• Actually, recruiting and accessing (or contacting) participants can be a very open or public procedure,
as well as a very closed or selective procedure.
• Depending on the sensitivity of the topic, some ethical concerns may also arise.
o Think about recruiting participants with certain type of illness
o Or recruiting participants who have been a victim of (cyber-)bullying on the workplace.
• Always consider whether you are targeting the right participants for your research and be as objective
as possible when selecting your participants.
o Think about random chance when selecting participants
o Think about how representative your sample is considering the topic to be researched.
1.3 Analysis in Qualitative Research (Hennie Boeije) - Chapter 1: Introduction to Qualitative Research
The choice to use qualitative research methods has implications for your way of working, for the research design,
the use of theory, the sample, the data collection methods, the data analysis, and the final publication.
Answering the research questions in social scientific research is always done with a specific purpose. If your aim
is predominantly to gain knowledge, it is referred to as fundamental research. If it is predominantly aimed at the
use of knowledge to change or improve situations, then it is referred to as applied research.
Considering quantitative or qualitative research à With quantitative research, literature and previously selected
theory are used to deduce hypotheses. These hypotheses are tested by means of the research. The building
blocks of hypotheses and the relationship between them are interesting attributes, referred to as variables. With
qualitative research, literature including theory is used mainly to understand what is going on in the field and to
discover theoretical perspectives, including proper concepts to look at the social phenomenon of interest. Data
collection takes place by means of semi-structured measuring instruments that are tailored to the research
subject and refined as the research progress.
Theory is viewed as an attempt to describe, understand and explain a certain social phenomenon. The use of
social theory is often seen as the main difference between quantitative and qualitative research. In quantitative
research a deductive process is employed, which means that theory is the starting point for formulating
hypotheses that will be tested in research. The outcome of this process says something about the theory that
was tested. In qualitative research inductive thinking is paramount, which means that a social phenomenon is
explored in order to find empirical patterns that can function as the beginning of a theory. The choice of whether
you test a theory or build one naturally influences how the research is carried out.
The choice of research method tells us something about what we think research in the social science should look
like. In fact, there are systems of beliefs and practices that guide a field of study regarding social science
research methodology. Such a framework for thinking about measurement, analysis and personal involvement is
shared by members of a specialty area is called a paradigm. Paradigms reflect issues related to the nature of
social reality and to the nature of knowledge. The nature of social reality attempts to answer the question
whether the social world is regarded as something external to social actors or something that people are in the
process of fashioning. Qualitative research generally starts with the assumptions that individuals have an active
role in the construction of social reality and that research methods that can capture this process of social
construction are required.
Diversity in qualitative research à Qualitative researchers generally agree upon the assumptions attached to
constructivism and interpretivism, but there are many nuances, traditions and specifics which cause the
qualitative research practice to be very diverse. Glaser and Strauss are the pioneers of the grounded theory
,approach. They aimed to rekindle the vitality in empirical research with this research strategy. First, it is a
polemic on social science research which was dominated by hypothesis testing and, was devoid of any
connection to everyday reality. Second, they felt that ethnographic research was too preoccupied with
description instead of explanation of social phenomena and wanted to provide researchers with an alternative
research strategy. Glaser and Strauss offered a methodology in which the data became centerstage in reaching a
theoretical description of a phenomenon and explaining it. Its emphasis on theory development sets grounded
theory apart from other branches of qualitative research. Originally, grounded theory was framed in terms of a
series of cycles in which the researcher moves back and forth among the data collection and the analysis.
Defining and delineating qualitative research in this book à The following definition of qualitative research is
used in this book: “The purpose of qualitative research is to describe and understand social phenomena in terms
of the meaning people bring to them. The research questions are studies through flexible methods enabling
contact with the people involved to an extent that is necessary to gasp what is going on in the field. The
methods produce rich, descriptive data that need to be interpreted through the identification and coding of
themes and categories leading to findings that can contribute to theoretical knowledge and practical use.”
Looking for meaning à The starting point for a qualitative inquiry is to discover the meaning that people award
to their social worlds and to understand the meaning of their social behavior. But meaning-giving processes do
not yield everything required for analysis. There are also socially ‘hardened’ ways of thinking, feeling and acting.
Using flexible methods that enable contact with participants à Field work requires a constant redefinition of
what is problematic and needs a logic and process of inquiry that is
flexible and open-ended. As far as an inductive approach is concerned,
it is generally unknown beforehand what data will be generated and
what the frame of analysis will look like.
Providing qualitative findings à Researchers cannot present ‘raw data’
alone, instead they’re required to re-interpret the information while
preserving the participant’s meaning. It is while the data that they
reduce, select, interpret and decide what they will use to convey their
message to the reader. Sometimes researchers not only aim to describe
what is happening, but also want to explain how it works and why it is
that things work that way.
Overview of the qualitative research process
1.4 Analysis in Qualitative Research (Hennie Boeije) - Chapter 2: Research Design
Planning a research project à A research plan prevents distraction from the actual topic. It also promotes the fit
between the parts of the research. The research problem, research questions, purposes, sample, data collection,
analysis and reporting should be tuned to each other. A research proposal not only has a function for you as a
researcher, it is also important for third parties. A research proposal needs to demonstrate what the research
entails: what is being researched? Why is this subject examined? How will this be done? Where will the study
take place?
Literature review à Various resources are available for choosing a research topic and arriving at a proper
problem formulation. A very important resource is literature. Reviewing literature means that the researcher has
taken notice of the accumulated knowledge gleaned from books and articles on a certain topic. Sometimes
background literature provides current social science theory. Theory is not the same as literature, and theory
refers to coherent frameworks that try to describe, understand and explain aspects of social life.
Research question and purpose à A research proposal starts with a research problem. Based on the research
problem is the formulation of the problem statement that can be thought of as consisting of a research question
and research purpose. Research question: the central question which the researcher wants to answer by doing
the research project. The problem must be sufficiently focused and defined in order to formulate clear research
questions. Formulating sub-questions is difficult for a number of reasons:
• They must use the terminology that fits the chosen approach or tradition;
• They need to fall under the umbrella of the overall research question;
• Research questions must match one another and follow logically one after the other;
• The questions need to be answerable by means of the proposed research.
,Research purpose à two distinctions can be made with regard to the research purpose: the first distinction is
between research mainly aimed at description and research mainly aimed at understanding or explanation. The
second distinction is between fundamental and applied research.
Legitimizing the choice for qualitative research à
Arguments why qualitative methods are the best procedure to choose:
• Exploration: when a study has an explorative nature, you need methods with a maximum of explorative
power. Qualitative methods do live up to this because of their flexible approach.
• Description: qualitative methods offer the opportunity for participants to describe the subject of study
in their own words and to do so largely on their own conditions.
• Explanation: qualitative methods can lead to an interpretive rendering of the studied phenomenon. By
cycling between data collection and subsequent conjectures can be checked in further cycles of new
data collection and subsequent analysis of comparative cases.
• Change: sometimes, maneuverable methods are wished for to follow-up on fast developments in the
studied area. Some subjects do change really fast as they gain momentum.
• Use: qualitative methods hold the promise to yield findings that reflect the participants’ perspective and
that fit the substantive field.
• Sensitivity: qualitative researchers often choose to examine other people’s experiences and emotions.
Sampling, recruitment and access à When the research question and purpose have been formulated, the next
step is to find a setting – participants, locations, organizations, places – in which to conduct the research.
Choosing a setting: in selecting a setting, Morse and Field use the principle of maximization. This means that a
location should be determined where the topic of study manifests itself most strongly. The more abstract the
topic of inquiry is, the more the researchers have to determine where the research is to be conducted.
Purposive sampling à composing the sample in qualitative research is different from the common sampling
approach used in quantitative research. There has even been an objection to the use of the term ‘sample’ since
it carries connotations that some find undesirable for qualitative research. These connotations have to do with
the following. In quantitative research it is paramount that statistical representation is implemented. The
probability that the case falls within the sample is determined by chance, and the sample reflects the
proportional distribution of relevant population characteristics. Based on the findings in this randomly selected
sample, probabilistic assertions may be made about the entire population, commonly referred to as
generalization or statistical inference.
Although both procedures – random sampling and statistical inference – do not apply to qualitative research, the
term ‘sample’ is widely used in qualitative research terminology. A sample consists of the cases (units or
elements) that will be examined and are selected from a defined research population. In qualitative research the
sample is intentionally selected according to the needs of the study, commonly referred to as ‘purposive
sampling’ or ‘purposeful sampling’. Two types of purposive sampling:
• Purposive sampling in research that already starts with a theoretical framework;
• Theoretical sampling, which is designed to generate theory, which is grounded in the data, rather than
established in advance of the fieldwork.
Recruitment and access à Methods of recruitment are very diverse. Researchers may attempt to perform tasks in
exchange for cooperation. On some occasions, it may be possible for researchers to connect with already
running, large-scale research programs of national research organizations. Another strategy is the ‘snowball’ or
networking method, which means that an initial number of participants are asked for the names of others, who
are subsequently approached. This method is useful when studying sensitive or taboo topics or when target
groups are difficult to reach. For research in organizations it is recommended that the formal path be followed.
When the organization appears interested, subsequent agreements can be made on the exact topic under
investigation, the time when the research will take place, the provision of a room for the researcher, executive
power with regards to the publication and so on.
, Chapter 2 Focus Group Research – Sikke Jansma
2.1 What is Focus Group Research?
“A controlled group discussion, whereby the interaction generated through the discussion is of prime
importance to this methodology” (Smithson, 2000).
Added value of group dynamics:
• When it useful when participants can react to each other
• When it is useful to find out how participants talk about a topic
Topics that are less suitable for group discussion/ situations in which group dynamics may be disadvantageous
• Sensitive topics
• Topics that do not generate strong opinions
Differences in evaluation standards:
• Interviews: More attention to comprehension problems
• Focus groups: More attention to acceptance problems
• Interviews: More attention to detailed problems
• Focus groups: More attention to overall problems
2.2 Designing Focus Group Research
What are things to consider when conducting focus groups?
• Overall design issues:
o Group size: 4-10 participants
o Heterogeneous or homogeneous groups: Beware of power differences among participants
o Number of groups: Not just one or two, depending on saturation; every group has its own dynamics
o Choice of moderator in relation to participants: Possible moderator effect on dynamics and results
• Phasing
o Introduction
o Getting to know each other + breaking the ice
o Overview of the structure of the session
o Start discussing theme 1
o Start discussing theme 2
o Closure: Final round of remarks, debriefing
• Equipment and personnel
o Facilitator
o Note-taker
o Recording device (preferably video)
o Name cards for participants and researchers
o Quiet room and suitable layout: Everyone is able to see and talk with each other
• Structure, topics, and turn taking
o Not a wheel, but a network (facilitator ignites and regulates discussion)à
o Limited number of main discussion themes
o Sub-topics that must be addressed available to the facilitator
o Participants must be able to relate to the main themes
o Discussion among participants is most important
o [Think about (audio)visual stimulus materials]
o [Think about possibilities to also collect individual (written) data]
• Group dynamics
o Handling dominant participants
o Handling off-topic contributions, repetition, and wrong turns
o Time management: Making sure all topics are covered
o Encouraging silent participants
o Create an open, inviting atmosphere (+ breaking the ice) • Alternate kick-off per theme
o Explicitly ask silent participants for their opinion
o Pay attention to non-verbal behavior
