The Pros and Cons of Conducting Qualitative Research

1. The Pros and Cons of Conducting Qualitative Research Kelli Williams Gary, Ph.D., MPH, OTR/L

2. Overview • To review the benefit and the limitations of conducting qualitative research. • To dispel common myths related to qualitative research design. • To assist researchers in the process of selecting the correct research design related to goals and objectives.

3. Qualitative Research • What can we learn from qualitative research? • Ability to provide complex, textual descriptions. • Describe in detail how people experience a given research issue. • Can produce findings not determined in advance.

4. Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research

5. Advantages to Qualitative Research • Opportunity to collect rich and explanatory data • Use of open-ended questions. • Respond in own words. • Not forced to choose from fixed responses. • Meaningful and culturally salient. • Unanticipated by researcher. • Flexibility to probe participants response • Use of group and in-depth interviews. • Requires listening and ability to engage. • Use probes to encourage elaboration.

6. Disadvantages to Qualitative Research • Usually fewer people studied. • Usually based on collection procedure or resources. • Less easy to generalize. • Less subjects. • Exact numbers usually reported. • Difficult to make systematic comparisons. • Widely different responses. • Highly subjective. • Dependent on skills of researchers. • Personality a big factor.

7. Myths about Qualitative Research • Qualitative research is always inductive. • Qualitative research is always natural and often characterized as artificial. • Qualitative research is not considered “real research” and often hard to duplicate or publish.

8. References • Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. • Green, J., Thorogood, N. (2005). Qualitative methods for health research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. • Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2004). Nursing research: Principles and methods (7th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.