Qualitative research

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Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This type of research typically involves in-depth interviews, focus groups, or field observations in order to collect data that is rich in detail and context. Qualitative research is often used to explore complex phenomena or to gain insight into people's experiences and perspectives on a particular topic. It is particularly useful when researchers want to understand the meaning that people attach to their experiences or when they want to uncover the underlying reasons for people's behavior. Qualitative methods include ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis.[1] Qualitative research methods have been used in sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, communication studies, social work, folklore, educational research, information science and software engineering research.[2][3][4][5]

  1. ^ Creswell, John W. Educational research : planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. ISBN 1-299-95719-6. OCLC 859836343.
  2. ^ King, Gary; Keohane, Robert O.; Verba, Sidney (2021-08-17). Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research, New Edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-22464-0.
  3. ^ "QUALITI". cardiff.ac.uk.
  4. ^ Alasuutari, Pertti (2010). "The rise and relevance of qualitative research". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 13 (2): 139–55. doi:10.1080/13645570902966056. S2CID 143736805.
  5. ^ Seaman, Carolyn (1999). "Qualitative methods in empirical studies of software engineering". Transactions on Software Engineering. 25 (4): 557–572. doi:10.1109/32.799955.