Examples Of Qualitative Research Method

Qualitative research answers open-ended questions such as “why” or “how”. It helps me to remember this by seeing how closely the word qualitative resembles the word quality. Qualitative research is looking for qualities instead of sheer numbers. “Qualitative research methods allow research subjects to answer questions in their own words or even in ways that do not use words.” (Kolb, Bonita, 29) One example of a qualitative research method is a focus group. A focus group includes a moderator and a group of selected participants. In this focus group the moderator will not offer any opinions but simply ask questions of the group and keep the discussion on track. The participants will be able to veer away from the set questions prepared by the

These surveys ask students opinions on course content and the instructors strengths and weaknesses. These surveys are conducted on scantron forms, allowing for the instant tabulation of responses. The responses are easily analyzed and used in a various number of ways by the school administrators. A second example of quantitative data is observation. Observation can be placed in either the quantitative or qualitative research category depending on how it is used. Here, I want to explain how observation can be used as a quantitative research method. Observation is done by watching members of the target demographic in a natural environment and analyzing what is observed. Observation research can be quantitative if the information being observed is answered by a yes/no, this/that or how many. An example of observation being used as a quantitative research method is an apparel store in the mall wants to know what percentage of shoppers stop to look at the display in front of the entrance before wandering deeper into the store. Researchers are simply observing to count how many shoppers look at the display. This is a simple question to answer because there is no middle ground, they either stop or they