The Strengths And Disadvantages Of Qualitative Research

Methodology

 Secondary research

When considering how to meet their objectives and to answer their research questions, some of the researchers consider the possibility of re-analysing data, and then they use the data that was not gathered directly and purposefully for the project consideration but have already been collected for some other purpose. They are known as secondary data (Hair Jr, Celsi, Money, Samouel, &, Page, 2011, p.111; Saunders, Lewis, &, Thornhill, 2000, p. 188).

There are number of advantages and disadvantages of secondary data.

Advantages include;

1. More convenient, cost effective and time saving

2. Easy access to the data

3. Best for longitudinal studies

4. Data can be comparative

5. Can lead to unexpected new discoveries

It provides insights in to the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses. Qualitative data comes from nature, and it has implications for both its collection and its analysis. However it deals with huge number of raw data such as visual data, observation and documents and interviews with individuals (QRCA, 2015; Saunders, Lewis, &, Thornhill, 2000, p. 188).

There are some strength and weaknesses in qualitative research:

Advantages of qualitative research include;

1. It focuses on the operation of social process in considerable depth.

2. It gives broader picture of a large set of people.

3. Allow researchers a degree of flexibility in the conduct of particular study.

4. It enables researchers to make connections between different aspects of people’s lives.

Disadvantages of qualitative research include;

1. Collection and analysis of this data can be time consuming and expensive.

2. It requires training and experience.

3. Hard to find reliable data.

4. It involves small number of participant so it is less likely to be taken serious.

(Giffin, n.d.; Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005, pp.