Research Methods Qualitative Research

NV4602

Research Methods for
Postgraduate Study
Qualitative Research

Objectives for today
When you have satisfactorily completed this topic you will be able to:
 Classify research interviews and understand their purpose 
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Understand when to undertake interviews
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of interviews Case Studies
Action Research
Observation
Ethnography

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Qualitative Methods
When should I use qualitative methods?
When variables cannot be quantified
When variables are best understood in their natural settings
When variables are studied over real time
When studying intimate details of roles, processes, and groups
When the paramount objective is
“understanding”
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Qualitative methods
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In-depth interviews
Focus groups
Case studies
Action Research
Observation
 direct observation
 participant observation

 Ethnography lbic.navitas.com navitas.com

Interviews
 What is an interview?
 A research interview is about asking purposeful questions and listening carefully to the answers to be able to explore these further  Note: the nature of the interview should be consistent with your research questions and objectives, aim and the research strategy lbic.navitas.com navitas.com

Types of Interviews
 Interviews may be formal and structured or they may be informal and unstructured conversations  Interviews could be categorised as either:
 Structured interviews
 Semi-structured interviews
 Unstructured/in-depth interviews

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Structured Interviews
 These use questionnaires based on a predetermined and standardised or identical set of questions which are referred to as interviewer-administered questionnaires.  They are also used to collect quantifiable data and are referred to as quantitative research interviews lbic.navitas.com navitas.com

Semi-structured Interviews
 These are conducted with a fairly open framework which