Qualitative Research Questions

Qualitative research is a type of scientific research that focusses on finding answers to questions. There are many advantages derived from to answers obtained from open-ended questions like:

 The response is meaningful and culturally salient

 Rich and explanatory answers

 Not anticipated or expected by the researcher

It is a research that involves collecting information about personal experiences, life story, interviews, observations, interactions and visual text.

This research is mainly done to understand in depth the characteristics of the situation and the meaning brought by participants and what is happening to them in a particular situation.

Qualitative research usually measures :-

 Personal experience, values and beliefs

Such data are becoming essential in the design of solutions to public health problems in developing countries. Scientists, medical doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and humanitarian organizations have come to recognize that biomedical solutions are only partial remedies. Rather, the success of a health intervention, on whether it actually reaches the people it is intended to help, rests also on how well it addresses socio-behavioral factors such as cultural norms, ethnic identities, gender norms, stigma, and socioeconomic status.

The three common qualitative methods are:

1. Participant observation - appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors in their usual contexts

2. In-depth interviews - best for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored

3. Focus groups - effective in obtaining data on the cultural norms of a group and in generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups represented.

The types of data these three methods generate are field notes, audio (and sometimes video) recordings, and

Quota sampling

In quota sampling, it is decided while designing the study how many people with which characteristics to include as participants. Characteristics might include age, place of residence, gender, class, profession, marital status, use of a particular contraceptive method, HIV status, etc. The criteria we choose allow us to focus on people we think would be most likely to experience, know about, or have insights into the research topic. Then we go into the community and – using recruitment strategies appropriate to the location, culture, and study population – find people who fit these criteria, until we meet the prescribed quotas.

3. Snowball sampling

This sampling is also known as chain referral sampling and is considered a type of purposive sampling. In this method, participants or informants with whom contact has already been made use their social networks to refer the researcher to other people who could potentially participate in or contribute to the study. Snowball sampling is often used to find and recruit “hidden populations,” that is, groups not easily accessible to researchers through other sampling