Are you ready to take your qualitative research to the next level? If so, you may be wondering what sets qualitative research apart from other forms of market research. While quantitative research is focused on numbers and metrics, qualitative research looks at consumers’ attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and behaviors. Qualitative research can help you understand what’s driving those behaviors and opinions—and how they might change in the future.
Qualitative research is often used to gain insight into consumer behavior that can’t be captured through quantitative methods. For example, when a customer’s purchase decision depends on more than one factor—such as price and brand preference—quantitative studies don’t always provide enough information about which factor was most important for that person’s decision-making process.
Qualitative research can also be helpful when determining if there are any major gaps in your customer knowledge—for example, if there are any key questions or topics that haven’t been covered in previous quantitative studies but should be addressed by future ones because they’ll inform important business decisions for your company. In this article, we’ll explore some characteristics of qualitative research you may not know before.
What Are The Main Characteristics Of Qualitative Research?
Before conducting qualitative research, it is necessary to understand its main characteristics. Otherwise, there are great chances of losing the direction of study. In qualitative research, there are more chances of getting insight into the problem. In this way, finding an effective solution for a defined problem becomes easy.
In qualitative research, the main purpose is to address the how and why for a particular phenomenon. At an organisational level, it is common to observe qualitative studies from the end of managers. In this way, the quality and reputation of an organisation are maintained in a constructive way. The reason behind low production can be identified, and the best solution is proposed based on the collected data from a targeted audience. The manager may assume that there is an issue of high price, but in actuality, the low quality of the product is a problem.
Therefore, a proper study is necessary to analyse any problem’s main cause. Best PhD dissertation help providers recommend that qualitative research can be used to determine the root cause of problems like this. In the academic and industrial communities, qualitative research is highly valued for its ability to generate detailed descriptions of human behavior. Its main characteristics are as follows:
- Real-World Setting
- Reflexivity
- Flexibility
- Complex Reasoning
- Subjectivity
- Non-testing approach
Let’s discuss each characteristic in detail.
Real-World Setting
One of the main characteristics of qualitative research is its real-time setting. By understanding the data collection ways of qualitative research, the characteristic of a real-time setting become easy to understand. In qualitative research, the data is collected through interviews. The interview can be of an individual or a group. In both cases, the interviewer asks open-ended questions and collects first-hand data from respondents. Other than the answer, the behaviour of the respondent also matters a lot. In this case, a natural setting is made, and the data is collected in its original form. Other than the interview, observation is a way to collect data for qualitativequantitative research that is also used to make a conclusion as a result of a real-time setting.
Reflexivity
Reflexivity is a major characteristic of qualitative research that you need to remember when conducting your study for dissertation writing. It refers to the researcher’s ability to reflect on his/her own role in social interactions, including those with participants and key informants during data collection and analysis stages. This means that reflexivity requires researchers to be aware of their own biases and assumptions at all times during the process of collecting data from participants and analyzing it afterwards.
The researcher’s reflexivity allows him/her to reflect on his/her own role as an active participant in the research process itself; therefore he should try not only to understand what participants think or feel but also why they think or feel this way so as not to make any assumptions about their thoughts or feelings based on his own experience only (e.g., when interviewing someone).
Flexibility
As qualitative research aims to study nature and its phenomenon, the presence of flexibility is necessary for the list of characteristics of qualitative research. It is obvious to observe changes at any stage in nature and its phenomenon. So, the characteristic of flexibility makes it easy to handle all changes and carry on research in an effective way. It would not be wrong to say that flexibility is the strength of qualitative research. It is a flexibility that allows qualitative research to adapt to the changes and divert the direction of a process used for it.
Qualitative research is flexible. It’s difficult to know exactly where your research might take you until you start asking questions and listening carefully to what people say in response. You might find yourself following a trail that leads nowhere — or you might end up with unexpected insights that are important for your business decisions. Qualitative researchers often use open-ended questions (such as “Tell me about yourself” or “Why do you think that?”) rather than yes/no questions because they want participants to think about their answers before responding.
Qualitative researchers are curious about everything. They ask questions about every aspect of human existence: how people feel about things; how they behave; how things work; how decisions are made; why people behave.
Complex Reasoning
There are different characteristics of qualitative research, but complex reasoning is the one that is most beneficial to businesses. Complex reasoning is an approach that helps you explore and analyze ideas with greater depth than simple analysis would allow. It involves looking at many different perspectives on a topic and then synthesizing all those viewpoints into a comprehensive picture of what is happening within your chosen organization or industry.
Subjectivity
Qualitative research is focused on the subjective experience of individuals, groups and organizations. In general, qualitative researchers aim to understand the meaning people make of their own lives and experiences. The goal of qualitative research, then, is not to measure or quantify people’s responses but to understand them in a deeper way.
Non-Testing Approach
Qualitative research does not use a standardized test that yields scores for each individual participant. Rather, it uses open-ended questions that allow participants to describe their experiences in their own words. These responses are then coded and categorized by researchers so patterns can be identified and analyzed across all participants’ responses.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article has helped you understand the key characteristics of qualitative research. It’s important to understand what you’re getting into when you conduct qualitative research, especially if it’s not your area of expertise! Keep in mind that qualitative research can be used to answer a variety of questions and improve your understanding of your target audience.
