QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ANALYSIS

Qualitative Research Analysis



Qualitative Research Analysis

This is the second in a series of four papers on understanding and doing qualitative research [Frankel & Devers (2000) Qualitative research: a consumer's guide, Education for Health, 13, 113-123; Devers & Frankel (2000) Study design in qualitative research-2: sampling and data collection strategies, Education for Health, 13, 263-271]. Here, we focus on problems of study design, including question develop ment, literature review, identifying a target audience and resource needs assessment. We provide a step-by-step description of major issues and choice points in the process.

There are three key differences between qualitative and quantitative research designs.

First, the logic of qualitative research is often inductive, rather than deductive, and consists of describing people's and groups' particular situations, meanings and experi ences. Second, qualitative research designs are often emergent and exible, and the research itself is quite dynamic. Third, the qualitative research process is non-linear and non-sequential.

There is agreement that good qualitative studies answer clearly stated, important research questions. How qualitative research questions are formulated has implications for conducting a literature review. Some scholars believe that literature should be reviewed prior to beginning a study; others argue that this may impede the researcher from truly listening, observing and remaining open to new concepts and ideas. We offer suggestions about formulating research questions and how and when to conduct a literature review.

Another important issue in conducting qualitative research is determining the re sources that will be needed to conduct a study. These include internal resources, such In our previous paper, "Qualitative research: a consumer's guide," we described four domains of qualitative research, illustrated their relevance to problems in education for health, and offered some criteria for evaluating studies using these approaches (Frankel & Devers, 2000). Here, we focus on how to design and conduct a qualitative study. We ...