Understanding what qualitative research is and when it can and should be used is an important skill. This guide provides an in-depth introduction to qualitative research methods, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to analyse qualitative results. 

Key points covered in this guide

• Strengths and limitations of qualitative research 
• An overview of the various qualitative research methods and when they should be used
• How to analyse your qualitative results

What is qualitative research? 

Qualitative research attempts to broaden or deepen our understanding of how things came to be the way they are. It is frequently used to explore ‘’what’, ‘why’ or ‘how’ questions, and is effective in obtaining culturally specific information about the values, opinions, behaviours, and social contexts of particular populations.   

You will need to undertake qualitative research if your research question any of the following: 

• Understanding how people experience something, or what their views are 
• Exploring a new area where issues are not yet understood or defined Assessing whether a new service can be implemented, looking at ‘real-life’ context 
• A sensitive topic where you need flexibility to avoid causing distress.

What are different types of qualitative research and when can they be used? 

Although there are many approaches in qualitative research, they all share the same general process: 

• Begin with the research problem and question 
• Proceed with data collection, analysis, and reporting 

There are, however, fundamental differences between qualitative methodologies. At the most basic level, they differ in their goals and what they try to accomplish. Choosing the most appropriate approach will depend on the research question you are interested in answering.  

Grounded theory	‘Grounded’ in its data. This inductive approach collects data while simultaneously analysing it and using the emerging theory to inform further data collection.
Ethnography	Study of social interactions, behaviours, and perceptions that occur within groups, teams, organisations, and communities. The central aim of ethnography is to provide rich, holistic insights into people’s views and actions, as well as the nature of the location they inhabit. This is commonly done through the collection of detailed observations and interviews.
Phenomenology	Emphasis on understanding individuals’ ‘lived experiences’ and how they make sense of their experiences. Researchers aim to identify the core or essence of human experiences and the meaning attached to a phenomenon.

Qualitative data collection methods

Interviews

Qualitative interviews are guided discussions to gain in-depth information from a small sample. They can be: 

• Semi-structured. There is flexibility to allow new ideas and/or topics to be introduced during the interview, based on discussions with the interviewee. The same topics will be covered with all participants. However, the interviewer is not constrained to a particular format and questions can be tailored to the interview context and individual.   
• Unstructured. Often used when very little is known about the topic in question and the researcher wishes to approach it as openly as possible to gain a ‘true’ appreciation of what is important to participants. This approach allows participants to express their views and opinions at length and in detail. 

When should I use interviews to collect data? 

When looking for individual experiences, rather than collective and shared experiences, and dealing with sensitive topics.

When is it inappropriate to use interviews? 

If you are hoping to generalise your findings to an entire population.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Offer a more personalised approach, allowing participants to be more open to share their own experiences and views, using their own words	Data can only be collected from a small number of participants
Participants can give in-depth reasons and explanations	Can be more expensive and difficult to get a broad sample, if undertaken face-to-face
Informed sample procedures can ensure data from all sample demographics is collected	Data generated will be context specific
Allow a two-way communication with opportunity to clarify questions	The role of the interviewer needs to be considered (e.g. in introducing bias, leading questions, etc.)

Top tips for good interviewing

Interview schedule 

• Ask the right questions (i.e. those that will help you answer your research question)
• Use open-ended questions focusing on answering ‘how’, ‘who’, ‘what’, and ‘why’ questions
• Avoid leading questions and double-barrelled questions (i.e. asking about more than one issue per question, yet allowing only for one answer) 
• Think about probing/prompt questions to encourage deep thought and gain greater insight 
• Consider the order of the questions (general to specific) 
• Make sure you pilot your interview schedule

The interview 

• Ensure you are familiar with the topic or interview schedule
• Advise participants that you will be recording and/or taking notes 
• Practice active listening and asking follow-up questions 
• Don’t just read the questions, be interested and enthusiastic 
• Watch the time and don’t rush getting through the questions 
• Allow participants to finish their thoughts (i.e. don’t interrupt) 
• Don’t comment on answers or offer personal views 
• Don’t react to controversial views (e.g. racism)

Focus groups

A focus group is used when the research question is best understood by recording the discussions and shared interactions of a (small) group of people on a particular topic. The method allows for the exploration of participants’ knowledge and experiences, as well as the investigation of what people think and why. 

Advantages	Disadvantages
Time effective	Require strong moderation
Can identify a wide range of issues	People need to feel confident in confidentiality
Allow discussion and forming of opinions in a natural interactive process	Difficult to capture changes in views
Allow shared ideas, and people can change their view during a discussion	Not all participants comment on all issues
Good when seeking a consensus based on shared understanding	Do not always allow in-depth discussion of thoughts and reasoning processes
Good when the topic of interest is very little understood or researched	Pre-existing power dynamics can intimidate some participants
Provides first-hand evidence of actions and events which participant accounts do not always accurately reflect when using interviews or surveys	Open to interpretation, therefore the researcher/facilitator may introduce their own bias
Allow the analysis of non-verbal communication within situations; for example, the physical layout of the work environment, body gestures, eye contact and movement.	Time-consuming and context-specific method of data collection.
	Behaviour / activities may change because of being observed, a phenomenon known as the Hawthorne effect)

Top tips for good focus groups

As with qualitative interviews, there are some important points to consider when conducting a focus group. 

Who will moderate the discussions and take notes? 

Roles and responsibilities should be agreed in advance. Focus groups should be led by an experienced researcher/facilitator who stimulates active engagement of participants. One person should also be designated to take notes. Record the conversation using a digital recorder if you can (so you can later capture verbatim notes). However, remember to obtain the permission of participants in advance.   

Who are the potential participants? How many should be included? 

• How large should the group be? Ideally, 5-12 participants.  
• Do you need more than one focus group? Consider if you’ll have homogeneity (similar) or heterogeneity (mixed), stranger groups, or pre-existing groups. If you’d like to gather a more diverse pool of data, it is recommended that more than one focus group is conducted. The number of focus groups required to answer a research question depends on the researcher’s aims and the topic being investigated.

Set and explain the ground rules to participants. 

These might include some of the following:  

• Remain focused on the topic 
• Speak one at a time 
• Respect everyone’s ideas and views 
• Active participation  

Managing group dynamics 

• Pay attention to the dominant / shy / expert personality types
• Use non-verbal communication (eye contact, facial expression, body language, gestures, posture, etc.) to develop trust and rapport 
• Manage arguments, disagreements, and distressed participants (e.g. manage disclosure of sensitive and/or potentially harmful information)

Observations

An observation is a record of something you see or hear – the data provides first-hand insights into what your users are doing, feeling, and thinking. All observations should be recorded (e.g. dictating field notes on a digital device or recording notes in a notebook or smart tablet) using a structured and systematic format and framework. 

It is important that the researcher identifies and considers all the factors that may have an impact on data collection. For example, where and when the observation is taking place (day of the week and time of day), the duration of each observation, and how many observations in total. 

Qualitative data analysis  

Data collection and analysis in qualitative research typically follows an iterative approach (i.e. a sequence of systematic tasks executed consistently and multiple times to develop deeper meaning from the data).  

Rather than waiting for all the data to be collected, researchers can often start analysing data straight away, incorporating any new knowledge gained during the process into subsequent data analysis and interpretation. 

Inductive and deductive approaches 

Qualitative data analysis and coding can involve both inductive and deductive approaches, although most qualitative research employs inductive data analysis. 

An inductive approach begins with specific observations or data and uses them to generate new ideas, themes or theories. Inductive approaches are more exploratory in nature and usually associated with qualitative research. 

A deductive approach starts with a generalisation and then gathers evidence to generate unbiased, context-free data to test a theory or hypothesis. Deductive approaches can be employed in both quantitative and qualitative research.  

Using a combination of inductive and deductive analysis techniques can help achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the barriers to health service implementation. 

Before coding your data, you should decide if you want to generate codes only when you start looking at your qualitative data (inductive coding), or whether you would rather start off with a set of codes and stick with them (deductive coding), or if you would prefer a combination approach. 

Reflexivity 

Reflexivity is key part of data collection and analysis, and it means the acknowledgment of the role of the researcher in constructing the knowledge or data. Researchers should adopt a reflexive approach in qualitative research and think about the implications of their values, biases, emotions, and decisions in the research process.   

Thematic analysis 

Thematic analysis is one of the most used methods in pharmacy research. In simple terms, this method of data analysis enables the researcher to identify common themes to meaningfully answer the research question. The six steps to conducting thematic analysis, initially proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006), are outlined below:  

1. Familiarisation. Before the analysis of qualitative data, the researcher should become familiar with the data through transcribing, reading, re-reading, and making notes
2. Generation of initial codes. Coding is the process of transforming your dataset into a set of meaningful categories by searching and identifying concepts from the information and the relationships between them. The method used to code will be determined by the research question. However, most researchers will code with the specific research questions in mind  
3. Searching for themes. Categorising or grouping codes into potential themes, which may be further grouped together into broader themes  
4. Reviewing themes. In essence, this is the process of reviewing, modifying, and developing the initial themes identified. The researcher should gather all the data relevant to each theme and consider whether the data actually supports the themes. Other factors to think about at this stage include:
   • whether themes are entirely separate or if there is any overlap
   • whether there are sub-themes within themes 
   • whether there are any other themes within the data 
5. Defining and naming themes. This final stage of analysis involves refining each theme, and the overall findings from the analysis. The researcher needs to clearly communicate what each theme is saying by generating clear definitions and names for each theme. Consider how themes relate to each other and, if there are sub-themes, how they relate to the main themes
6. Writing up the report: The end point of the research involves the selection of compelling examples, linking analysis back to the research question and existing literature, and producing a report of the analysis 

There are many other methods can be used to analyse qualitative data. Make sure you choose the most appropriate approach for your study. 

Why should we believe in qualitative research?

The concepts internal validity, external validity, objectivity, and reliability are frequently used in quantitative research. In contrast, the findings of qualitative research are expected to be context specific and are, therefore, not reproducible in the same way. Instead, the researcher should be able to confirm that the study accurately captures the perceptions of the participants; and describe sufficiently the study methodology to allow for comparison to other populations. It can be helpful to ask:

• Why should we believe in this research? 
• What does it take to trust an author or trust in research? 

Trustworthiness in qualitative studies is about being able to establish the following criteria:  

Credibility	Having confidence in the data. This can be established when the results accurately reflect the views of the research participants. Triangulation and member checking, discussed in the next section, help establish credibility.
Transferability	Achieved by providing evidence to the audience that the findings could be transferred or applied to other contexts, populations, and studies. It is equivalent to generalisability, or external validity, in quantitative research.
Confirmability	Findings should be based on participants’ responses and not a result of conscious or unconscious bias. To achieve this, researchers can provide an audit trail, which outlines every step of data analysis and rationale for decisions made.
Dependability	The extent that the study could be replicated by another researcher and obtain consistent findings. An inquiry audit can be used to establish dependability.

How do we ensure quality and rigour in qualitative research? 

This question rests on whether an alternative researcher would reach the same conclusions. Rigour and quality are best achieved through:  

• careful planning 
• active and rigorous use of researcher reflexivity and peer review; and 
• honest and transparent reporting of the study  

Below are some of the approaches used to increase credibility and validity in qualitative research: 

• Audit or decision trail – ensuring adherence to systematic processes and procedures which are well-documented in an audit trail throughout the study
• Triangulation – exploring a problem from different angles, combining multiple methods and sources, and using more than one researcher to perform data analysis
• Member checking / respondent or participant validation – confirming your results with participants; for example, data are returned to participants to check for accuracy and resonance with their experiences
• Constant comparison – checking interpretation of data during analysis by constantly comparing with existing findings within and across cases as they are identified
• Frequent debriefing sessions – working with one, or more, colleagues who hold impartial views. The impartial colleagues examine the researcher’s work, including transcripts, methodology, and report, and provide feedback to enhance credibility and ensure validity
• Thick/ rich description – providing sufficiently detailed descriptions and interpretations of situations and their context when conducting qualitative research   
• Deviant or negative case analysis – searching for negative, or deviant cases that contradict emerging analysis, and to continue refining analysis until the difference can be accounted for

The goal of quality and rigour in qualitative research is to minimise the risk of bias and increase the accuracy and credibility of research results. It is, therefore, essential that researchers consider the unique aspects of rigour in qualitative research and apply the above techniques and practices, as appropriate, to the research question, to achieve rigour and quality. 

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