Chapter 3

Chapter 3
QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
Lecturer: Le Hoai Kieu Giang
Email: lhkgiang@hcmut.edu.vn
Contents:
• Overview of qualitative research
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative research
• Qualitative data collection
• Qualitative data analysis
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1. Overview of qualitative research
Qualitative research includes an “array of interpretive

techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate,
and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the
frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring
phenomena in the social world.”
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• Aims to achieve an in-depth understanding of a situation.

• Ideal for extracting feelings, emotions, motivations, perceptions,
consumer “language,” or self-described behavior.
4
• Data presented in words, pictures, etc.

• May be subjective/ susceptible to human error/ bias in data
collection/ interpretation.
• Results cannot be generalized è a fundamental weakness.
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2. Qualitative vs. Quantitative research
Theory Theory
Building Testing
• Description
• Understanding • Explanation
• Interpretation • Data are coded,
• Texts; detailed descriptions categorized, and reduced to
of events, situations, and numbers for statistical
interactions (verbal/visual). analysis.
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2. Qualitative vs. Quantitative research
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3. Qualitative data collection
Ø Sampling & Sample size
Small sample size
Purposive Snowball Convenience

Sampling Sampling Sampling
General rule:
You should keep conducting interviews until no
new insights are gained. (the saturated point)
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Purposive sampling - Researchers choose participants arbitrarily for their

unique characteristics or their experiences, attitudes, or perceptions,...
Snowball sampling - Participants refer researchers to others who have

characteristics, experiences, or attitudes similar to or different from their own.
Convenience sampling - Researchers select any readily available individuals

as participants.
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An unstructured interview: no specific questions or order of topics to be

discussed, with each interview customized to each participant, generally
starts with a participant narrative.
A semi structured interview: generally starts with a few specific questions

and then follows the individual’s tangents of thought with interviewer probes.
A structured interview: often uses a detailed interview guide similar to a

questionnaire to guide the question order and the specific way the questions
are asked, but the questions generally remain open-ended.
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Most qualitative research relies on the unstructured or semi-structured

interview. They:
• Rely on developing a dialog between interviewer and participant.
• Require more interviewer creativity.
• Use the skill of the interviewer to extract more and a greater variety of data.
• Use interviewer experience and skill to achieve greater clarity and

elaboration of answers.
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Ø Individual depth interview (IDI) :
An individual depth interview (IDI) is an interaction between an individual
interviewer and a single participant.
• Best used for “How, Why” questions or “Story telling”, “Feeling” questions
• Exploratory stage
• Can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured
• From broad issue to narrow topic
• Face-to-face or via telephone/online
• Situational/ personal bias
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ØGroup interviews
• Dyads (2)
• Triads (3)
• Mini-Groups (3-6)
• (Small group) Focus Groups (6-10)
• Supergroups (10-20)
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ØGroup interviews
A focus group is an interview

conducted by a trained moderator in
a nonstructured and natural manner
with a small group of respondents.
The moderator leads the discussion.
The value of the technique lies in the

unexpected findings often obtained
from a free-flowing group discussion.
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Ø Focus group interview
• Typically consists of 6-10 members + a moderators leading the

discussion on a particular topic
• Used for exploratory studies/generating ideas
• Unstructured / Natural / Flexible
• May be biased by leading opinions
• Important role of the moderator
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Individual Interview Focus Group Interview
Research Objective • Explore a range of attitudes, opinions,
• Explore life of individual in depth and behaviors
• Create case histories through • Observe a process of consensus and
repeated interviews over time disagreement
• Test a survey • Add contextual detail to quantitative findings
Topic Concerns • Issues of public interest or common

• Detailed individual experiences, concern
choices, biographies • Issues where little is known
• Sensitive issues that might provoke
anxiety
Participants • Participants whose backgrounds are similar
• Time-pressed participants or those difficult or not so dissimilar as to generate conflict or
to recruit (e.g., elite or high- status discomfort
participants) • Participants who can articulate their ideas
• Participants with sufficient language skills • Participants who offer a range of
•Participants whose distinctions would positions on issues
inhibit participation
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4. Qualitative data analysis
Thematic analysis:
Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting

patterns (themes) within data.
Thematic analysis involves the searching across a data set to find repeated
patterns of meaning.
(Braun & Clarke, 2006)
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4. Qualitative data analysis
6 phases of thematic analysis:
Familiarizing yourself • Transcription of verbal data to written form(if necessary)
with your data • Reading and re-reading the data, noting down initial ideas
• Coding interesting features of the data in a systematic fashion

Generating initial codes
across the entire data set, collating data relevant to each code.
• Sorting the different codes into potential themes, and collating all
Searching for themes
the relevant coded data extracts within the identified themes.
Reviewing themes • The refinement of those themes è rework your theme, creating
a new theme,…
Defining and naming • Identifying the ‘essence’ of what each theme is about and
themes determining what aspect of the data each theme captures
Producing the report 19

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Qualitative research includes an “array of interpretive

• Aims to achieve an in-depth understanding of a situation.

• Data presented in words, pictures, etc.

• Results cannot be generalized è a fundamental weakness.

Small sample size

Purposive Snowball Convenience

Purposive sampling - Researchers choose participants arbitrarily for their

Snowball sampling - Participants refer researchers to others who have

Convenience sampling - Researchers select any readily available individuals

An unstructured interview: no specific questions or order of topics to be

A semi structured interview: generally starts with a few specific questions

A structured interview: often uses a detailed interview guide similar to a

Most qualitative research relies on the unstructured or semi-structured

• Rely on developing a dialog between interviewer and participant.

• Require more interviewer creativity.

• Use interviewer experience and skill to achieve greater clarity and

A focus group is an interview

The value of the technique lies in the

• Typically consists of 6-10 members + a moderators leading the

Topic Concerns • Issues of public interest or common

Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting

(Braun & Clarke, 2006)

• Coding interesting features of the data in a systematic fashion

Producing the report 19

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