How can qualitative research methods be used to generate new theories or hypotheses?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One of the major reasons for doing qualitative research is to understand a phenomenon well enough to be able to form some initial theories, hypotheses, or hunches about how it works. Very often in applied social research, students jump from doing a quick review of the literature on a particular topic to writing an entire research proposal, based just on existing research and their own thinking. What they miss is the direct experience of the phenomenon. Think about the difference in "knowing" that comes from reading about something versus that which comes from experiencing it—either firsthand, or by asking those who have experienced it. If you have the benefit of such an experience, you are likely to approach the existing literature on the topic with a fresh perspective. You might also have your own insights about what causes what to happen. This is where many interesting and valuable new theories and hypotheses originate.

Qualitative research can play a major role in the initial stages of theory development because it employs an inductive approach that focuses on asking open-ended questions. In fact, if you examine the history of any well-known theory (for example, Piaget's theory about the nature and development of human intelligence), you'll likely find that it began with qualitative work. Often these methods are extremely useful when you construct new theories because they make it possible to integrate concepts from multiple different disciplines. Finally, these methods also lend themselves to refining preliminary hypotheses through initial testing.