List three issues that might arise when conducting qualitative research, and explain how to address each of those issues. When should qualitative research not be used, and when is it advantageous?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: Qualitative research may involve numbers, but it is mostly based on words. First, creating categories that result in a high degree of reliability can be challenging. Even if the categories make sense and seem simple, sometimes the answers are confusing and hard to categorize. A second issue lies with the analysis; often, the analysis is more difficult. There are computer programs that help, but the difficult conceptual work needs to be done by a human. An undergraduate human is likely to find this work to be a difficult challenge. One of the issues is that engaging in qualitative research can be an emotional experience, not only for the participant but also for the researcher and the research team, which may include student research assistants. Emotions may be challenging to deal with, and the team may need help and training to deal with these emotions. Qualitative research should be used when the hypothesis demands it, when the data just happens to not be quantitative, and when we wish for rich information. However, qualitative research should not be used when we want to study large numbers of people and make broad generalizations.