Introduction to Qualitative Research

(PSY206) Data Management and Analysis

Chapter Overview

This chapter introduces qualitative research for psychology students. After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• explain what qualitative research means
  
• differentiate it from quantitative research
  
• identify strengths and weaknesses
  
• describe major types of qualitative designs
  
• understand data collection methods
  
• recognize ethical responsibilities

The chapter is written as a learning text so that students can read it without teacher support.

10.1 What is Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is the systematic study of human experience through words, stories, observations, and meanings. Instead of measuring how much, it asks how and why.

Psychology deals with emotions, relationships, memories, and identity. Many of these cannot be reduced to numbers. Qualitative research allows the researcher to enter the inner world of participants.

Everyday Analogy:
If quantitative research is like measuring temperature with a thermometer, qualitative research is like asking a person how the fever feels, what they fear, and how it affects their life.

Formal Definition:
Qualitative research is an interpretive approach that seeks to understand social and psychological phenomena from the perspective of those experiencing it.

Why Psychology Needs Qualitative Research

Psychological tests can tell that a student scored high on depression scale. But the test cannot tell:

• what made the student depressed
  
• how family reacts
  
• what meaning the student gives to sadness

Qualitative research fills this gap.

Case Illustration:
Rupa, a first year student, scored 28 on a depression scale. The number shows severity. An interview revealed:

• she misses her village
  
• hostel seniors tease her accent
  
• she feels guilty for spending father money

These contextual details help psychologists design real interventions.

Historical Background

Early psychology relied heavily on experiments. Later researchers realized that human behavior is influenced by culture and meaning. From the 1970s, qualitative methods entered counseling, clinical and educational psychology.

In South Asia, qualitative studies helped to understand:

• stigma of mental illness
  
• impact of poverty on parenting
  
• experiences of migration workers

Key Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Dimension	Qualitative	Quantitative
Purpose	Understand meaning	Test relationships
Question	How and why	How much
Data	Text, audio	Numbers
Sample	Small	Large
Outcome	Themes	Statistics

Example in One Topic

Topic: Academic stress.

Quantitative:
200 students fill stress scale. Result mean = 3.8.

Qualitative:
15 students interviewed. Themes:

• fear of disappointing parents
  
• competition with friends
  
• loneliness in hostel

Both methods complement each other.

Philosophical Foundations

Qualitative research assumes:

• reality is subjective
  
• people construct meaning
  
• context matters
  
• researcher and participant interact

This is different from positivist view that believes in single objective truth.

Implication for Students:
When you analyze interview data, there is not one correct answer. You must justify your interpretation with evidence.

10.2 Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative Research

Strengths

1. Rich and Detailed Description Qualitative research captures complex emotions, thoughts, and relationships that numbers cannot express. It allows participants to describe experiences in their own language.

   • A depressed student may explain feelings of emptiness, guilt toward parents, and fear of the future, which cannot be fully reflected by a depression score.
   • A victim of bullying can describe how teasing affects self-esteem and school attendance.

2. Cultural Sensitivity This approach respects local values, religion, and social norms. Psychological experiences are interpreted within the participant’s cultural world.

   • In Bangladesh, mothers with postpartum depression reported pressure to give birth to sons, a factor absent in many Western questionnaires.
   • Elderly people often describe mental distress using physical terms such as chest pain or burning head, which qualitative interviews can capture.

3. Discovery Oriented Qualitative studies do not start with fixed hypotheses. New ideas and unexpected themes can emerge from data.

   • A study on mobile addiction among teenagers unexpectedly revealed family conflict as a major trigger.
   • Research on exam anxiety discovered that fear of teacher humiliation was stronger than fear of failure.

4. Participant Voice and Empowerment Participants become active contributors rather than test subjects. Their stories are valued.

   • Survivors of domestic violence felt respected when researchers listened without judgment.
   • Children with learning disabilities could express their frustrations directly instead of being labeled by test scores.

5. Holistic Understanding Human behavior is seen as a whole, connected with family, society, and history.

   • Understanding suicide risk requires knowing relationships, economic stress, and personal meaning, not only psychiatric symptoms.
   • Counseling outcomes improve when therapists know the client’s life context.

Limitations

1. Small and Non-Representative Sample Qualitative studies usually involve a limited number of participants, so findings cannot be generalized to all people.

   • Interviewing ten university students about depression cannot represent all Bangladeshi students.
   • Experiences of one rural school may differ from urban schools.

2. Researcher Bias and Subjectivity The researcher’s beliefs and background can influence interpretation.

   • A researcher who believes strict parenting is harmful may focus only on negative stories.
   • Personal sympathy for participants may affect coding of interviews.

3. Difficulty in Replication Because data depend on context and relationship between researcher and participant, repeating the exact study is hard.

   • An interview conducted today may produce different responses next year.
   • Another researcher may interpret the same transcript differently.

4. Time and Resource Intensive Collecting, transcribing, and analyzing interviews require long effort.

   • One hour interview may need four hours of transcription.
   • Coding hundreds of pages demands patience and training.

5. Challenges in Maintaining Confidentiality Rich descriptions can accidentally reveal identity.

   • In a small community, details about a teacher or student may make them recognizable.
   • Sensitive topics like abuse require careful data protection.

Qualitative research is not weaker than quantitative research. It answers different kinds of questions. Good psychological research often combines both approaches.

• Think of one psychological topic where qualitative research is more suitable than a survey.
• Identify one risk of bias in that topic and how you would reduce it.

10.3 Types of Qualitative Research

• Ethnography: Ethnography involves long-term immersion in a natural setting to understand the culture, values, and everyday practices of a group. The researcher observes how people interact and how social rules operate in real life.

  • Observation of teacher–student interactions and discipline culture in a rural secondary school in Bangladesh.
  • Study of communication patterns and aggression among adolescents in online gaming cafes.

• Phenomenology: Phenomenology explores the lived experiences of individuals to understand how they perceive and interpret a particular phenomenon. The focus is on personal meaning rather than external measurement.

  • Exploration of how university students experience their first panic attack and how they describe bodily sensations.
  • Study of how flood survivors in coastal areas emotionally experience loss of home and security.

• Grounded Theory: Grounded theory aims to develop a new theory directly from collected data instead of testing an existing model. Concepts and relationships gradually emerge from interviews and observations.

  • Developing a theory on how Bangladeshi adolescents recover emotionally after a romantic breakup.
  • Building a model of how parents gradually accept a child diagnosed with autism.

• Case Study: Case study provides an intensive and holistic examination of a single person, family, institution, or event to gain deep psychological understanding.

  • Detailed psychological assessment of one child with autism and his adjustment in mainstream school.
  • In-depth study of a university student who overcame severe social anxiety through counseling.

• Narrative Analysis: Narrative analysis examines the stories people tell about their lives and focuses on how they construct meaning through those stories.

  • Life story of a migrant worker who returned from the Middle East and struggled with identity change.
  • Personal narrative of a woman rebuilding her life after experiencing domestic violence.

• Action Research: Action research is a practical and participatory approach where researchers and community members work together to solve an immediate problem and reflect on the outcome.

  • A school counselor introduces peer support groups to reduce bullying and evaluates the change with students.
  • Teachers and psychologists jointly design a program to improve classroom behavior of hyperactive children.

• Historical Research: Historical research investigates past records, letters, reports, or biographies to understand psychological trends within a social context.

  • Analysis of old hospital records to study how mental illness was treated in Dhaka during the 1980s.
  • Examination of autobiographies of freedom fighters to understand trauma and resilience after the Liberation War.

10.4 Data Collection Techniques

1. In Depth Interview

• Most important tool in psychology.
• Skills Needed
  • active listening
    
  • empathy
    
  • non judgment
    
  • probing

Sample Interview Guide:
Topic: Test anxiety

1. Describe a recent exam day.
   
2. What happens in your body?
   
3. Who do you talk to?
   
4. What makes it better?

2. Focus Group

Group discussion reveals social norms.
Example: Group of mothers discussing child smartphone use.

3. Observation

Researcher watches behavior.
Example: Observing interaction in therapy session.

4. Documents

• diaries
  
• letters
  
• Facebook posts

10.5 Sampling Strategies

Qualitative sampling is purposeful.

Purposive Sampling

Select information rich cases.
Example: Choose students who visited counselor.

Snowball Sampling

Participants refer others.
Useful for sensitive issues like substance abuse.

Saturation

Data collection stops when no new information appears.

10.6 Ethics in Psychological Qualitative Research

Ethics is central.

1. Informed consent
   
2. Confidentiality
   
3. Anonymity
   
4. Right to stop
   
5. Referral for risk

Risk Example

If participant cries while describing abuse, researcher must prioritize wellbeing over data.

10.7 Role of Researcher

Researcher is instrument. You must reflect on:

• your beliefs
  
• your social position
  
• your language

Reflexivity Box:
A male researcher interviewing female victims must consider power difference.

10.8 Practice Task

1. Interview a friend about social media use for 10 minutes and write:

   • five key statements
     
   • two possible themes

• Interview your classmate for 5 minutes about “Stress before presentation” and write:

  • two main feelings
    
  • two coping strategies