Qualitative research
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Qualitative research is one of the two major approaches to research methodology in social sciences. Qualitative research involves an indepth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern human behavior. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research relies on reasons behind various aspects of behavior. Simply put, it investigates the why and how of decision making, as compared to what, where, and when of quantitative research. Hence, the need is for smaller but focused samples rather than large random samples, which qualitative research categorizes data into patterns as the primary basis for organizing and reporting results. Unlike quantitative research, which relies exclusively on the analysis of numerical or quantifiable data, data for qualitative research comes in many mediums, including text, sound, still images, and moving images.
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[edit] History
Qualitative research approaches began to gain recognition in the 1970s. The phrase 'qualitative research' was until then marginalized as a discipline of anthropology or sociology, and terms like ethnography, fieldwork, participant observation and Chicago school (sociology) were used instead. During the 1970s and 1980s qualitative research began to be used in other disciplines, and became a dominant - or at least significant - type of research in the fields of women's studies, disability studies, education studies, social work studies, information studies, management studies, nursing service studies, human service studies, psychology, communication studies, and other. In the late 1980s and 1990s after a spate of criticisms from the quantitative side, new methods of qualitative research have been designed, to address the problems with reliability and imprecise modes of data analysis.[1]
One way of differentiating Qualitative research from Quantitative research is that largely Qualitative research is exploratory, while Quantitative research is conclusive. However it may be argued that each reflect a particular discourse; neither being more conclusive or 'true' than the other.
Quantitative data is measurable, while Qualitative data can not be put into a context that can be graphed or displayed as a mathematical term.