Answer to Question #155834 in Statistics and Probability for heleina

Question

in which aspect of your life or in what personal activites can you apply the concepts of qualitative research?

Answer 1

It provides an in-depth understanding of the ways people come to understand, act and manage their day-to-day situations in particular settings.

To put it simply, quantitative research uses numbers to help us understand “what” is happening (as well as “why” and “how” it is happening). Qualitative research uses words and images to help us understand more about “why” and “how” something is happening (and, sometimes “what” is happening).

Qualitative research collects information that occurs naturally; that is, it doesn’t set up experiments. The main methods for collecting research include:

- conducting interviews and focus groups, during which people retell their experiences, thoughts and actions;

- observing people in their own settings;

- analyzing documents (from government reports to personal diaries);

- analyzing conversations (as contained in documents, speeches, interviews, etc.).

With this collected information, qualitative research can be used to:

- describe the nature of what exists and how it is experienced by those in it (i.e. context); e.g. help us understand the experience of having a long-term claim;

- explain why things exist as they do; e.g. help us understand the events leading to long-term claims, the circumstances in which long-term claims occur and why they continue to occur;

- evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that aim to change what exists; e.g. help us understand the quality of any programs put in place to reduce long-term claims; and

- generate suggestions for ways to improve things, or for potential areas of new research; e.g. help us understand strategies for supporting workers on long-term claims and helping people avoid them to begin with.