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Research Methods Tutorials: Introductions to Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Developed for NSED, Spring 2025 by Bronwen Maxson and Joe Ameen

Reflect on the Previous Poll

Narrative research and phenomenology are top candidates to select as methods for studying students coping with social distancing during COVID-19, but ethnography may also be a valid choice since you are looking at a specific group, i.e. college students.

(This is an explanation of the poll on the previous page)

Qualitative Research Data Collection

Below you'll find some short descriptions of some common methods for collecting data. 

  • Case studies: In-depth, detailed, examination of a single case or event to better understand a complex situation. Icon of video recording
  • Document analysis: Examining existing documents including records, reports, letters, media or other types of documentation to extract information to your inquiry. 
  • Focus groups: Facilitated discussions with a group of participants to gather opinions, insights and perspectives about a topic, event or situation. 
  • Observation: Observing participants to understand and record how they behave and interact. 
  • Interviews: One-on-one conversations with participants, allows for deeper exploration of a topic through open-ended questions. 

Each of these methods have advantages and challenges or limitations associated with them. Check out the chart below for some side-by-side information.

There are also many different ways to observe a group or conduct a focus group. We encourage you to seek out additional materials related to any of the methods that you might use for your research project to better understand their benefits, limitations and how they might be used in your study. You might check out the Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods:

Collecting Qualitative Data

Below is a table that shows the purpose, advantages, and challenges to some common qualitative data collection methods.
Method
Overall Purpose
Advantages
Challenges / Limitations
 Surveys
  •  Quickly and/or easily gets lots of  information from people in a non threatening way
  • can complete anonymously
  • inexpensive to administer
  • easy to compare and analyze
  • administer to many people
  • can get lots of data
  • many sample questionnaires already exist
  • might not get careful feedback
  • wording can bias participant's responses
  • impersonal
  • may need sampling expert
  • doesn't get full story
 Interviews
  • Understand someone's impressions or experiences
  • Learn more about answers to questionnaires
  • get full range and depth of information
  • develops relationship with subject
  • can be flexible with subject
  • can take time
  • can be hard to analyze and compare
  • can be costly
  • interviewer can bias subject's responses
 Observation
  • Gather firsthand information about people, events, or programs
  • view operations of a program as they are actually occurring
  • can adapt to events as they occur
  • can be difficult to interpret seen behaviors
  • can be complex to categorize observations
  • can influence behaviors of program participants
  • can be expensive
 Focus Groups
  • Explore a topic in depth through group discussion
  • quickly and reliably get common impressions
  • can be efficient way to get much range and depth of information in short time
  • can convey key information about programs
  • can be hard to analyze responses
  • need good facilitator for safety and closure
  • difficult to schedule 6-8 people together
 Case Studies
  • Understand an experience or conduct comprehensive examination through cross comparison of cases
  • depicts client's experience in program input, process and results
  • powerful means to portray program to outsiders
  • usually time consuming to collect, organize and describe
  • represents depth of information, rather than breadth

Table was adapted from Overview of Basic Methods to Collect Information, https://management.org/businessresearch/methods.htm, copyright Carter McNamara. Found via a guide from Duke University.

Check Your Understanding!

In you wanted to schedule a Focus Group, what is the biggest limitation in your view to using this research method?
Focus groups take more time to schedule and coordinate: 0 votes (0%)
Focus groups are harder to analyze because of multiple voices / perspectives: 0 votes (0%)
Focus groups can cost more requiring travel or recording equipment: 0 votes (0%)
Focus groups usually have smaller sample sizes (participants) and are less generalizeable than surveys (for example): 0 votes (0%)
Focus groups need a good facilitator for safety and closure: 0 votes (0%)
Total Votes: 0
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