QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS:AN OVER VIEW

A PRESENTATION
BY

ZILKIFLU MUHAMMAD DABO

SPS/20/PEM/00011
EVM 9303 (ADVANCE RESEARCH METHODS)

Department of Environmental Management,

Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
Bayero University, Kano.

NOVEMBER, 2022
 Goal

• To enhance our capacity to conceptualize,

design and conduct in qualitative methods
based research
 PRESENTATION OUTLINES
 Introduction
 Key Concept in Qualitative Research Methods
 How do I Know if Qualitative Research is Right for my study?
 Qualitative Method of Data Collections
 Approaches of Qualitative Research Methods
 Where and When to Use Qualitative Methods
 Merits of Qualitative Methods
 Limitations of Qualitative Methods
 Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION

• “Qualitative research entails looking at a phenomenon

or an event from the perspective of the people.
• We try to understand, describe and define the event
from the personal experiences of the people.
• We do that by collecting documentation about the
research problem by observing people or by
interviewing them or by discoursing the research
problem in a focus group or by testing their interaction
in a particular setting” Sreeroopa Sarkar
 Introduction… contd
• Social Sciences study human beings and their behavior from a
variety of perspectives that characterizes the nature of man.

• Social Scientists conduct these studies through researching

into human behavior as individuals and as groups.

• Knowledge doesn’t just come to us, we find it, that process

through which we seek and find knowledge is known as
research.
 Introduction… contd
• Social scientist have the option of conducting
research using the quantitative methods which is
concerned about measurable and observable
phenomena that can be precisely quantified or use
qualitative methods which are good at studying
intangible human behavior.
• While in the former, use of numbers and statistics are
paramount, in the later, descriptive narrative is
preferred.
 Key Concept in Qualitative
Research
Qualitative Research Methods makes use of a number
of key concepts which attempt to justify the ground
rules for any social science study. Among these concept
are:
•Law: A law in social science is the universal
generalization about class of fact
•A fact is an observed phenomenon
•An observation is any details that has been seen,
heard or otherwise experienced by the researcher
Key concept …contd
• A theory then systematically provides
explanations for the observations that relates
to a particular aspect of social environment
• Concepts are basic building blocks of theories
• Hypotheses are scientific guest. They are
specified expectations about empirical reality
 How do I Know if Qualitative Research
is Right for my study?
• Consider the nature of the phenomenon you
want to study
• Determine what you know about the
phenomenon
• Be clear about your goal
Qualitative Research Methods
Population or Documents
 Qualitative Research Methods…
• In-depth Interview (IDIs): explore individual experiences and
perceptions in rich detail
• Focus Groups (FGDs): generate unique insights into shared
experiences and social norms
• Content Analysis: Content analysis is a method of analysing
written, verbal or visual communication messages (Leedy and
Ormrod, 2001)
• Observation: It is way of gathering data by watching behaviour,
or noting physical characteristics in their natural settings. The
researcher may not have direct contact or communication with
the people whose behaviour is being recorded.
 Qualitative Research Methods…
• Case study research: research strategy that
investigate a phenomenon (interaction) within its
real-life context
• Ethnographic research: Here the researcher involves
himself/herself into the daily life and routine of the
subject either as an active participant or an observer.
The researcher experiences their customs, tradition,
mannerism among others
• Intervention research: systematic study of purposive
change strategies
 Approaches

• Deductive approach is aimed at testing

theory, an inductive approach is concerned
with the generation of new theory emerging
from the data
• Deduction moves from more general to more
specific, while induction moves from more
specific to more general.
 Where and When to Use Qualitative Methods

Qualitative methods can be used in different kinds of researches including;

•Where the research is exploratory, this means if the study is about

exploring new research frontiers or new studies.

•Where the researcher wants to find detail information and understanding

of results generated from a quantitative study.

•Where the researcher wants to have close understanding of his target

audience’s experiences and perception and behavior on any subject under
study.
•Where the research is ethnographic, historical or a case study.
 Merits of Qualitative Methods
Qualitative research methods have a number of merits which
include:

•It allows researcher to explore topics in detail and get all the
information needed to provide explanation for observed
phenomena.

•It is not expensive because the sample size is usually small and
the number of times it is conducted is not much. For example,
where one thousand questionnaires are needed for a quantitative
research, a hundred in depth interviews or less will suffice.
Merits….
• It is flexible, thereby giving the researcher chance to choose
when and where to conduct the interviews or discussions thus
making it relatively quick and easy to gain an accurate
impression of experiences and perceptions.

• They aim to ensure that most or all social classes are

included, and the views of different groups can be identified.
For example the experiences of men and women are recorded
separately.

• It allows respondents to ask for clarifications in questions

they do not understand.
Merits….

• In most cases, the greatest influence of

qualitative methods has been in bringing the
realities of the poor people to the notice of
the policy makers in forms which are both
credible and difficult to deny.
Limitations of Qualitative Methods
Like any other method used by researchers, qualitative
research methods have their own limitations, some of which
are given below:

• By involving participants in a study using qualitative

methods, they may have some false hope that all the
problems they raised could be solved.

• It is difficult to generalize using qualitative method

because of the sample size.
 Limitations…
 Qualitative methods cannot give exact measurements or
numerical values to problems analyzed.

 Sometimes the data is difficult to synthesize and analyze

because of its share size.

 Getting respondents to participate individually or

collectively may sometime be difficult to arrange.
 Conclusion
In this study we have highlighted the qualitative research method
approaches. We have observed that this method allows the
researcher to explore and better understand the complexity of a
phenomenon. Obviously the qualitative research is more complex
than the quantitative research, as it deals with human mind and
action.
They are not to be used for all kinds of researches in social
environment. They are particularly useful where issues are
unclear or affect the interests of different groups in different
ways. Social research must be ethical by nature. Only voluntary
participation must be sought and the subjects should not be
exposed to any harm psychologically morally or physically.
Thank you
Very much
For your
attention