Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research is text based and it focuses on the how’s and whys of something. The methods of conducting Qualitative Research include gathering information such as Field Notes, Reflective Journals, Structured Interviews and Semi Structured Interviews.

In everything there are advantages and disadvantages; Qualitative Research certainly having some of its own.  The points below will state what advantages and disadvantages of this research method.

Field Notes have the advantages of the researcher being able to record whatever they observe; this allows them to refer back to their notes and then input it into their research/document. Another advantage of this method is that the researcher/person using this method gets information first had because the person is answering the questions that the researcher/person has asked them right there and then; therefore getting the information straight away. The disadvantages of Field Notes are that you cannot always gather every bit of information you observe. Another disadvantage is that you only get one chance to gather a certain piece of information.

 Reflective Journals have the advantages of the researcher being able to express their personal view on something; this allows the person to then criticize themselves on a personal level and not having to speak out their opinions. Another advantage is that this is active learning; this can help someone to become independent and then they would be able to deal with problems on their own. The disadvantages of Reflective Journals is that this method can be very time consuming which means it takes time to produce this type of Research. Another disadvantage is that if someone uses this method and chooses not to show anyone else, they cannot force the person to show them (e.g. Your friend wrote their opinion on a subject but you wanted to see but weren’t able to due to it being their choice). This is classed as confidential work.

Structured Interviews have the advantage of being easily analysed; this helps you pick out important bits of information that you wish to input into your work or that you want to use as an example (e.g. Looking over a subject on colours and picking the amount of people that pick red as an example). Another advantage of Structured Interviews is that its fast to complete, which means if you want to try out other methods you will have time to test them. The disadvantages of this method are that you can’t guarantee that the person you are interviewing will give you correct or valid information. Another disadvantage could be that you must understand the subject that you are researching well enough to be able to ask the correct or relevant questions.