qualitative methods

Methods of social research that do not depend on comparing quantities. The phrase is mostly used by people who wish to apply as many of the statistical techniques of quantitative methods as they can, in order to ensure that the results of non-quantitative research are reliable and valid. In survey research, a quantitative approach uses a probability sample of the relevant population. This enables the researcher to establish how likely it is that the results obtained can be generalized to the population as a whole. But they do not permit detailed analysis of tastes and emotions. For that one needs qualitative research: for instance, to assemble a focus group and spend a morning talking to them. But one still needs to know as far as possible that the results from the group are representative of the population from which they are drawn. Similar issues arise with other research techniques, for instance elite interviewing; comparisons of small numbers of cases such as nations; and content analysis of written texts. In all of these cases, self-conscious qualitative researchers try to distinguish their efforts from what they regard as mere storytelling. Their bible has been Designing Social Inquiry: scientific inference in qualitative research by G. King, R. Keohane, and S. Verba (1994).