Qualitative research methods are a key component of field epidemiologic investigations because they can provide insight into the perceptions, values, opinions, and community norms where investigations are being conducted (1,2).
As discussed herein, qualitative study designs allow flexibility in sample size to accommodate the need for more or fewer interviews among particular groups to determine the root cause of an issue (see the section on Sampling and Recruitment in Qualitative Research).
Because textual analysis is relatively time-and skill-intensive, qualitative samples tend to be small and purposively selected to yield the maximum amount of information from the minimum amount of data collection.
At least four common steps are involved: 1 Reading and rereading. The core of qualitative analysis is careful, systematic, and repeated reading of text to identify consistent themes and interconnections emerging from the data. ... 2 Coding. ... 3 Analyzing and writing memos. ... 4 Verifying conclusions. ...
Conclusions are drawn from systematic visual or textual analysis involving repeated reading, coding, and organizing information into structured and emerging themes. Because textual analysis is relatively time-and skill-intensive, qualitative samples tend to be small and purposively selected to yield the maximum amount of information from the minimum amount of data collection. Although qualitative approaches cannot provide representative or generalizable findings in a statistical sense, they can offer an unparalleled level of detail, nuance, and naturalistic insight into the chosen subject of study. Qualitative methods enable investigators to “hear the voice ” of the researched in a way that questionnaire methods, even with the occasional open-ended response option, cannot.
Qualitative research was used extensively in response to the Ebola virus disease outbreaks in parts of West Africa to understand burial practices and to design culturally appropriate strategies to ensure safe burials . Qualitative studies were also used to monitor key aspects of the response.
In qualitative research, most of the time investment required to complete a study comes after the fieldwork is complete. A single hour of taped individual interview can take a full day to transcribe and additional time to translate if necessary.
Qualitative research methods are a key component of field epidemiologic investigations because they can provide insight into the perceptions, values, opinions, and community norms where investigations are being conducted ( 1,2 ). Open-ended inquiry methods, the mainstay of qualitative interview techniques, are essential in formative research ...
Long a staple of market research, focus groups have become a widely used social science technique with broad applications in public health, and they are especially popular as a rapid method for assessing community norms and shared perceptions. Focus groups have certain useful advantages during field investigations.
Legal barriers or social desirability biases prevent candid reporting by using conventional interviewing methods. Risky sexual or drug use behaviors Quality-of-care questions Questions that require a higher degree of trust between respondent and interviewer to obtain valid answers.
It is not enough to follow a topic guide like a questionnaire, in order, from top to bottom. A qualitative interviewer must exercise judgment to decide when to probe and when to move on, when to encourage, challenge, or follow relevant leads even if they are not written in the topic guide.
major concern of many demographers about qualitative studies is lack ofrepresentativeness . We made substantial efforts to address this issue by selectingcontrasting study sites representing high and low mortality, and urban and rurallocations. Within each site, individuals representing different age, sex, marital statusand duration of marriage categories were selected and we expected to pick up a range ofeducational achievements. One of the aims of the research was to examine the ways inwhich personal biographies and experiences influence people’s perception of risk andtheir subsequent reproductive decision-making. Given this emphasis and the inevitablylimited numbers of in-depth interviews possible, this attention to representativenessgenerated other problems: ultimately only one or two individuals represent theirparticular age-sex-education-residence-mortality group and, although they were chosenat random, one must be very circumspect in using their words and ideas as necessarilyrepresentative of what similar others might say or have experienced. In retrospect, itmight have been better to have distanced ourselves from the demographic paradigm ofrepresentativity, reduced the scope of the study, and focussed on reproductive decision-making in a smaller range of communities where we could have interviewed morepeople within each socio-demographic subgroup.
In-depth interviews tend to focus on biography, personal experience, and subsequentoutcomes. They are usually undertaken in private and this privacy is often seen as theopportunity to explore sensitive or personal topics which people might not like to speakabout publicly or have recorded on a written questionnaire. Most in-depth interviewstudies first develop an interview guide covering the main topics of interest along with afew sample questions to get discussion going on key topics if necessary. Suchinterviews often focus on past experiences, attitudes, perceptions, and perceivedreasoning about past actions. The aim is to follow the interests and experience of thesubject and to allow them much more control over the course of the interview than inthe case of a written questionnaire. In theory, such an approach may allow new ideas toemerge which have not previously been considered by the researchers because therespondent has some leeway in determining both the direction of the interview and thecontent. Through the use of open questions it is possible to analyse the vocabulary usedin the context of particular subjects, which can give important indirect insight intoattitudes. However, good rapport between the interviewer and interviewee is essential,and such rapport may be influenced by a range of tangible factors such as gender, age,dress, and education but also by intangible personal characteristics that are hard toidentify.