Definition of Qualitative Methods in Research along with Principles and Types of Data Retrieval

Research is an effort that is carried out in a systematic and rational way to find answers to a problem, the results of research are data that can be accounted for. To conduct research there are various methods that can be used by researchers, one of which is a qualitative method.

Maybe for some people the word qualitative is one of the terms most often heard when doing research. So what exactly is the meaning of qualitative methods? Check out the explanation in the article below!

Definition of Qualitative Methods

A qualitative method is a procedure or method commonly used to obtain research results related to a problem. The qualitative method is a method that is influenced by views on efforts to reconstruct reality and give meaning. Research using qualitative methods usually focuses more on the process of events or events that occur.

Qualitative methods also usually involve interaction with the reality that is being observed by a researcher. John W. Cresswell provides a number of assumptions regarding the paradigm view in qualitative research, according to him qualitative attempts to view the reality that occurs as a result of individual reconstruction in social situations. 

Furthermore, John W. Cresswell also revealed that based on epistemology, qualitative research discusses the intense relationship that occurs between interactions with the reality being studied. In other words, qualitative methods in research are considered to use inductive logic based on finding data in the field through informants.

Principles of Qualitative Methods

As previously mentioned, research with qualitative methods tends to obtain data from informants. Then actually who can be called an informant in qualitative research? An informant is someone who is directly involved with the problem being researched, usually informants are selected based on the requirements and qualifications needed in the research.

Research using qualitative methods has several research principles that need to be considered, such as the willingness of informants to provide data to researchers. This is also related to the qualitative nature which seeks to explain the meaning of the reality that occurs. Voluntaryism referred to here concerns the confidentiality of informants and the right to privacy.

Volunteering as a principle of qualitative methods also means that the results of the research will not have an impact that will harm the informant or cause a conflict. Furthermore, qualitative methods also adhere to the principle of consent or permission given by informants in research. 

It is important to remember that research that uses qualitative methods must reconfirm the conclusions from the answers given by the researcher, this serves to avoid misperceptions. However, the behavior can differ depending on what type of qualitative data collection the researcher uses.

Types of Qualitative Data Retrieval

Qualitative methods have a number of types of data collection in qualitative research. The following types of qualitative data collection can be used to adapt your research:

• Ethnography

Ethnography is a type of qualitative data collection related to the natural behavior of a culture or social group in understanding their culture. Ethnography is usually used if the research being discussed seeks to observe the behavior of a person or a group within the cultural environment of the community. Usually this type of ethnographic data collection requires a longer time because it requires careful analysis and documentation in the field.

• Case Study

The next type of qualitative data collection method is a case study, which is a type that discusses individuals, groups, organizations or that a program in an attempt to describe it as a whole. Usually the use of the case study method is carried out on problems that are considered unique or special and unusual. 

• Document Study

Document study is a type of data collection that is carried out by analyzing documents or providing interpretations from the context of written material as a data source. There are a number of sources that can be used in this type of method, such as magazines, newspapers, newspapers, films, historical records and so on

• Observation

Observation is the collection of qualitative data that is carried out by observing a person or group of people in certain situations. Observations can also be carried out in different ways, such as researchers who are directly involved with the object of research, researchers who only observe without being involved, or researchers who make observations secretly.

• grounded theory

grounded theory is part of a qualitative method that focuses on creating new concepts from data found in the field. Usually this method is used with the aim of providing new theory development in analyzing the problems that occur.

• Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a type of qualitative method that is used by explaining phenomena, events or experiences that a person has consciously. This type of research is natural and usually seeks to explain or provide an interpretation of the experiences of informants.

So many explanations about qualitative methods that you can understand, starting from understanding to a number of types of data collection. In essence, to carry out research, you need to formulate problems and objectives regarding what research results you want to achieve, what you want to test, and so on. This is needed to adjust the selection of research methods and approaches. Hopefully this information can be useful!