Breaking down the experiences of real people into numbers and statistics can tell an incomplete story. While quantitative analysis requires a preexisting theory of a phenomenon, qualitative methods allow researchers to explore new theories by understanding phenomena in the context they occur (Nowell and Albrecht, 2019). Researchers do this by seeking out and documenting the experiences of those involved. They then methodically look for patterns and similarities, sorting them into coherent themes and noting the associations between them. This rigorous process is often used in social science research to allow researchers to draw conclusions about social behavior (Aspers and Corte, 2019).
Other disciplines are increasingly turning to qualitative analysis to gain further insight into quantitative findings (Raskind et al., 2019). In the medical field, qualitative analysis can be used to ‘explore the attitudes and beliefs of patients and practitioners, and how evidence-based treatments are turned into practice’ (Green et al., 1998). In a study on people with asthma, qualitative interviews revealed that many patients do not always engage in the prescribed treatment due to differences between the practitioners’ and patients’ values. The authors found that, “[patients] weigh up the perceived costs and benefits of the medicine offered in accordance with desired outcomes which may not correspond to those planned by the health professional.” While quantitative analysis tells practitioners which treatments are most effective, qualitative analysis helps medical practitioners understand evidence-based treatments from the patient’s perspective. Accounting for that perspective can lead to greater patient engagement with effective treatments (Adams et al., 1997).
Qualitative analysis helps fill in the details to “give voice to people’s lived experiences” (Raskind et al., 2019). It humanizes research by employing a variety of methodological tools grounded in epistemological theories that create a framework through which to view the phenomena. It’s one thing to describe qualitative research but another entirely to carry it out, so why don’t we show the process instead?
Our new blog series aims to do just that as it follows the project development of a paper about what it means to coach a Unified Sports team. In the next blogs, you can watch this qualitative research process at work in real time! Follow along as the next entry in my research diary will cover how we selected the research topic and decided which data to use.
By Nathan Barrett, Research Assistant at the Center for Social Development and Education