Qualitative research

Qualitative research is a research with a few respondents, objects, organisations or cases.

In many textbooks authors find it hard to distinguish qualitative research from quantitative research. In my opinion it is easy. Just look at the number of objects or respondents. If it is only one, the research should be denoted as a case study. If only a few respondents or objects participate in the research, it is a qualitative research. If a lot of respondents, or objects participate in the research - say over 30 - it is a quantitative research. Solely the number of participants makes the difference.

Related topics to Qualitative research

• Observations 
• Bias 
• Interobserver reliablity 
• Interviews
•  Interviewer bias 
• Quantitative research 
• Quantitatvie value 
• Case study 
• Research question

Deepen your knowledge and read our manual about ...

• How to formulate a good research question 
• How tot analyse data from interviews

Research can be divided into three dimensions: 1) the research design, 2) the location of data collection and 3) the number of cases. Together they form the research cube.