The Web Wide World of Jon Hoevenaars

I’ve always wondered about the re in research. When I type a word into Google, I don’t click research; I just click search.

Speaking of which, here’s what Google has to say about research.

• inquire into
• systematic investigation to establish facts
• attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner
• inquiry: a search for knowledge

Apparently, research derives from the French word recherche (from rechercher), which means “to search closely” or “to investigate thoroughly”.

I think this definition is particularly relevant for us as university students.

Research is a key feature of most university courses. Research involves collecting information about a subject from a variety of sources including books, journals and the Internet or by carrying out experiments or talking to people and analysis of this information.

Here is a list of types of research that we came up with in class on Thursday:

• market research
• quantitative research
• qualitative research
• applied research
• theory research
• action research
• basic research
• primary research
• secondary research

My group was instructed to research qualitative research. Here are some facts about it:

• concerned with understanding the processes, which underlie various behavioural patterns.
• a body of research techniques which seeks insights through loosely structured, mainly verbal data rather than measurements. Analysis is interpretative, subjective, impressionistic and diagnostic.
• a way to study people or systems by interacting with and observing the subjects regularly.
• research into how an investment’s results were achieved including the quality of the people, strategies, systems and infrastructure that achieved them.
• research that is subjective and does not rely on statistical analysis, such as a focus group.
• an exploratory study (to explore an unknown sector, identify the main dimensions of a problem, draw assumptions, understand motivations) or operational study based on in-depth analysis of interviewee responses (in a group or individually), typically in what’s known as “focus groups.

I’ve been assigned to research how you go about conducting qualitative research and its associated methodologies.

It seems a key attribute of qualitative research is rather than being based on hard statistics and concerned with quantities, it surveys a group to determine information from a deeper or more complex level. It’s less concerned with checking boxes and more concerned with finding out what makes them checked.

Instead of handing around a series of Y/N questions to a large group of people as you might when conducting quantitative research, you would have to do a little bit more preparation when undertaking qualitative research.

There are no pre-determined answers per se, no boxes to be shaded or numbers to be circled. Instead, qualitative research enables the researcher to gain detailed or more personal insight into a topic. You might ask an open question and record each of the different responses.

For this reason, qualitative research restricts a researcher from being able to compile results in a structured and organised manner. Interpretation of qualitative data is subjective and is at risk of being misinterpreted.

While qualitative research cannot provide concrete statistics or figures relating to a survey group, it can be of great use where extra feedback is required. When conducted alongside quantitative research, it it is a powerful tool that can provide a researcher with a strong cross-section of group opinion.