Bowers-Brown, Tamsin and Smith, Maria (2010) Different kinds of qualitative data collection methods. In: Dahlberg, Lena and McCaig, Colin, (eds.) Practical Research and Evaluation. 1 ed. London, Sage, pp. 111-125

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Abstract

This chapter offers an introduction to qualitative research. There is guidance on the advantages to the researcher-practitioner taking a qualitative approach to a research study, the kinds of questions qualitative research can answer and the ways that it can complement other methodological approaches.
There is an array of qualitative methods that can be used when conducting research, some of which are more applicable to certain types of questions than others. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules and it is
up to you to weigh up advantages and disadvantages, and to adopt the method or methods that seem to fit with your aims and questions. Therefore to help the practitioner-researcher decide which method(s) are the
most appropriate for their particular project, this chapter discusses some of the most commonly used qualitative methods and explores how these methods are likely to play out in the field. The main focus is on semi-structured interviewing and focus groups, two of the most common methods that are likely to be
used by practitioner-researchers. However, the chapter also discusses the uses of unstructured interviewing, observation, diaries and documentary analysis.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	Published
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General)
School/Department:	Vice Chancellor's Office
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/14462

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