Qualitative Methods in Health Research

DMR

Distinction between Quantitative and

Qualitative research

Dr. Thida, Deputy Director, DMR (POLB)

Source: Qualitative Vs. Quantitative Research— https://www.ikoninternational.org/news3

Purpose

Qualitative

• Understanding context

• Understanding people

• Understanding interaction and reasons

Quantitative

• To test hypothesis

• To identify cause and effect

• To make prediction

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Qualitative Quantitative Character

As a primary instrument in data collection

Focus on the set questionnaire

Role of researcher

Research problem

Research question

Hypothesis

Explore a concept or phenomenon

To understand factors or variables influence an outcome

Why, what, howHow many, how significant, how often

Usually not established prior

Usually established prior

Approach Narrative, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnographies, and case study

Experimental or non-experimental

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Qualitative Quantitative Character

Documents, observations, interviews, workshops

Forms, questionnaire, IQ test, measurements

Data collection methods

Question format

Data

What to observe

Semi-structured, unstructured

Structured

Words, pictures or videos

Numbers

Behavior, complexityScale, trends

Result Themes or patterns that emerge from the data

Summary statistics

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Qualitative Quantitative Character

In words, attention is paid to particulars rather than generalizations

Try to generalizationInterpretation

Rigor TrustworthinessValidity and reliability measures

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References

• John W. Creswell Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches ASGE Publications, Inc (2013)

• Mack N, Family Health International, United States, Agency for International Development. Qualitative research methods: a data collector’s field guide, 2005.

• Wai Wai Han, Lecture notes on qualitative research

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