Qualitative study excels in describing in-depth interpretations of how people actually feel about a particular study question. It gives details about the human aspect of a problem, i.e., the frequently conflicting actions, thoughts, feelings, and relationships of people. The role of intangible aspects in the research, such as societal norms, socioeconomic position, gender stereotypes, race, and religion, can also be identified using qualitative methodologies. The characteristics of a good qualitative study are accurate data, confirmability, transferability, and credibility of the findings. This article will tell you about the characteristics of a good qualitative study and the things you must follow in your research.
What is qualitative research?
A qualitative study aims to understand ideas, views, or experiences by gathering and evaluating non-numerical data, such as writing and audio-video multimedia. It has the potential to discover intricate details about a topic or to come up with fresh research concepts. The goal of quantitative research is to gather and analyse numerical data for statistical analysis. Qualitative research does the exact opposite. Qualitative research is common in anthropology, business studies, humanities and social sciences.
What are the characteristics of a good qualitative study?
A good qualitative study has the following features:
1. Validity
The word “validity” is frequently used in connection with research. It is concerned with issues like whether study findings accurately represent reality and whether research methodologies genuinely measure the things that the researcher claims they do. Since the term “validity” has its roots in quantitative and experimental research procedures, its usage in the qualitative study has been the subject of intense controversy.
Although many researchers argue that validity criteria is inappropriate for qualitative research investigations, scholars of the best dissertation writing services also explained that translated validity standards have been found to be effective for proving the accuracy and legitimacy of qualitative research.
2. Authenticity
Authenticity is a crucial factor in qualitative research. The degree to which researchers accurately and honestly depict a variety of various realities is referred to as authenticity. When a study accurately captures the emotional state of its participants’ lives, the study is authentic. A text is authentic if it allows readers to experience the characters’ lives realistically and helps them become more sensitive to the problems it portrays. Research must be meaningful, and its effects on the people in the group or culture being studied should be considered. Authenticity in qualitative research entails the following aspects:
- Does the study properly and honestly reflect the participants’ experiences and the meaning they ascribe to those experiences?
- Would participants recall their responses, for instance, if you gave them back the questionnaires or interviewed them again?
3. Confirmability
Confirmability is the potential for agreement between two or more independent parties regarding the veracity, applicability, or significance of the facts. It is also referred to as objectivity. Establishing that data is the accurate representation of the information that participants provided and that the explanations of those data are not the result of the inquirer’s imagination is the goal of this criterion. For this requirement to be met, the findings must accurately represent the participants’ opinions and the investigation’s circumstances, not the researcher’s prejudices. A good qualitative study seeks to address the following questions:
- Can additional people verify or support the findings?
- Did you redo the steps used for the examination and analysis of the data?
4. Credibility
Credibility is the degree to which one has faith in the veracity of the data and the conclusions drawn from them. For the specific participants and research situations, qualitative researchers must work to build confidence in the veracity of their findings. For a study to be credible, it must be conducted in a way that makes its conclusions more credible, and it must also take steps to establish credibility with readers outside the study. Credibility is an important factor in qualitative study and has been suggested in several quality standards. It involves the following components:
- Are the study findings credible?
- Do the study findings accurately depict the lived experiences of the participants?
- Are the data findings interpreted in a manner that corresponds to the lived realities?
- You can check the consistency of the findings with other data sources.
5. Criticality
The term “critical” has various implications, generally and specifically related to academic qualitative research. In qualitative research, the concept of criticality comprises the marriage of the ideological and theoretical with the methodological and takes a comprehensive look at how theory, techniques, method, situation, researcher orientation and subjectivity interact with and influence qualitative work. Instead of locating it only within critical social theory, criticality strives to develop a more expansive and comprehensive concept of criticality in qualitative research. Criticality in the qualitative study involves the following aspects:
- Is the research approach rigorous?
- Are there indications of critical reflection and analysis?
- Would your readers be able to follow your reasoning and comprehend the reasons behind your choices?
- How are you going to record your ideas?
6. Dependability
Dependability in qualitative study refers to the stability of data. Qualitative research investigations must be consistent and reliable across time. Dependability requires that you have a valid justification for gathering the data and that the data support your justification. Additionally, since the data addresses your study questions, this idea implies that the data is reliable. The triangulation of methods, the sequencing of methods, and the development of a well-articulated justification for these decisions are the techniques for obtaining dependability, which confirms that you have developed the proper data collecting plan for your research questions. A strong study design is essential to achieve dependability, like with the other validity characteristics.
7. Transferability
Transferability implies that qualitative research is constrained locally and is contrasted with external validity or generalizability. Qualitative research aims to provide descriptive and accurate claims instead of universally applicable, factual generalisations about other individuals or environments. Transferability, in this sense, refers to the ability of qualitative research to apply to larger contexts while retaining the richness peculiar to those situations.
Conclusion
Qualitative study is a rigorous method for interpreting and evaluating the lived experiences and human side of an issue. However, to arrive at accurate results, it is necessary to maintain the above-mentioned characteristic features of qualitative research. You must carefully plan the research design and develop strategies to tackle anomalies.
