9 methodologies for a successful qualitative research assignment
Qualitative research is important in the educational and scientific domains. It enables a deeper understanding of phenomena, experiences, and context. Many researchers employ such research activities in the fields of history, sociology, and anthropology. For such researchers, learning quality analysis insights is crucial. This way, they can perform well throughout their research journey. Writing a qualitative research assignment is one such way to practice qualitative interpretations. When students address various qualitative questions in these projects, they become efficient in conducting these activities at a higher level, such as for a master’s or Ph.D. thesis.
The FormPlus highlights why researchers prefer qualitative research over quantitative research. It is faster, scientific, objective, focused, and acceptable. Researchers who don’t know what to expect from the research outcomes usually choose qualitative research. In this guide, we will discuss the top methodologies that students can employ while writing their qualitative research assignments. This way, you can write an appealing document that perfectly demonstrates your qualitative research skills.
However, being stressed with academic and daily life commitments, if you find it challenging to manage time exclusively for such projects, availing of assignment writing services can make it manageable. Instead of doing anything wrong in the hustle, get it done by the professionals specifically working to handle these academic write-ups. Now, let’s define quality research before we discuss the actual topic.
What is meant by qualitative research?
Quality research is a market research method that gathers data from conversational and open-ended communication. In simple words, it is about what people think and why they think so. It relates to the nature or standard of something rather than dealing with its quantity. Such researchers collect nonnumerical data to understand opinions, concepts, and ideas.
How do you write a qualitative research assignment? Top 9 methodologies
Writing an assignment requires your command of various tasks. Qualitative research assignment design involves research, writing, structuring, and providing citations of the resources used. Assignment writing plays a crucial role in upgrading your grades.
So, you must make it accurate and authentic. Write it with the utmost care without skipping any important aspects. Sometimes, it can be hard, but it becomes easy if you correctly use effective methodologies. This is why we have brought together some of the common methodologies you can use to write your qualitative research assignments.
1. Interviews
A qualitative interview is mostly used in projects that involve market research. In this study personal interaction is required to collect in-depth information of the participants. In qualitative research for assignment, consider the interview as a personal form of research agenda rather than a focused group study. A qualitative interview requires careful planning so that you can gather meaningful data.
Here are the simple steps to consider for its implementation in a qualitative research assignment:
- Define research objectives.
- Identify the target population.
- Obtain informed consent of participants.
- Make an interview guideline.
- Select a suitable location.
- Conduct the interview.
- Show respect for participant’s perspectives.
- Analyse the data.
2. Observation
In qualitative observation, the researcher gathers data from five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. It is a subject approach that depends on the sensory organ of the researcher. This method allows you to better understand the culture, process, and people under study. Some of its characteristics to consider for writing a qualitative research assignment include,
- It is a naturalistic inquiry of the participants in a natural environment.
- This approach is subjective and depends on the researcher’s observation.
- It does not seek a definite answer to a query.
- The researcher can recognise their own biases when compiling findings.
3. Questionnaires
In this type of survey, the researcher asks open-ended questions to participants. This way, they price the long written or typed document. In writing qualitative research assignments, these questions aim to reveal the participants’ narratives and experiences. Once you know what type of information you need, you can start curating your questionnaire form. The questions must be specific and clear enough that the participants can comprehend them.
Below are the main points that must be considered when creating qualitative research questionnaires.
- Avoid jargon and ambiguity in the questions.
- Each question should contribute to the research objectives.
- Use simple language.
- The questions should be neutral and unbiased.
- Be precise, as the complex questions can overwhelm the respondents.
- Always conduct a pilot test.
- Put yourself in the respondent’s shoes while asking questions.
4. Case Study
A case study is a detailed analysis of a person, place, thing, organisation, or phenomenon. This method is appropriate when you want to gain a contextual, concrete, and in-depth understanding of the real-world problem for writing your qualitative research assignment. This method is especially helpful when you need more time to conduct large-scale research activities.
The four crucial steps below can be followed up with this methodology.
- Select a case that has the potential to provide new and unexpected insights into the subject.
- Make a theoretical framework.
- Collect your data from various primary and secondary resources.
- Describe and analyse the case to provide a clear picture of the subject.
5. Focus Groups
Focused group research has some interesting properties. In this method, a planned interview is conducted within a small group. For this purpose, some of the participants are sampled from the study population to record data for writing a qualitative research assignment. Typically, a focused group has features like,
- At least four to ten participants must meet for up to two hours.
- There must be a facilitator who can guide the discussion by asking open-ended questions.
- The emphasis must be put on the group discussion rather than the discussion of the group members with the facilitator.
- The discussion should be recorded and transcribed by the researchers.
6. Ethnographic Research
It is the most in-depth research method that involves studying people in their natural environment. It requires the researcher to adopt the target audience environment. The environment can be anything from an organisation to a city or any remote location.
However, the geographical constraints can be a problem in this study. For students who are writing their qualitative research assignment, some of the features of ethnographic research to write in their document include,
- The researcher can get a more realistic picture of the study.
- It uncovers extremely valuable insights.
- Provides accurate predictions.
- You can extend the observation to create more in-depth data.
- You can interact with people within a particular context.
7. Record Keeping
This method is similar to going to the library to collect data from books. You consult various relayed books, note the important points, and take note of the referencing. So, the researcher uses already existing data rather than introducing new things in the field.
Later on, this data can be used to conduct new research. Yet, when faced with the vast resources available in your institution’s library, seeking assistance from UK-based assignment writing services is an excellent solution if you need help pinpointing the most relevant information for your topic. Proficient in data gathering and adept at structuring qualitative research assignments, these professionals can significantly elevate your academic results.
8. Surveys
This method is mostly used by companies to understand a group of customers’ behaviour, characteristics, and motivation. It allows respondents to ask in-depth questions about their experience. In a business market, it helps you understand how your customers make decisions. The intent is to understand them at their level and make related changes in your setup. The researcher must ask generic and precise questions that have a clear purpose.
Consider the below examples of qualitative survey questions. It can be useful in recording data and writing qualitative research assignments.
- Why did you buy this skin care product?
- What is the overall narrative of this brand?
- How do you feel after buying this product?
- What sets this brand apart from others?
- How will this product fulfil your needs?
- What are the things that you expect from this brand to grant you?
9. Action Research
This method involves collaboration and empowerment of the participants. It is mostly appropriate for marginalised groups where there is no flexibility.
The primary characteristics of the action research that can be quoted in your qualitative research assignment include,
- It is action-oriented, and participants are actively involved in the research.
- There is a collaborative process between participants and researchers.
- The nature of action research is flexible to the changing situation.
However, the survey also accompanies some of the limitations, including,
- The researcher can misinterpret the open-ended questions.
- The data ownership between the researcher and participants needs to be negotiated.
- The ethical considerations must be kept.
- It is not considered a scientific method as it is fluid in data collection. Consequently, it may not attract the finding.
What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative research?
Both research types share the common aim of knowledge acquisition. In quantitative research, the use of numbers and objective measures is used. It seeks answers to questions like when and where.
On the other hand, in qualitative research, the researcher is concerned with subjective phenomena. Such data can’t be numerically measured. For example, you might conduct a survey to analyse how different people experience grief.
What are the 4 types of qualitative research?
There are various types of qualitative research. It may include,
● Phenomenological studies:
It examines the human experience via description provided by the people involved. These are the lived experiences of the people. It is usually used in research areas where little knowledge is known.
● Ethnographic studies:
It involves the analysis of data about cultural groups. In such analysis, the researcher mostly lives with different communities and becomes part of their culture to provide solid interpretations.
● Grounded theory studies:
In this qualitative approach, the researcher collects and analyses the data. Later on, a theory is developed that is grounded in the data. It used both inductive and deductive approaches for theory development.
● Historical studies:
It is concerned with the location, identification, evaluation, and synthesis of data from the past. These researchers are not concerned with discovering past events but with relating these events to the present happenings.
The Research Gate provides a flow chart illustrating various qualitative research methods.
What are The 7 characteristics of qualitative research?
The following are some of the distinct features of qualitative research. You can write about them in your qualitative research assignment, as they are collected from reliable sources.
- It can even capture the changing attitude within the target group.
- It is beyond the limitations associated with quantitative research
- It explains something that numbers alone can’t describe.
- It is a flexible approach to improve the outcomes.
- A researcher is not supposed to become more speculative about the results.
- This approach is more targeted.
- It keeps the cost of data collection down.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research?
The pros of qualitative research can’t be denied. However, some cons are also associated with this research.
Pros:
- Explore attitudes and behaviours in depth.
- It encourages discussions for better results.
- Generate descriptive data that can formulate new theories.
Cons:
- The small sample size can be a problem.
- Bias in the sample collection.
- Lack of privacy if you are covering a sensitive topic.
Qualitative research assignment examples
The Afe Babalola University ePortal provides an example of a qualitative assignment. Here is the description of quality questions and related answers. You can get an idea about how to handle your quality research assignment project with this sample.
The questions asked in the paper are displayed below.
The Slide Team presents a template for further compressing other details, such as the qualitative research assignment template. You can use it to make your presentation look professional.
Conclusion
Writing a qualitative research assignment is crucial, especially if you want to engage in research activities for your master’s thesis. Most researchers choose this method because of the associated credibility and reliability of the results. In the above guide, we have discussed some of the prominent features of this method. All of the given data can help you in writing your assignments. We have discussed the benefits of each methodology and a brief account of how you can carry it.
However, even after going through this whole guideline, if the concepts of the Qualitative Research methods assignment seem ambiguous and you think you can’t write a good project, then ask professional to “write my assignment.” These experts can consult the best sources for the data collection of your project. Consequently, they will deliver you the winning document that can stand out among other write-ups.