Qualitative Research Design: Benefits, Types, and Examples

Trying to get into the minds of your customers?

Sounds like the makings of a qualitative study. However, these studies lack direction and fall flat, seldom achieving their objectives without appropriate planning.

In this article, we’ll explore why qualitative research design matters.

Learn how simple designs have a large impact on the quality of insights. We introduce some industry best practices to keep in mind while designing a study. We’ll also explore the various types of research design.

Come along and discover the importance of writing it all down.

What is Qualitative Research Design?

Researchers seek an in-depth understanding of participants’ experiences, perspectives, and emotions.

Qualitative research design provides a strategic framework for studies. A blueprint that guides the collection, analysis, and interpretation of non-numerical data.

Designing qualitative studies establishes a clear, big-picture view of research efforts. It aligns everyone towards strategic business goals. Thus avoiding poorly informed decisions in the future. Researchers design studies to achieve consistency, reliability, and validity in their findings.

Here are some features of research design:

• Methodology: Researchers choose from different types of qualitative research designs based on their objectives. To gather data, they conduct interviews, focus groups and observational studies. More on this below.
• Depth: To collect detailed descriptive information, researchers spend inordinate time with participants and artifacts. They conduct in-depth discussions with small samples rather than larger representative ones.
• Context: It looks to capture a contextual understanding of people’s experiences. How does one’s social, cultural, and historical environment shape their beliefs and values?
• Iterative: Qualitative studies have goals, but they’re usually exploratory. Tagging data to identify themes is a continuous process. It builds on itself. Researchers employ an open-minded approach, pivoting the study as new insights emerge.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research Design

Simply put, qualitative studies focus on words rather than numbers. It aims to explore ideas and behaviors in particular contexts. Quantitative research uses statistical rigor to test hypotheses.

Each design type involves different requirements, methodologies, and outcomes. Here’s a table comparing the two types of research design:

	Qualitative	Quantitative
Purpose	Describe individual experiences and beliefs to explore themes and formulate theories	To discover causal/correlational relationships to understand a phenomenon. Tests hypotheses
Perspective	Subjective	Objective
Data Type	Descriptive & non-numerical; text, images, video, and audio	Numerical; statistical and measurable
Data Collection Methods	Semi-structured; interviews, focus groups, participant observation, lit review	Highly structured; surveys, tests, questionnaires, experiments
Sample Size	Small; purposeful sampling	Large; random sampling
Methods of Analysis	Thematic, content & narrative analysis using inductive logic	Statistical analysis using deductive logic
Method Type	Exploratory	Conclusive
Question Types	Open-ended	Close-ended
Findings	Descriptive & contextual;focus on underlying themes & patterns	Quantifiable; expressed in graphs or values
Generalizability	Low; not representative	High; apply findings to larger populations

Researchers use a combination of both methods to wholly capture the user experience. This helps them ascertain what users are doing and why they’re doing it.

Not satisfied? Learn when to use qualitative research vs. quantitative research.

Key Benefits of Qualitative Research Designs

Designing a qualitative research study allows researchers to pinpoint questions they’d like to answer. Here are some of the benefits of qualitative research design:

• Rich Detail: Narratives and interviews offer deep insights into people’s emotions and behavior. Patterns in qualitative data reveal the context and nuances of the user experience.
• User-Centricity: Collecting feedback directly from customers helps researchers develop a sense of user empathy. With everyone hearing the customer’s voice, they make more decisions with users in mind.
• Adaptability: Unlike its rigid quantitative counterpart, qualitative research design is fluid and flexible. Modify your questions as interviews unfold. Change course as new insights come to light. Capture how customer’s tastes and preferences evolve over time.
• Comprehensive: Marrying qualitative and quantitative insights provides a wholesome picture of the user experience. What are users doing, and why are they doing it? After understanding user frustrations, designers improve products based on helpful user feedback.

Types of Qualitative Research Designs

Qualitative studies vary widely in terms of their goals and characteristics. Each method offers a unique perspective on users’ thinking. Below, we examine the various types of qualitative research design by method:

Phenomenological Design

Phenomenology explores people’s lived experiences. Researchers seek to understand how humans experience and perceive a phenomenon. They use in-depth interviews and open-ended questionnaires to collect rich contextual data.

Uncover the essence of the human experience with phenomenological studies. Research findings aren’t objective – studies reveal different and subjective viewpoints. They capture the emotions and behaviors that people go through during said phenomena.

Given the depth that researchers go into, studies have relatively small sample sizes. This makes it difficult to generalize findings to a larger population. Researchers must be careful not to impose any preconceived notions on subjects. However, the highly interpretive nature increases the risk of introducing bias.

Ethnographic Design

Ethnographic studies examine groups within their natural setting. Researchers wholly immerse themselves into a culture or environment. This helps them gain insight into people’s values, behaviors, and beliefs.

Unobtrusive observation is a mainstay of ethnographic studies. Researchers observe participants directly and conduct in-depth interviews to get their unique perspectives. Ethnography uncovers rich contextual data about the socio-cultural dynamics of a group.

There is a danger of researchers immersing themselves too much into an environment. Other concerns include protecting participant confidentiality. Not to mention the ethical complexities of navigating a cultural dynamic.

Case Study Design

Case studies examine the circumstances around individuals or groups. Researchers seek an in-depth understanding of experiences, behaviors, and outcomes. They conduct interviews, roll out surveys, and review documents to assemble their data.

There are several different types of case studies. Single cases intensely examine one entity to understand its unique characteristics and narrative. Case studies compare and contrast multiple entities to identify similar patterns and commonalities. Longitudinal studies examine single or multiple cases over time.

Case studies are laser-focused, offering a deep and contextualized understanding of an entity. Thus, you can’t generalize findings and apply them to a broader population.

Grounded Theory Design

Grounded theory design aims to develop and refine theories in underresearched areas. 

Researchers gather data through interviews and observations and iterate constantly. They continuously monitor and analyze data from a relatively large number of participants.

Researchers take a bottom-up approach, developing a theory with underlying data. As they collect more, they validate said theory with more data. They redevelop the theory as new insights emerge.

It’s important not to bring any preconceptions into a study, or else they compromise the theory. Grounded theory studies are time- and resource-heavy, hence making them difficult for smaller teams.

Narrative Research Design

Narrative research helps researchers understand how people live through their eyes.

As its name suggests, subjects tell stories about their experiences. They conduct in-depth interviews and user testimonials to gather data. Researchers document their views as the study progresses. They seek to understand how users think at each stage.

Open-ended questions uncover people’s attitudes and beliefs while immersed in a product. They identify themes and patterns across users to arrive at actionable conclusions.

Over time, businesses use this information to track user engagement and satisfaction.

Action Research Design

Action research involves researchers immersing themselves in a situation. Participants and researchers collaborate to address a specific challenge. Researchers collect and analyze the data, iterating and adjusting the study scope as necessary.

At each step, there’s an information exchange between participants and researchers. Conduct action research amongst individuals, groups, or communities. A practical method to learn how something works in its natural setting.

Again, there’s an inherent danger of researchers immersing themselves too much into the study.

Qualitative Research Design Example

Let’s dispel any apprehensions with an example of basic qualitative research design.

A mental health company wants to investigate the quality of life in people who have pets versus people who don’t. Since happiness is not inherently quantifiable, they design a qualitative research study:

• Research Question: Do pet parents live happier lives than non-pet parents?
• Design: Researchers use grounded theory to explore the effects of a pet on one’s happiness. They seek to examine if there’s a direct relationship or one at all.
• Method: A longitudinal study charts people’s happiness over several years. They examine several quality-of-life factors, including demographic and psychographic information. Interviews and surveys rolled out over time determine people’s state of happiness.
• Analysis: They analyze survey and interview responses, categorizing data into overarching themes. Sentiment analysis reveals whether respondents speak positively about having pets or not.
• Outcome: Findings reveal a link between owning pets and overall happiness. Using insights, they tailor marketing to encourage clients to adopt cats and dogs. Further research will help investigate whether pets increase people’s lifespan.
• Limitations: Owning a pet isn’t the only contributing factor to happiness. Happiness is subjective – how will they measure and compare people’s happiness?  Researchers must examine existing literature on the topic before beginning their work.

Qualitative research doesn’t sound so daunting anymore, does it?

How to Choose the Right Qualitative Research Design

The various types of designs employ similar methods to collect and analyze data. Each method has subtle differences in approach and analysis. It’s crucial to select the right method that helps you answer the initial research question.

Keep these factors in mind when choosing the research design that best suits your study:

1. Research Purpose: Your research goals help identify the most appropriate method to use. Looking to learn more about a tribe in the Amazon (jungle)? An ethnographic study works best. Examining how a company’s fortunes changed after hiring a new CEO? Consider a case study. 
2. Resource Availability: Consider the time, finances, and manpower allotted to your study. Exploratory research tends to be resource-intensive. That Amazonian study might be a stretch. Review existing literature on the topic to find any gaps or limitations. Consider resource-light interviews instead.
3. Consider Participants: Tailor studies to your audience. Revisiting the Amazonian tribe example, language barriers mean interviews may not bear fruit. Seek out an expert who’s well versed in their communication to translate. Remove communication barriers.

Your research objectives, target audience, and available resources determine the choice of method. All research design types seek to understand the human psyche. However, how they achieve this is different.

Best Practices for Designing Qualitative Research

Follow these best practices to ensure your research design produces high-quality, actionable insights:

1. Establish objective: Articulate a clear research question. What do you want the study to accomplish?
2. Select the right design: What qualitative research design type will you use? Your method(s) of choice depend on the research question.
3. Finalize demographic: Identify the sample size and sampling method. Recruit a diverse and representative participant pool.
4. Plan data collection: Carefully plan how to collect and record data. Create clear and consistent processes for managing and organizing data. Ensure the use of unbiased and accurate data.
5. Analyze the data: It’s time to turn raw qualitative data into insights. Thematic analysis involves categorizing (aka tagging user research insights) data into key themes. Discourse analysis involves examining the language, structure, and tone, as well as putting data into context.
6. Keep it ethical: Keep ethical standards in mind during the study. Obtain informed consent and protect participant confidentiality throughout the entire process.
7. Share findings: What departments benefit from your analysis? How will insights inform business decisions? Broadcast your findings across the organization to elevate the user’s voice.

Looking for a research tool that helps you plan and conduct studies? One that securely stores and organizes your data? Where is sharing information with stakeholders a breeze?

Schedule a free demo to see how Marvin augments your workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Below, we address some frequently asked questions about design for qualitative research: 

What Are the Limitations of Qualitative Research Design?

Qualitative research design has some downsides, too. These include:

• (Lack of) Generalizability: Small and non-representative samples used. You can’t replicate and apply conclusions to the broader population.
• Complexity: Qualitative research calls for expert researchers to employ their specialized skills and techniques. Analyzing data by coding and categorizing themes is a tough task, requiring skills and years of experience.
• Subjectivity: It’s impossible that findings aren’t influenced by the researcher’s interpretations. Potential bias and misinterpretation affect the validity & reliability of results.
• Resource-Intensive: Studies require large amounts of resources – time, money, and manpower. This increases the importance of proper planning through qualitative research design.

How Do You Adapt Qualitative Research Design for Diverse Populations?

Including diverse populations in a study helps inform us about underresearched demographics.

Be purposeful while sampling. Include different demographics by age, income, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Involve communities in research to gain perspective into their needs and thoughts. Carefully consider and respect their cultural practices and norms.

Finally, obtain people’s consent to use their data. And make sure to protect their sensitive personal information.

Marvin is HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC2 compliant, so your user data is always protected.

How is Technology Integrated into Qualitative Research Design?

Technology has become an integral part of designing a qualitative study.

AI research tools like Marvin have robust survey capabilities – plan and roll out surveys èn masse. Prepare for your interviews by creating discussion guides beforehand. Invite Marvin to transcribe Zoom or Google Meet calls. Create time-stamped insights with the press of a button.

Tech tools help simplify the cumbersome tasks associated with designing a study. They even give you a leg up on analysis. Focus on your interviews and observations. Leave the rest to Marvin.

Conclusion

Qualitative research unravels the rich complexities of user behavior, perceptions, and experiences. It answers questions that quantitative studies cannot.

Set your studies up for success with a well-planned qualitative research design.

Planning ensures robust processes are in place to produce rich insights. It helps align your selected data collection methods with research aims. Collect high-quality and accurate data, analyzing it thoroughly before arriving at credible conclusions.

Leverage tools like Marvin to uncover actionable insights. Drive meaningful UX improvements and create products that delight your users. Sign up for a free account today.