Qualitative research 25 th November 2015 RNIB Research day

Qualitative research What is qualitative research? Why is it different from quantitative research? Myth busters What you can get out of qualitative research Group exercise Case studies – qualitative research in the sight loss and health care sectors When should you consider using qualitative research

When qualitative? When quantitative? Qualitative research When you want to understand, explore or describe something in depth Quantitative research When you want to measure, quantify or predict the scale of something

What is qualitative research? Qualitative research aim to understand the social world from the participant’s perspective Qualitative methods: Explore events, experiences, attitudes, emotions and reasoning Search for underlying factors and motivations Generate ideas, suggestions Map range and diversity

What is qualitative research? Your own generated data: reconstruction and retelling by respondent respondents’ own interpretation and explanation Main methods: in-depth interviews Focus groups

What is qualitative research? Naturally occurring data: Social behaviour enacted in its natural setting Subconscious, complex, delicate issues Main methods: Observation Documentary analysis

What underpins robust qualitative research? Appropriate research design Inclusive sampling In-depth fieldwork Ethics Comprehensive and systematic analysis In-depth interpretation Transparent documentation

Myth busters - stats not stories 1.The numbers of people used in qualitative research are too small for me to say anything about my service 2.Qualitative research is just anecdotal evidence 3.Funders/policy makers only take notice of statistics

Key messages to remember Research questions - Explore, identify, understand Data collection method - Structured data collections - methods include: in-depth interviews, focus groups, observations Sampling - Range of different groups: age, gender, types of sight loss Analysis - Systematic and thematic Reporting - Thematic analysis - Provides in-depth analysis and recommendations

Case study 1 – Personal Independence payment research Funded by RNIB, Sense and TPT Mixed methods design 2 year study – mapping the experience of people moving to PIP Longitudinal qualitative interviews, over 3 different time points DWP data

Case study 2 – Social care research NIHR SSCR funded Aimed to understand why people from black and minority ethnic groups consistently report lower levels of satisfaction with social care Depth interviews with service users and carers Focus groups and depth interviews with local authority staff and social care providers Deliberative workshops

Group exercise In groups 3-4 discuss: 1.Examples of when qualitative research has been useful 2.How can qualitative research help you in your role

When should you use qualitative research? Qualitative research can be used: 1. Strategy, policy and formulation exploring 2. Evaluation and impact

Thank you Val Gill Senior Researcher Malen Davies Senior Researcher