Quantitative research aims to show you what is happening. Qualitative research, on the other hand, sets out to tell you why it is happening. It is all about developing a detailed understanding of individuals’ views, attitudes and behaviour.

The approaches to collecting qualitative data are much less structured and formal than the techniques used for gathering quantitative data. The aim is to allow respondents to talk, often at great length, about their feelings, and about their underlying attitudes, beliefs and values.

Some qualitative research gathers data from individuals. Here, semistructured and depth interviews are used to explore issues outside the tight constraints of a structured interview survey. Other techniques use groups of people to obtain a more considered picture, building on discussion and the development of individual views within a group setting.

Semi-structured interviews

For most people, the first step they take towards collecting qualitative data is through the use of semi-structured questionnaires. These can be thought of as a half-way house between the rigid formality of a structured interview – where the researcher attempts to fix and control the circumstances of the interview so that the data are collected in as consistent a fashion as possible – and the flexibility and responsiveness of a depth interview.

They are best used when you want to collect both structured information and information about attitudes or beliefs. This objective tends to determine the size of the sample to be used. The need to process some of the data in a quantitative way suggests that the smallest sample you can realistically contemplate is around 100 people. On the other hand, the need to make sense of the unstructured data will limit the sample to a maximum of about 200 people – more than that and you will end up analysing the qualitative data in a quantitative manner, so negating the purpose of the exercise.

You design the interview schedule in much the same sort of way as you would a structured schedule. Many of the questions will be closed, offering the respondent a limited range of options with the questions being asked in a pre determined sequence. Other questions will be open-ended. The interviewer will be asked to record the answers verbatim, either writing the answer down or recording it on tape.