Researchers of various disciplines use various approaches to study the problem. Some prefer to use qualitative research, while others give importance to quantitative research. The researchers of both research designs have their own interpretations and justifications. Both research methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. As you can see above, today’s post is all about qualitative research benefits. So, here, we will only talk about the advantages of the qualitative design of research. However, before moving on to the pros of this research, let’s define it.
What is qualitative research?
Qualitative research is a research methodology that focuses on capturing the opinions, ideas, and emotions of a small group of people in a more open environment than the strict environment of the lab. This research methodology is not so much about bean-counting or related to numbers. Instead, it is much more related to gathering people’s responses and emotions about a topic in the form of words, expressions, and statements. The popular methods used in this research are face-to-face interviews, surveys, questionnaires, and observation. Hence, it is all about qualitative research and its methods.
Top benefits of qualitative research
This research methodology aims at gaining as much data as possible from the research participants. It is a very flexible approach compared to its counterpart, i.e., quantitative research. It enables the respondents to express their views while giving the information. Hence, a brief description of benefits when using this research approach in dissertation is as follows:
1. Explores attitudes in depth
The first and most important benefit of qualitative research is that it is conducted on a personal level. This research methodology is very good at capturing the attitudes and behaviours of the respondents in depth. It can also be used to capture the changing behaviour of the population or research respondents. For example, it can examine the changing buying behaviour of the customers of a particular product or service.
2. Encourages discussion
This research is performed in a more open environment as compared to quantitative research, where the researcher has strict control over the variables. This open environment fosters healthy conversation and encourages discussions between the respondents and the researcher. In this way, this methodology gives the researcher context rather than numerical values.
3. A flexible method of research
Flexibility is another advantage of qualitative research. This research method does not involve strict environments, as is the case with quantitative research. Here, the researcher can change the setting of the research at any time. In the case of unstructured interviews, he can change the questions of the interview at the eleventh hour too. All these things make it a very flexible research method.
4. Saves time and cost
The no. 4 benefit of using this research methodology is that it saves you a lot of time and cost. It saves you time because it does not involve rigorous sampling techniques and the sample size is also small in most cases. Moreover, it saves the cost of research by manifolds. For instance, you can send surveys or questionnaires over email, which is free to do. Also, you can conduct the interviews online. So, it is how it saves a lot of time and cost.
5. Offers predictive quality data
Another benefit of qualitative research is that it offers data that can predict future happenings. The respondents with the same answers and buying behaviours are likely to act the same in the future. So, in this way, the researcher cracks their buying patterns and themes using this research methodology and predicts the future. The brands look after such customers well.
6. Allows for detail-oriented data collection
Various data collection restrictions are part of the data collection process in other methods. Those restrictions are mostly due to the research metrics. However, it is the beauty of this method that it only cares for the data and does not account for the restrictions. This nature of the qualitative method of research allows for detail-oriented data collection.
7. Generalisable findings
The last but not least benefit of qualitative research is that its findings are generalisable to the overall population. By studying a sample size consisting of a few respondents, the results obtained can be applied to the whole population. The reason is that it involves a random sampling technique, and therefore the respondents respond on behalf of the whole population.
Conclusion
All in all, qualitative research is about getting an idea of the respondents’ opinions, ideas, and conceptions about the topic. The greater deal of flexibility and detailed-oriented data it offers makes this research method an advantageous one. So, based on the benefits discussed above, you must use this method in your next study.
