Qualitative Analysis: Comprehensive Particulars

Do you have a large amount of forum conversation, written feedback, or survey with you? What do you think you have to do next? Yes! You need to analyze it to compose a concrete conclusion. However, how would you do it? You require qualitative analysis techniques for it. We understand that it can be difficult to unpack a huge qualitative data. But if you know the right technique, it is child’s play.

Before we go further into the topic, we must understand the basics of qualitative analysis. When you have to deal with non-numeric data like human behavior, you can use qualitative analysis. Moreover, you need to have abstract concepts such as brand reputation to carry out the analysis. It also requires human behavior explanation. Furthermore, qualitative analysis is used best when you have to deal with the characteristics of a subject, item, or business. Now, with the help of this blog of All Assignment Help, we will discuss the comprehensive particulars related to qualitative analysis. 

In addition to this, we can also refer to qualitative analysis as:

• Qualitative research, it helps in navigating enquires related to human behavior.
• Qualitative inorganic analysis, it helps is navigating the drug sample or chemical inclusive of its stability, molecular formula, etc.

Introduction to Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative analysis watches over inexact and abstract concerns which belong to the experimental and social realm, instead of the mathematical one. This approach is based on the kind of smartness that machines lack. Things like, customer satisfaction, positive associations with a brand, etc. are tough, and nearly impossible to hold with numerical inputs.

Hence, we can say that, we conduct qualitative analysis to keep a check on the quality of inputs for the productivity of any company. Moreover, customers are significant to a company’s growth and success since they are a source of revenue.

A company’s competitive advantage and business model are the major components of qualitative analysis. Furthermore, there are a few questions that one must confront during the process of qualitative analysis.

• What is that one thing, which keeps the company ahead of its rivals?
• Does the company adopt any unique way to solve the issues of its customers?
• Is the company’s brand recognized globally?
• Has the company invented any new technology or conducted any iconic project that is hard to replicate?
• Does its product have any attractive quality?
• Will the company survive until the upcoming 20 years?

The main idea behind doing a qualitative analysis is to understand all the aspects of growth.

Methods of Conducting Qualitative Analysis

You cannot run a qualitative analysis with mathematical models and statistical models. This is because qualitative data is exclusive of any numeric aspect. Therefore, you can perform qualitative analysis using the five below-mentioned methods.

Content analysis

It is a process of collecting data and conducting research through social media, surveys, emails, and chats. Furthermore, you can present the data effectively and support it with various approaches such as summative, directive, and conventional.

Ethnography

It is one of the most applicable and familiar types of qualitative analysis methods among professionals. In Ethnography, you focus intensely on the target participant’s environment. By doing so, you get to understand their goals, challenges, cultures, motivations, and themes. Ethnography has involvements in cultural anthropology too, where the professionals dive into a culture to understand it.

When someone researches something, they rely on interviews or surveys. However, ethnography helps you to experience the environment directly. It is moreover practical, rather than assuming things hypothetically and then solving an issue.

In order to learn risk management in business, pricing models, money market, and deal structure, I asked an expert to take my online finance class. However, during the process, I came to know how qualitative analysis impacts these factors. Qualitative analysis is a rich research method that can be applied in business and marketing as well. – Joseph Murray, Student

Narrative analysis

The narrative analysis revolves around a series of events, generally from one or two individuals to form a united story. You have to take brief interviews, look for themes, read documents, etc., and also look for the creator behind a successful story.

Moreover, you do not need to arrange everything in sequences; instead, you can create a story, maybe in a narrative form. You can highlight the challenges and tensions which led to those success stories. Furthermore, it might become an opportunity for new innovation.

Additionally, a narrative approach can be a useful method to build a persona. Also, an interview with an identified persona can help you with the details that lead to describing the culture of a place.

Grounded theory

The grounded theory looks forward to giving an explanation or theory behind an event. Here, you use the initial interviews and already present documents to build a theory that is based on that data. Moreover, you will have to go through many axial coding techniques and series to find out themes and thus, build the theory. Furthermore, you will have to go through many samples around 20 to 60, and then, according to them, develop a theory.

Through grounded theory, you get a better understanding of how a community of users at present, use a product or how are they performing the tasks. Eventually, it helps you in SWOT and situation analysis.

Phenomenological approach

In the phenomenological study, you use different methods together in a combination of reading documents, watching videos, visiting places, etc. It is to understand the participant’s place on whatever subject is being examined. You are dependent on the participant’s own views to provide insights into their motivations.

In this method, you do not have to start with a hypothesis. You have to conduct a lot of interviews around 5 to 25 for similar themes. It is to get ready for emerging themes and also to validate your findings.

Case study method

A case study includes an in-depth understanding of data through different types of data sources. Moreover, case studies can be exploratory, describing, and explanatory. In a case study method, you get all the information regarding your subject, and then you study it thoroughly.

Elements of Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative analysis can take more time than quantitative analysis. It is like listening to your inner voice but keeping facts in mind. Moreover, the most important thing is how the employees view their company and its management. Are they all satisfied or are they not? Some of such questions tell a lot about the company like what is the company’s work culture, the loyalty of the employees towards the company, etc. Furthermore, you should become a person, with whom people can open up a bit and give their time too. Qualitative analysis is linked to all these factors.

In addition to this, it helps us to open up the windows toward the plan for communication styles and to improve a company’s strategies. For a company’s growth and success, there should be smart strategies and transparent communication. All these are elements of effective qualitative analysis.

Also read: Economics Research Topics – Ideas for Research Papers

Understanding Characteristics of Qualitative Analysis

We can characterize qualitative analysis on the following ground:

• Focus on perspicacity: it helps us in recognizing that the perspective and experiences of the people are subjective. Moreover, it is the result of their historical, social, and cultural context.
• Emphasis on meaning and context: the aim is to understand the cultural and social context under which the behavior of humans takes place. Moreover, it clarifies the meaning that people associate with their experiences.
• Significance of reliability and validity: it focuses on the significance of reliability and validity. Moreover, it ensures that the findings of the result correctly portray the perspective and experiences of the participants.
• Application of open-ended questions: it uses open-ended questions so that participants can give their descriptive answers to eventually reveal rich insights.

Qualitative Analysis: Its Application

We can use qualitative analysis in a wide range of fields inclusive of:

Social sciences

We can see the common use of qualitative analysis in the field of social sciences such as anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Moreover, it helps in exploring social phenomena and human behavior. For instance, we can use qualitative analysis to understand the impact of social policies, explore the experiences people from marginal groups had, or examine various practices of culture.

Business and marketing

When it comes to business and marketing, qualitative analysis helps in understanding market trends, the behavior of consumers, and brand perception. Unlike quantitative analysis like financial statement analysis, we can use qualitative analysis to explore the factors that effect the purchasing decisions of consumers. Moreover, it also identifies the trends in the market based on its emergence. Furthermore, it helps a business to understand the attitude of their customers towards other brands.

Healthcare

In order to understand the experiences, behaviors, and attitudes of your patients, you need qualitative analysis in healthcare research. Moreover, you can also use it to know about the healthcare access barriers.

Education

If you have to explore classroom dynamics, teaching and learning experiences, or student engagement, you can use qualitative analysis in education research.

Also read: Unique Sustainability Research Topics to Focus On

Qualitative Chemical Analysis

In chemistry, qualitative analysis is the resolution of the chemical composition of a specimen. It includes a set of techniques that provide non-numerical information about any specimen. Moreover, the qualitative analysis gives you the full information that whether, an atom, functional group, ion, or compound is there in a sample or is it absent. However, you cannot figure out the quantity. The quantity is then calculated by quantitative analysis.

Branches under qualitative chemical analysis

There are two main branches of qualitative analysis. One is organic qualitative analysis, and the other is inorganic qualitative analysis. The organic analysis looks at different types of functional groups, molecules, and chemical bonds. On the other hand, the inorganic analysis looks upon the iconic and elemental composition of a sample by examining the ions in the aqueous solution.

When I asked professionals to take my online class for me, I deeply studied qualitative chemical analysis which helped me understand how it helps in the identification of elements and putting them in sample groups. – Tia Naidoo, Student

Tests and techniques

One of the most common qualitative chemical tests is the Kastle-Meyer test. It is done for blood, and then there is an Iodine test for starch. Another commonly used qualitative test is the flame test. It is used in the inorganic chemical analysis.

The qualitative analysis calculates or checks out changes in color, odor, melting point, radioactivity, reactivity, boiling point, precipitation, and bubble production. These methods include extraction, distillation, chromatography, precipitation, and spectroscopy.

Qualitative Analysis vs Quantitative Analysis

Let us compare both qualitative and quantitative analysis based on concept and method.

Conceptual difference

Qualitative– Concerned with understanding human behavior from the source’s point of view. 

Quantitative– Concerned about finding out the facts about the social situation.

Qualitative– Assumes a reality that is vast and negotiated. 

Quantitative– Assumes a reality that is fixed and which can be measured.

Methodological difference

Qualitative- The collection of data is through interviews and the participant’s observation.

Quantitative- The collection of data is done by calculating things

Qualitative- Data gets analyzed by themes from informants’ descriptions.

Quantitative- Data gets collected by statistical inferences and the numerical comparisons made.

Quantitative- The data is reported after proper statistical analyses. 

Qualitative- The data is reported in the language of the person informing.

Conclusion

In this blog, we learned that qualitative analysis is a valuable method for research to explore and understand social phenomena and complex human behavior. Moreover, it yields high benefits when used to explore subjective experiences, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs. Furthermore, it has a variety of research methods such as interviews, analysis, etc. Additionally, it has major applications across various fields. Hence, to get a deeper understanding, researchers use qualitative analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: 1 What are the types of qualitative analysis? Answer: 1 There are six common types of qualitative analysis that include case study, phenomenological analysis, historical, ethnographic, and action analysis. Another is grounded theory.

Question: 2 What types of data falls under qualitative analysis? Answer: 2 Any data that talks about the quality or characteristics. Moreover, one can collect it using observations, questionnaires, interviews, etc.