Learning Objectives

  1. Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research.
  2. Define the methods of ethnography and how they compare to netnography.
  3. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.
  4. Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.
  5. Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.
  6. Discuss the advantages of focus group research, and identify particular challenges focus group researchers face.
  7. Understand how grounded theory is developed.
  8. Discuss the ways computer software programs can facilitate qualitative data analysis.
  9. Identify the major ethical challenges faced by qualitative researchers, and discuss one qualitative research project that posed particular ethical concerns.