Conducting Qualitative Research Introduction

“Within the last twenty years qualitative research has become a mature field of study with its own literature base, research journals, special interest groups, and regularly scheduled conferences”.

- Dr. Sharan B. Merriam, professor of adult education and continuing education, University of Georgia, 2009

INTRODUCTIONMedical laboratory practitioners know how to perform experiments and have participated in surveys. However qualitative research and its methods remain an unknown to many in the medical laboratory science profession. This series provides readers with an introduction to qualitative research methods.

A simple definition of qualitative research is not possible; therefore a description of its purpose and characteristics is provided. As Merriam (2009) described, “Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding how people interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their experiences.” The primary characteristics of qualitative research include: 1) the focus on understanding peoples' experiences with intent to convey experiences into meaning, 2) the researcher is the key instrument for data collection and analysis, 3) the research process is inductive and not deductive, and 4) the product of qualitative research is richly descriptive. Other characteristics of qualitative research include that the study design is often emergent and flexible, data is often collected in the natural setting, multiple forms of data may be collected, and sample selection is usually purposeful and small.^1,2