11/27/2016

5TypesofQualitativeMethods:MeasuringU
Login|ContactUs|EmailUpdates

Usability,CustomerExperience&Statistics

Home

Calculators

Blog

Services

Search

Products

5 Types Of Qualitative Methods

NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

JeffSauroOctober13,2015

Receivebiweeklyupdates.
Whenwespeakabouta
qualitativeresearchstudy,

About

[6604Subscribers]
Tweet

it'seasytothinkthereisonekind.

Join

Butjustaswithquantitativemethods,there
areactuallymanyvarietiesofqualitative
methods.

CONNECT WITH US
FollowUsOnTwitter22932Followers

Similartothewayyoucangroupusability
testingmethods,therearealsoanumber
ofwaystosegmentqualitativemethods.

SubscribetoRSS

NewsletterSignUp[6604Subscribers]

Apopularandhelpfulcategorizationseparatequalitativemethodsintofivegroups:ethnography,
narrative,phenomenological,groundedtheory,andcasestudy.JohnCreswelloutlinesthesefive
methodsinQualitativeInquiryandResearchDesign.

OUR SUPPORTERS

Whilethefivemethodsgenerallyusesimilardatacollectiontechniques(observation,interviews,and
reviewingtext),thepurposeofthestudydifferentiatesthemsomethingsimilarwithdifferenttypes

MostRecent

MostPopular

ofusabilitytests.Andlikeclassifyingdifferentusabilitystudies,thedifferencesbetweenthemethods
canbeabitblurry.Herearethefivequalitativemethodsinmoredetail.

TheDifferencebetweenObserved
andLatentVariables3daysago

1. Ethnography
EthnographicresearchisprobablythemostfamiliarandapplicabletypeofqualitativemethodtoUX

TheFacilitationSpectrum:From
BabysittertoTherapist10daysago

professionals.Inethnography,youimmerseyourselfinthetargetparticipants'environmentto

5WaystoIncreaseStudy

understandthegoals,cultures,challenges,motivations,andthemesthatemerge.Ethnographyhas

ParticipationRates17daysago

itsrootsinculturalanthropologywhereresearchersimmersethemselveswithinaculture,oftenfor
years!Ratherthanrelyingoninterviewsorsurveys,youexperiencetheenvironmentfirsthand,and
sometimesasa"participantobserver."
Forexample,onewayofuncoveringtheunmetneedsofcustomersisto"followthemhome"and
observethemastheyinteractwiththeproduct.Youdon'tcomearmedwithanyhypothesesto
necessarilytestrather,you'relookingtofindouthowaproductisused.

2. Narrative
Thenarrativeapproachweavestogetherasequenceofevents,usuallyfromjustoneortwo
individualstoformacohesivestory.Youconductindepthinterviews,readdocuments,andlookfor

TheOriginsandEvolutionofThinking
Aloud24daysago

Ninemisconceptionsaboutstatistics
andusability
Doesbetterusabilityincrease
customerloyalty?
ConfidenceIntervalCalculatorfora
CompletionRate

themesinotherwords,howdoesanindividualstoryillustratethelargerlifeinfluencesthatcreated

10ThingstoKnowaboutUsability

it.Ofteninterviewsareconductedoverweeks,months,orevenyears,butthefinalnarrativedoesn't

Problems

needtobeinchronologicalorder.Ratheritcanbepresentedasastory(ornarrative)withthemes,
andcanreconcileconflictingstoriesandhighlighttensionsandchallengeswhichcanbe
opportunitiesforinnovation.
Forexample,anarrativeapproachcanbeanappropriatemethodforbuildingapersona.Whilea
personashouldbebuiltusingamixofmethodsincludingsegmentationanalysisfromsurveysin
depthinterviewswithindividualsinanidentifiedpersonacanprovidethedetailsthathelpdescribe
theculture,whetherit'sapersonlivingwithMultipleSclerosis,aprospectivestudentapplyingfor
college,oraworkingmom.

3. Phenomenological
https://www.measuringu.com/blog/qualmethods.php

97ThingstoKnowaboutUsability
HowtoConductaUsabilitytestona
MobileDevice
Howcommonareusabilityproblems?
Whyyouonlyneedtotestwithfive
users(explained)
HowmuchisaPhDWorth?

1/5

11/27/2016

5TypesofQualitativeMethods:MeasuringU

Whenyouwanttodescribeanevent,activity,orphenomenon,theaptlynamedphenomenological

Whatfiveuserscantellyouthat5000

studyisanappropriatequalitativemethod.Inaphenomenologicalstudy,youuseacombinationof

cannot

methods,suchasconductinginterviews,readingdocuments,watchingvideos,orvisitingplacesand
events,tounderstandthemeaningparticipantsplaceonwhatever'sbeingexamined.Yourelyon

Shouldyouuse5or7pointscales?

theparticipants'ownperspectivestoprovideinsightintotheirmotivations.

5SecondUsabilityTests

Likeotherqualitativemethods,youdon'tstartwithawellformedhypothesis.Inaphenomenological

8WaystoShowDesignChanges

study,youoftenconductalotofinterviews,usuallybetween5and25forcommonthemes,tobuild

ImprovedtheUserExperience

asufficientdatasettolookforemergingthemesandtouseotherparticipantstovalidateyour
findings.

TheFiveMostInfluentialPapersin
Usability

Forexample,there'sbeenanexplosioninthelast5yearsinonlinecoursesandtraining.Buthow

ABriefHistoryoftheMagicNumber5

dostudentsengagewiththesecourses?Whileyoucanexaminetimespentandcontentaccessed

inUsabilityTesting

usinglogdataandevenassessstudentachievementvisavisinpersoncourses,a
phenomenologicalstudywouldaimtobetterunderstandthestudentsexperienceandhowthatmay
impactcomprehensionofthematerial.

5ExamplesofQuantifyingQualitative
Data

4. Grounded Theory
Whereasaphenomenologicalstudylookstodescribetheessenceofanactivityorevent,grounded
theorylookstoprovideanexplanationortheorybehindtheevents.Youuseprimarilyinterviewsand
existingdocumentstobuildatheorybasedonthedata.Yougothroughaseriesofopenandaxial
codingtechniquestoidentifythemesandbuildthetheory.Samplesizesareoftenalsolarger
between20to60withthesestudiestobetterestablishatheory.Groundedtheorycanhelpinform
designdecisionsbybetterunderstandinghowacommunityofuserscurrentlyuseaproductor
performtasks.
Forexample,agroundedtheorystudycouldinvolveunderstandinghowsoftwaredevelopersuse
portalstocommunicateandwritecodeorhowsmallretailmerchantsapproveordeclinecustomers
forcredit.

5. Case Study

JEFF'S BOOKS
CustomerAnalyticsfor
Dummies
Aguidebookformeasuringthe
customerexperience
BuyonAmazon

QuantifyingtheUser
Experience2ndEd.:Practical
StatisticsforUserResearch
Themostcomprehensive
statisticalresourceforUX
Professionals
BuyonAmazon

MadefamousbytheHarvardBusinessSchool,evenmainlyquantitativeresearcherscanrelateto
thevalueofthecasestudyinexplaininganorganization,entity,company,orevent.Acasestudy
involvesadeepunderstandingthroughmultipletypesofdatasources.Casestudiescanbe
explanatory,exploratory,ordescribinganevent.TheannualCHIconferencehasapeerreviewed
trackdedicatedtocasestudies.

Excel&RCompaniontothe
2ndEd.ofQuantifyingthe
UserExperience
DetailedStepstoSolveover100
ExamplesandExercisesinthe
ExcelCalculatorandR
BuyonAmazon|Download

Forexample,acasestudyofhowalargemultinationalcompanyintroducedUXmethodsintoan
agiledevelopmentenvironmentwouldbeinformativetomanyorganizations.

APracticalGuidetothe
SystemUsabilityScale
Background,Benchmarks&
BestPracticesforthemost
popularusabilityquestionnaire

Summary

BuyonAmazon|Download

Thetablebelowsummarizesthedifferencesbetweenthefivequalitativemethods.

APracticalGuideto
MeasuringUsability

Method

Focus

72AnswerstotheMost
CommonQuestionsabout
QuantifyingtheUsabilityof
WebsitesandSoftware

Ethnography

Contextorculture

Narrative

SampleSize DataCollection

Observation&
interviews

BuyonAmazon|Download

Storiesfrom

Individualexperience&

1to2

sequence

individuals&
documents

Peoplewhohave
Phenomenological experienceda

5to25

Interviews

phenomenon

GroundedTheory

Developatheoryfrom
groundedinfielddata

Interviews,then
20to60

Organization,entity,

https://www.measuringu.com/blog/qualmethods.php

openandaxial
coding
Interviews,

2/5

11/27/2016
CaseStudy

5TypesofQualitativeMethods:MeasuringU
individual,orevent

documents,reports,
observations

Tweet

About Jeff Sauro

JeffSauroisthefoundingprincipalofMeasuringU,acompanyproviding
statisticsandusabilityconsultingtoFortune1000companies.
Heistheauthorofover20journalarticlesand5booksonstatisticsandthe
userexperience.
MoreaboutJeff...

Learn More

You Might Also Be Interested In:

5ReasonstoPerforma
QualitativeStudy

3WaystoCombine

7StepstoConducting

QuantitativeandQualitative BetterQualitativeResearch
Research

Related Topics
Qualitative

Posted Comments
Thereare10Comments
November18,2016|uzenuwahowrote:
<ahref='http://ameranegba.com/'>ameranegba.anchor.com</a>[URL=http://ameranegb
u.com/]ameranegbu.anchor.com[/URL]http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/
http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/
http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/unukekuna

November18,2016|uqaritahwrote:
<ahref='http://ameranegba.com/'>ameranegba.anchor.com</a>[URL=http://ameranegb
u.com/]ameranegbu.anchor.com[/URL]http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/
http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/
http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/ajucesan

https://www.measuringu.com/blog/qualmethods.php

3/5

11/27/2016

5TypesofQualitativeMethods:MeasuringU

November18,2016|iteyinewrote:
<ahref='http://ameranegba.com/'>ameranegba.anchor.com</a>[URL=http://ameranegb
u.com/]ameranegbu.anchor.com[/URL]http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/
http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/
http://ameranegbt.com/http://ameranegbt.com/ibowqa

November3,2016|anonymouswrote:
Thisisverysimpleandshortguideforqualitativeresearchmethods

September14,2016|AYOADEwrote:
Preciseandhelpful.Thankyouforgivingmeafocus.

August22,2016|AshiruMuhammadwrote:
veryinteresting!Ireallyenjoyedreadingit.

August5,2016|AbubakarMagajiwrote:
Thatisgreat!veryinterestingIreallyappreciateyourpostingbecousethiswhatexactlyIamlooking
for.Thankyouforsharingyourknowledgetous,

July2,2016|ilmawrote:
thankyouforthepost.itisveryhelpful.

April9,2016|MTANDIERICKRwrote:
Goodandhelpfulexplanationforresearchers

October20,2015|fifa16mall.comwrote:
Imeanit!

PostaComment
Comment:

YourName:

YourEmailAddress:

Topreventcommentspam,pleaseanswerthefollowing:
Whatis1+4:

(enterthenumber)

Submit

https://www.measuringu.com/blog/qualmethods.php

4/5

11/27/2016

5TypesofQualitativeMethods:MeasuringU

Home|Blog|Calculators|Products|Services|Contact
(303)5782801
2016MeasuringUsabilityLLCAllRightsReserved.

https://www.measuringu.com/blog/qualmethods.php

5/5