Qualitative Survey: Definition and Important Information

Especially in new or little-studied topic areas, it is common in empirical research to choose a qualitative research approach. Using open-ended guide and expert interviews, group discussions, or detailed content and document analyses, initial findings on a specific subject can be collected. The results from such exploratory studies often form the basis for further qualitative or quantitative research.

General Definition of a Qualitative Survey

In a qualitative survey, the subjective perspective or opinion of a few individuals is captured in order to gain the first insight into an unexplored topic, to obtain more in-depth information about an interesting individual case, or to use the findings for a concrete practice-oriented approach (such as in youth or social work).

A qualitative survey is generally always useful when researchers want to explore unknown causes of a specific behavior. In contrast to a quantitative survey, they cannot ask standardized questions in this case because they do not yet know exactly what they need to ask. Quantifiable data and numbers with final statistical evaluation (as in quantitative surveys) are not of interest to qualitative surveys. Instead, they want to understand a complex phenomenon in its full depth.

 

 

Types of Qualitative Survey

The qualitative survey or guide or expert interview is particularly well suited to uncover subjective states and attitudes of surveyed individuals. There are various ways to conduct a qualitative survey:

• Oral "face-to-face" survey
• Digital or telephone interview
• Group discussion with multiple participants

 

Unlike a quantitative questionnaire interview, qualitative questions are designed flexibly and openly. This allows respondents to not only respond extensively to specified topic areas, but also generally have more influence on the content of the interview. During the conversation, researchers can ask additional follow-up questions to deepen specific matters or avoid possible misunderstandings. In qualitative interviews, facial expressions, gestures, and speech flow can also be evaluated.