Numbers tell you what and how much. Qualitative research tells you why. Here are the five core methods and how to run each one.
Qualitative research explores human behavior, motivation and meaning through non-numerical data. In UX its five core methods are interviews, focus groups, ethnography, case studies and content analysis. It is flexible and exploratory, best for understanding the why behind behavior and generating hypotheses, and it pairs well with quantitative methods, which measure the what and how much.
Key takeaways
- Qualitative research captures feelings, interpretations and context, not just facts.
- It is rooted in constructivist and interpretivist paradigms (reality is socially constructed).
- The five core methods: interviews, focus groups, ethnography, case studies, content analysis.
- Techniques like think-aloud, surveys, semantic and discourse analysis fit within those methods.
- It is exploratory and flexible; use it to understand and to generate hypotheses, often before quantitative work.
The five core qualitative methods
| Method | What it is and when to use it | Key figures |
|---|---|---|
| Interviews | Direct access to experiences and opinions; structured, semi-structured or unstructured. Steps: prepare, sample, ask, record, transcribe, analyze, validate. | Rogers, Glaser & Strauss |
| Focus groups | Group discussion that reveals collective opinion and dynamics. Needs a skilled, neutral moderator. Dorve uses them mainly for usability testing. | Moderation-led |
| Ethnography | Immersion in a community to understand it from the inside. Remote version is ‘netnography’. | Malinowski, Geertz |
| Case studies | In-depth analysis of one subject in real context; exploratory, descriptive or explanatory. Use triangulation. | Contextual |
| Content analysis | Finding patterns in text, visual or audio material via a codebook and coding, with inter-coder reliability. | Krippendorff, Lasswell |
Qualitative vs quantitative
| Dimension | Qualitative | Quantitative |
|---|---|---|
| Data | Non-numerical (words, observation) | Numerical, statistical |
| Purpose | Explore the why, build hypotheses | Test hypotheses, establish causality |
| Approach | Flexible, adjusts as it goes | Fixed design set up front |
| Analysis | Themes and patterns in text | Statistical models |
Specific techniques
- Qualitative surveys: open-ended questions coded for themes.
- Think-aloud protocols: participants verbalize thoughts while doing a task (common in UX).
- Semantic analysis: the meanings people attach to words in context.
- Discourse analysis: language within its social context, useful for power and social structure.
- Also: narrative analysis, phenomenology, visual methods and personas.
Research that explores human behavior, motivation and meaning through non-numerical data like interviews, observation and text, focusing on the why behind actions.
Interviews, focus groups, ethnography, case studies and content analysis.
Qualitative research explores the why with non-numerical data and is flexible; quantitative research measures the what and how much with numbers and a fixed design.
Early, to understand a problem deeply and generate hypotheses, often before quantitative validation, and to capture feelings and context numbers miss.
A technique where a participant verbalizes their thoughts while performing a task, giving real-time insight into their reasoning. It is common in UX.
Want the why behind your users, not just the numbers? Talk to Dorve.
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