Challenges and solutions of qualitative research

邓昌永 王冰青

Abstract：In order to increase the understanding of qualitative research method， this study identifies some challenges that researchers encounter when they conducting qualitative research and gives several recommendations that practitioners might use to evaluate a qualitative product.

Keywords：Qualitative; Research methods; Evaluation

1 Introduction

Common approaches in published social research include case study， ethnography， narrative research， grounded theory， and visual methods. In this paper， four major challenges that researchers encounter when they conducting qualitative research will be discussed， and several possible solutions will be offered.

2 Challenges and recommendations

2.1 Informed consent

The first challenge arising when conducting qualitative research is informed consent. Compared to voluntary， informed consent can guarantee the quality of the research to some extent. Because ethics are subjective （Schwandt， 1994）， every one might have different opinions about one same topic， therefore， negotiation with participants will be frequent （Holloway & Wheeler， 2002）. Frequent negotiations might make informants become impatient and unwilling to continue their cooperation with researchers. However， if informants are informed in advance of the details of interviews or observations， and are happy to co-operate fully with any investigation， things will be different. The best way to address this issue is through formal procedures such as informed consent forms （ICFs）. In addition， researchers need to aware that consent is a process and need to be negotiated throughout the course of the project （Houghton et al.， 2010）.

2.2 Confidentiality

The second issue is the confidentiality of information shared by Participants. Any individual or groups who participants in a research would have a strong expectation that the information shared to researcher will be treated in a confidential manner. However， qualitative research often involves a large number of people working together to share information about themselves， and researchers need to describe and report the detailed findings， so it becomes difficult to maintain confidentiality. According to Stake （2000）， too much exposure or disclosure of personal information of participants will bring many negative effects to their lives. In order to ensure the safety of participants information， researchers should use anonymity of participants and select the most representative information which could reveal their identities （Polit & Beck， 2006）. However， more convenient way is pseudonyms compared to anonymity. Moreover， creating an environment with a sense of trust and mutual respect within the research informants is very important， only in this way information can be shared without hurting anyone. In addition， a research should have the ability to control the interview. If the interview moves in a personal direction， researchers have to stop it and recommend the participant to talk to other trusted support persons.

2.3 The quality of researchers

In addition to ethical issues， qualitative research also has some practical issues. One of those is that it requires high quality researchers. Usually， one or two researchers have much work to do together， so it is important to give necessary trainings to them. Researchers need to get trainings in， for instance， interviewing methods， note taking， data recording， alternate data collection methods， and analyzing methods. More specifically， for example， ethnographers should have basic knowledge in cultural anthropology and the meaning of a social cultural system as well as the topics typically investigated by ethnographic researchers.  According to Whiting and Vickers （2010）， researchers who conduct qualitative research should be able to aware of their own limitation and possible preconception and ensure they can get the knowledge they need. In all， effective training is helpful to ensure the smoothness of research works on the whole.

2.4 The quality of participants

Finally， because participants life stories are the primary data in qualitative research， the quality of participants can decide the quality of the research to some extent. Therefore， selecting and recruiting participants to tell their life experience are crucial before conducting research. According to Dickie （2003）， both the number of participant and length of interview can decide whether there is enough data. In addition， as the participants are often asked to tell their personal stories and perception， it is important for participants to have good ability to think and talk. If participants have difficulty forming words while talking， it will make the research more time consuming， and researchers might have to spend more energies to figure out their meaning. Another point is that participants should have strong mental capacity because they may confront some negative memories. Overall， appropriate numbers of participants， good ability to talk and strong mental endurance of participants have a tremendous impact on the quality of research.

3 Conclusion

From the discussion it is clear that ethical challenges， practical and quality issues are integral parts of a qualitative research design. Although there are some challenges when conducting qualitative researches， researchers continue to deploy this method particularly in studies of real-life situations.

References：

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[2] Houghton C E ， Casey D ， Shaw D ， et al. Ethical challenges in qualitative research：examples from practice[J]. Nurse Researcher， 2010（01）.

[3] Bixler E S . Essentials of Nursing[M]. Macmillan Education UK， 1987.

[4] Preston N ， Payne S ， Todd C . Conducting research in palliative care patients：a burden or an opportunity？[J]. International Journal of Palliative Nursing， 2009（11）.

（作者單位：诺丁汉大学）