Qualitative Designs: Using Words
to Provide Evidence
Kristen L. Mauk
9.1 What Is Qualitative Research?
At the end of this section, you will be able to:
‹ Define qualitative research
‹ Describe sampling techniques in qualitative research
‹ Discuss the three major sources of qualitative data
‹ Explain analysis and interpretation methods with qualitative data
‹ Describe techniques used to meet the four elements of evaluationQualitative research was first used by disciplines such as the social and psychological sciences. It is used to
answer questions related to the hows and whys of behavior that are not easily explained through quantita-
tive methods, to investigate topics about which little is known, or to generate theory. Nursing, although
using qualitative research since the 1970s, has only recently begun to embrace qualitative methods as an
equally valuable means to explore certain topics while advancing the science and providing foundational
evidence for best practice. Unfortunately, in the evidence-based practice (EBP) process, qualitative research
is still considered to be far less compelling than quantitative research is because of the subjective nature
of data analysis and interpretation.
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