Qualitative Research Explained: Methods & Example Interview Study (Guide)
Qualitative research explores how people understand and experience a subject, using words and context rather than numerical measures alone. This guide explains how to plan, conduct, analyze, and report an interview study. A worked example shows each stage, from shaping a research question to presenting themes, while covering ethics, sampling, and reporting standards.
What qualitative research is and when to use it
Qualitative research studies meaning, experience, and context. It is useful when a question asks how or why something happens, or how people make sense of it. It does not replace numerical research; it answers a different kind of question and requires a clear, documented method.
A survey might tell you how many students use office hours. Interviews can explore what students experience when they decide whether to go, what helps them feel welcome, and what makes them hesitate. Those answers can reveal ideas to test in later research, but they do not show how common each experience is in the wider student population.
Choose qualitative research when the goal is to understand views, actions, or processes in depth. Choose a quantitative design when you need to measure amounts, compare rates, or test a statistical relationship. Some projects use both, but each method needs a clear role.
Qualitative research is not simply a set of quotes. Researchers make choices about who to invite, what to ask, how to interpret responses, and how to support their conclusions. Those choices should be visible in the final report.
Choose a question and study design
A qualitative research question is open-ended and focused on a group, experience, or process. The study design is the overall approach used to answer it. A strong match between question and design helps you collect useful evidence without claiming more than the study can show.
For example, “How do first-generation undergraduates experience seeking help during faculty office hours?” invites accounts of experience. “Do first-generation students attend office hours less often?” asks for a count or comparison and would usually need quantitative data.
Before collecting data, decide what kind of understanding you seek:
- Qualitative description aims to give a clear account of participants’ views or experiences.
- Phenomenology focuses on how people experience a shared phenomenon.
- Ethnography examines practices and culture in a group or setting, often through sustained observation.
- Grounded theory develops an explanation of a process through iterative data collection and analysis.
These approaches are not interchangeable labels. Use one only if its purpose fits your question and your methods. For an introductory interview study, qualitative description may be a practical choice when the goal is to summarize student experiences in clear terms.
Read relevant research before finalizing the question. This helps you understand what is already known, refine your focus, and avoid leading prompts. The literature review should inform the study, not force participants’ accounts into a theory chosen in advance.
Plan sampling, ethics, and interviews
Sampling is how researchers select participants. Qualitative interview studies often use purposive sampling: inviting people because they have experience that fits the research question. Ethical planning sets the rules for consent, privacy, recording, and data storage before recruitment begins.
For the example study, the researcher might invite undergraduates who identify as first-generation and have attended, or considered attending, faculty office hours. State inclusion criteria clearly and explain how participants will be approached. A sample should suit the question, scope, and depth of analysis. There is no universal interview count or single saturation threshold that fits every qualitative study.
In the United States, consult your supervisor and institutional review board (IRB) before recruiting or collecting data. Under 45 CFR 46, review and exemption requirements depend on the project and its context. Do not decide on your own that a project is exempt. Follow the institution’s determination and approved procedures.
Prepare an interview guide with a small set of open questions and useful follow-ups. For example:
- “Can you tell me about the first time you considered going to office hours?”
- “What influenced your decision?”
- “What was the experience like?”
- “Was there anything that made it easier or harder to ask for help?”
Ask one question at a time. Avoid wording that assumes a problem, such as “Why were office hours intimidating?” Instead, let participants describe whether they felt comfortable, uncertain, or neither. A pilot interview can help identify confusing or leading questions.
Explain the study, voluntary participation, and any limits to confidentiality before the interview. Ask for consent as approved, including permission to record if recording is planned. Never record first and seek approval later. Store files securely, limit access, and follow the approved plan for retention or destruction.
Conduct, transcribe, and analyze interviews
A semi-structured interview uses the same core questions with room for relevant follow-ups. Analysis is the systematic work of organizing and interpreting interview material. Keep a record of decisions so readers can see how the team moved from participants’ words to reported findings.
At the start, remind the participant of the study purpose and their right to pause or decline a question. Listen closely, allow silence, and ask neutral follow-ups such as “Can you tell me more?” Avoid turning the interview into a debate or offering answers for the participant.
Afterward, transcribe the recording and remove or mask identifying details according to the approved plan. Check transcripts against the audio when feasible, and record how any transcript corrections were made. Give each participant a code rather than using their name in working files or reports.
A practical coding process can follow these steps:
- Read each transcript more than once to understand the account as a whole.
- Mark meaningful passages and assign short labels, or codes, that summarize their content.
- Compare codes across interviews. Combine, split, or rename codes when the evidence supports it.
- Group related codes into candidate themes, then check each theme against the full set of interviews.
- Keep analytic memos that explain questions, decisions, and changes in interpretation.
A theme is a pattern of meaning that helps answer the research question. It is more than a topic heading. “Office hours” is a topic; “uncertainty about what questions are appropriate” could be a theme if multiple accounts support that interpretation. A theme need not appear in every interview, but explain its scope and any important differences.
Use quotations as evidence, not decoration. A quote can show how an interpretation connects to a participant’s account, but it cannot prove that all students share that view. Include cases that complicate a theme when they matter, and avoid presenting a researcher’s interpretation as a direct fact about every participant.
Worked example: an interview study of office hours
A worked example shows how the steps fit together. This hypothetical study explores how first-generation undergraduates experience seeking help during faculty office hours. It illustrates a defensible process, not findings from an actual research project.
| Stage | Example decision | Record to keep |
|---|---|---|
| Question | How do first-generation undergraduates experience seeking help during office hours? | Final question and rationale |
| Design | Qualitative description with semi-structured interviews | Design choice and fit |
| Sampling | Purposively invite eligible students with relevant experience | Criteria and recruitment method |
| Data collection | Use consistent core prompts and neutral follow-ups | Interview guide and consent process |
| Analysis | Code accounts, compare cases, refine themes | Code notes, memos, and decisions |
| Reporting | Present themes with anonymized quotations | Context, limitations, and supporting excerpts |
Suppose the interviews include accounts of not knowing what topics faculty expect students to raise. The researcher could code passages about unclear expectations, compare them across participants, and consider whether they support a broader theme. They should also check for accounts that differ, such as students who found the expectations clear.
The report should not say the theme represents all first-generation students unless the study supports that claim. Instead, describe who took part, where and how interviews occurred, how the analysis developed, and what the study cannot establish. Interview findings can identify experiences worth addressing or studying further, but they do not by themselves measure how common those experiences are.
Build trustworthiness and report the study
Trustworthiness describes how clearly and carefully a qualitative study supports its interpretations. It depends on the fit between the question, evidence, analysis, and claims. Reporting checklists help researchers make key details visible, but completing a checklist does not prove that the study is sound.
Reflexivity is the practice of considering how a researcher’s role, assumptions, and relationship to the topic may shape the study. For example, an interviewer who is also a faculty member could affect what a student feels safe saying. State relevant roles and steps taken to reduce pressure, such as using a neutral interviewer where feasible.
Keep a traceable record of the interview guide, consent process, data handling, coding choices, analytic memos, and changes to the study. Explain how you checked interpretations against the material. If more than one researcher analyzed data, describe how they compared interpretations and resolved differences. Do not claim agreement or member checking unless those steps actually occurred.
Use reporting standards as guides:
- COREQ has 32 items for reporting interviews and focus groups. Its items cover the research team and reflexivity, study design, and analysis and reporting (Tong, Sainsbury, and Craig, 2007).
- SRQR has 21 items for reporting qualitative research. It prompts authors to describe purpose, approach, context, sampling, analysis, trustworthiness, and limitations (O’Brien and colleagues, 2014).
These checklists support transparent reporting. They do not replace ethics review, sound design, or careful analysis. Before submission, check that readers can understand who participated, how evidence was gathered, how themes were developed, and what limits apply.
Frequently asked questions
What is qualitative research in simple terms?
It is research that explores people’s views, experiences, or actions using detailed information such as interviews, observations, or written accounts.
What is a qualitative interview study?
It is a study that uses interviews to understand how participants describe and interpret a topic, experience, or process.
How many interviews should a qualitative study include?
There is no universal number. Justify the sample in relation to the question, study scope, depth of information, and analysis plan.
What is purposive sampling?
It is selecting participants because their experience or knowledge fits the research question, rather than choosing them at random.
What is a semi-structured interview?
It uses a planned set of core questions while allowing neutral follow-ups that explore a participant’s answer in more depth.
What is the difference between a code and a theme?
A code labels a meaningful passage. A theme brings related evidence together into a pattern that helps answer the research question.
Do qualitative studies need IRB review?
Requirements depend on the study and institution. Ask the relevant office for a determination before recruitment or data collection; do not self-designate a study as exempt.
What are COREQ and SRQR?
COREQ is a 32-item reporting checklist for interviews and focus groups. SRQR is a 21-item checklist for qualitative research reporting. Neither replaces sound methods or ethics review.
Can interview findings represent a whole population?
Not on their own. Interviews can provide depth and context, but they do not estimate how common an experience is in a larger population.
How should I present interview quotes?
Use anonymized excerpts that support a stated interpretation. Give enough context to make the quote clear, and avoid implying that one quote speaks for every participant.
What should a qualitative report include?
Describe the question, approach, context, sampling, ethics, data collection, analysis, findings, researcher role, limitations, and practical implications.
(This article was written by one of our staff writers, Benjamin Carter. Visit our Meet the Team page.)
