Target Audience: Development researchers, program evaluators, social workers, NGO staff, and anyone conducting field-based research in South Asia
Prerequisites: Basic research experience helpful but not required
Materials Needed: Notebooks, recording devices (phones), flip chart paper, sticky notes
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
Quantitative Approach: Survey of 1,000 households shows 35% live below poverty line, average income ₹2,500/month, 78% report food insecurity.
Qualitative Approach: "When my husband lost his job during lockdown, I started making rotis for the construction workers. Some days we'd eat, some days just tea and biscuits. My daughter stopped asking for new school shoes - children understand poverty before we tell them."
Both approaches are valuable, but they answer different questions. Which tells you more about how people experience and cope with poverty?
Core Purpose: To understand meanings, experiences, and social processes from the perspective of participants
Key Characteristics:
What it seeks to answer: How? Why? What does it mean? How do people experience this?
| Research Purpose | Qualitative Approach | Example from Development |
|---|---|---|
| Exploratory | When little is known about a topic | Understanding how COVID affected informal workers |
| Explanatory | To understand why something happens | Why do some SHGs succeed while others fail? |
| Process-focused | To understand how something works | How do communities make collective decisions? |
| Meaning-centered | To understand experiences and perspectives | What does "empowerment" mean to rural women? |
| Context-specific | To understand local/cultural factors | How do caste dynamics affect program participation? |
| Evaluation | To understand program implementation and outcomes | How do beneficiaries experience a skill development program? |
Scenario: You work for an NGO implementing a girls' education program in rural Rajasthan. Decide which research approach would be most appropriate:
Questions to Analyze:
Work in pairs to categorize each question and explain your reasoning (5 minutes)
Discussion: Groups share their analysis and reasoning (3 minutes)
What: One-on-one conversations with individuals
When: Personal experiences, sensitive topics, detailed life stories
Duration: 45-90 minutes
Pros: Deep insights, privacy, flexibility
Cons: Time-intensive, individual perspective only
What: Guided discussion with 6-10 participants
When: Group perspectives, social norms, collective experiences
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Pros: Group dynamics, efficient, diverse views
Cons: Dominant voices, social desirability bias
What: Observing people in natural settings
When: Understanding behavior, context, processes
Duration: Hours to months
Pros: Natural behavior, context, non-verbal data
Cons: Observer effect, interpretation challenges
What: In-depth study of specific cases/examples
When: Complex phenomena, unique situations
Duration: Varies widely
Pros: Comprehensive understanding, real-world context
Cons: Not generalizable, resource-intensive
What: Studying online communities and digital behavior
When: Digital interactions, online communities
Duration: Weeks to months
Pros: Access to digital spaces, large scale
Cons: Ethics challenges, digital divide
What: Community-led research activities
When: Community empowerment, local knowledge
Duration: Varies
Pros: Community ownership, local validity
Cons: Requires facilitation skills, time
Question Types and Flow:
Good Questions are:
Topic: Women's experiences with microfinance programs
1. Opening/Rapport Building (5-10 minutes)
2. General Context (10-15 minutes)
3. Core Topic - Microfinance Experience (20-30 minutes)
4. Closing (5-10 minutes)
Composition (6-10 participants):
Facilitation Techniques:
Managing Group Dynamics:
Scenario: You're researching community perceptions of government health services
Your Research Question: How do community members decide whether to use government health facilities versus private providers?
Activity Steps:
Focus on:
Debrief: Share one insight about good interviewing techniques
Core Principles:
Challenge: Qualitative research is emergent - you can't always know in advance what topics will arise or how the research will evolve. How do you get truly "informed" consent?
Information to Share:
Process Considerations:
| Situation | Ethical Concerns | Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| Sensitive Topics (domestic violence, mental health) |
Risk of psychological harm, retraumatization | Trained interviewers, referral resources, debriefing |
| Vulnerable Populations (children, persons with disabilities) |
Capacity to consent, exploitation risk | Guardian consent + assent, extra protections |
| Gatekeepers (village leaders, husbands) |
Coercion, limiting access to certain groups | Multiple entry points, direct participant contact |
| Community Research (collective consent needed) |
Individual vs. community rights | Community meetings, traditional decision-making processes |
| Illegal Activities (corruption, informal work) |
Legal reporting obligations | Clear boundaries, careful framing, anonymization |
During Data Collection:
During Analysis and Reporting:
Special Challenges in Small Communities:
Scenario: You're researching women's experiences with domestic violence in a rural area
Situation: During an interview, a woman reveals ongoing severe abuse and asks for help. She's afraid to go to police and says her husband will kill her if he finds out she talked to you. She begs you not to tell anyone but you're worried for her safety.
Discussion Questions (work in groups of 3-4):
Share-out: Groups share one key ethical principle or practical strategy
Goal: To identify patterns, themes, and meanings in qualitative data
Key Steps:
Iterative Process: Analysis happens throughout data collection, not just at the end
Descriptive Codes: What is happening?
Process Codes: How is something happening?
Emotion Codes: Feelings and emotions
Values Codes: Beliefs, attitudes, worldviews
Pattern Codes: Higher-level themes that connect multiple codes
What makes a good theme?
Example Theme Development:
Research Question: How do women experience participating in SHGs?
Codes found: "learning to speak up," "gaining confidence," "husband's initial resistance," "family support growing," "taking leadership roles," "making financial decisions," "others seeking advice"
Potential Theme: "Progressive Empowerment Through Collective Action"
Sub-themes:
| Quality Criterion | What It Means | How to Achieve It |
|---|---|---|
| Credibility | Findings are believable and accurate | Member checking, triangulation, thick description |
| Transferability | Findings may apply to similar contexts | Rich contextual description, clear methodology |
| Dependability | Consistent and logical process | Clear audit trail, systematic analysis |
| Confirmability | Findings reflect participants' voices, not just researcher bias | Reflexivity, acknowledge limitations, use quotes |
Practice analyzing a short interview excerpt:
Interview Quote: "Before joining the SHG, I used to ask my husband for even ₹10 to buy vegetables. Now I have my own savings, and I can decide what to buy for my children. Last month, when my daughter needed books for school, I didn't have to wait for anyone's permission. I just took the money and bought them. My neighbors also come to ask me about savings and loans now. They say I understand these things better than they do."
Your Task (Individual, then pair):
Reflection: What challenges did you face in coding? What would you want to ask this participant as a follow-up?
Qualitative research is about understanding the world through others' eyes. It requires patience, empathy, and systematic analysis to transform individual stories into insights that can inform better policies and programs.
Essential Textbooks:
South Asian Context:
Analysis Software:
Ethics Resources:
Practical Tools:
Next Steps in ImpactMojo:
This handout is part of the ImpactMojo 101 Knowledge Series
Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 • Free to use with attribution • www.impactmojo.in
For the complete Qualitative Research 101 course with detailed interview guides, analysis templates, and ethics protocols, visit the ImpactMojo platform.
