There is a gap between experiences and language used to describe these experiences, because it is hard to explain memories that are mostly comprised of visual images. Therefore there is a need for "metaphors and narratives" to closely illustrate an experience.

Gap between experiences and language

Self-reporting requires a certain level of trust in participants capability to understand themselves and their thoughts.

Cognitive Processes limitation of Qualitative 

Can be hard if participant and researcher do not share the same first language and translation between languages can cause for meanings to be lost.

Language Barrier limitation of Qualitative

- Cognitive Processes
- Gap between experiences and language
- Language Barrier

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Qualitative Data

Polkinghorne, Donald. (2005). Language and Meaning: Data Collection in Qualitative Research. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 52. 137-145. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.137

Polkinghorne 2005: Language and Meaning: Data Collection in Qualitative Research

- Captures participants’ thoughts, beliefs, and self-reported needs from interviews, focus groups, and diary studies 

Qualitative attitude data

- Observation about people’s behavior from contextual inquiry and ethnographic approaches  


Qualitative behavioral data

- Qualitative data can be overwhelming and without a systematic process

Challenges and Issues in Qualitative Data

Three sources of qualitative data:

- Traditional period (1900s-1940s)
- Modernist phase (1950s-1970s)
- Period of blurred genres (1970 - mid 1980s)
- Time of crisis of representation (mid 1980s - mid-1990s)
- Postmodern and post experimental stages (mid-1990s -present)

History - 5 stages in which qualitative methods were developed: 


- Subjective in nature 
- There are common mistakes that can impact the validity, trustworthiness, and dependability of results 
- Problems can happen in data collection and transcription processes 
- Preventing the common pitfalls can establish higher trustworthiness and methodological confidence

Qualitative Research Methods

Terms to be reconsidered in Qualitative Research

- Quantification is difficult
- Nature of qualitative is iterative

Why Qualitative Data is more difficult than Quantitative Data

While deductive reasoning begins with a premise that is proven through observations, inductive reasoning extracts a likely (but not certain) premise from specific and limited observations. Based on this definition, deductive analysis users predetermined categories to sort the data, and inductive analysis immerses researchers in the data and allows them to suggest new groups to researchers.

Deductive analysis vs. Inductive analysis

- Lightweight data analysis
- Heavyweight data analysis

Two Typical Analysis Plans

Task Analysis is the method of learning about how users go about finishing tasks. This study was introduced by instructional design (design training), ergonomics (analyzing how users use models to better suit user experience), and human factors. TA is critical to improving user experience and goals.

Task Analysis

Qualitative Surveys

The relative weaknesses of quantitative methodology are often the primary strengths of qualitative research. Qualitative approaches excel at generating novel and interesting research questions and formulating new hypotheses that might otherwise be overlooked. Furthermore, qualitative research is particularly strong in providing thick, detailed descriptions of human behavior as it occurs in real-world contexts and successfully capturing the subjective, lived experiences of specific individuals and groups.

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