Qualitative Data

What is Qualitative or Categorical Data?

Qualitative data is the non-numerical data which describes the qualities, characteristics, and other descriptive information about the phenomenon or the subject for which data is collected.

What are Some Examples of Qualitative Data?

Some examples of qualitative data include survey forms of interviews or focus groups, observational notes, photographs, and other forms of non-numerical data.

What are Some Common Methods for Collecting Qualitative Data?

Qualitative Data is often collected through observation, interviews, focus groups, and other forms of subjective data collection methods.

How is Qualitative Data Analyzed?

Qualitative data is typically analyzed using two approaches which are covered in detail in this article.

• Deductive Approach
• Inductive Approach

What are the Advantages of Qualitative Data?

Some advantages of use of qualitative data are:

• Qualitative data provides in-depth information about a subject or phenomenon. 
• It can also provide rich descriptions of the context and social interactions surrounding the subject or phenomenon. 
• Qualitative data can be more flexible in terms of data collection and analysis methods, allowing for more creative and iterative approaches to research.

What are the Disadvantages of Qualitative Data?

Some disadvantages of use of qualitative data are:

• Qualitative data can be time-consuming and resource-intensive to collect and analyze. 
• As qualitative data is subjective and interpretive, there may be concerns about the reliability and validity of the data. 
• Qualitative data may also be less generalizable than quantitative data, as it is often focused on specific contexts and perspectives.

Qualitative data is defined as data that approximates and characterizes. Qualitative data can be observed and recorded. In the field of analysis, the terms “qualitative data” and “quantitative data” are used frequently. Quantitative and Qualitative are the two sides of the coin named “Data in Statistics” but as many people are familiar with quantitative data (i.e., numerical data of various sorts), qualitative data is often less understood. Understanding the qualitative data is essential for researchers, analysts, decision-makers, or anyone who wants to gain deep insights into people’s behaviors, attitudes, and experiences.

Qualitative data represents information and concepts that are not quantified numerically. They are typically acquired through sources like interviews, focus groups, personal diaries, lab notebooks, maps, photographs, and other observational or printed materials.

In this article, we have tried to explain Qualitative data with different approaches to its analysis, and also learn about the advantages and disadvantages of Qualitative Data.