Qualitative psychological research

In the broadest sense qualitative research is research which uses only dichotomous data — that is, data which can take only the values 0 (zero) and 1 (one). In psychological research this definition has been restricted further. In psychology qualitative research has come to be defined as research whose findings are not arrived at by statistical or other quantitative procedures.

Related Topics:
Qualitative research - Data - Psychological - Statistical

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This definition, however, is entirely negative, describing qualitative research by what it lacks rather than by what it possesses. Absence of a characteristic is not itself a defining characteristic — journalism, for example, does not estimate parameters or test null hypotheses, but one would scarcely claim that it is a form of psychological research. If qualitative research has some goal other than estimating parameters or testing, the important issue is what that goal is. Qualitative psychological researchers have described other characteristics of qualitative research which they believe also distinguish it from so-called quantitative psychological research.

Related Topics:
Parameter - Null hypotheses - Quantitative psychological research

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