good questions to ask about qualitative research

Qualitative Research Questions: Gain Powerful Insights + 25 Examples

We review the basics of qualitative research questions, including their key components, how to craft them effectively, & 25 example questions.

Einstein was many things—a physicist, a philosopher, and, undoubtedly, a mastermind. He also had an incredible way with words. His quote, "Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted," is particularly poignant when it comes to research.

Some inquiries call for a quantitative approach, for counting and measuring data in order to arrive at general conclusions. Other investigations, like qualitative research, rely on deep exploration and understanding of individual cases in order to develop a greater understanding of the whole. That’s what we’re going to focus on today.

Qualitative research questions focus on the "how" and "why" of things, rather than the "what". They ask about people's experiences and perceptions , and can be used to explore a wide range of topics.

The following article will discuss the basics of qualitative research questions, including their key components, and how to craft them effectively. You'll also find 25 examples of effective qualitative research questions you can use as inspiration for your own studies.

Let’s get started!

What are qualitative research questions, and when are they used?

When researchers set out to conduct a study on a certain topic, their research is chiefly directed by an overarching question . This question provides focus for the study and helps determine what kind of data will be collected.

By starting with a question, we gain parameters and objectives for our line of research. What are we studying? For what purpose? How will we know when we’ve achieved our goals?

Of course, some of these questions can be described as quantitative in nature. When a research question is quantitative, it usually seeks to measure or calculate something in a systematic way.

For example:

How many people in our town use the library?
What is the average income of families in our city?
How much does the average person weigh?

Other research questions, however—and the ones we will be focusing on in this article—are qualitative in nature. Qualitative research questions are open-ended and seek to explore a given topic in-depth.

According to the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry , “Qualitative research aims to address questions concerned with developing an understanding of the meaning and experience dimensions of humans’ lives and social worlds.”

This type of research can be used to gain a better understanding of people’s thoughts, feelings and experiences by “addressing questions beyond ‘what works’, towards ‘what works for whom when, how and why, and focusing on intervention improvement rather than accreditation,” states one paper in Neurological Research and Practice .

Qualitative questions often produce rich data that can help researchers develop hypotheses for further quantitative study.

What are people’s thoughts on the new library?
How does it feel to be a first-generation student at our school?
How do people feel about the changes taking place in our town?

As stated by a paper in Human Reproduction , “...‘qualitative’ methods are used to answer questions about experience, meaning, and perspective, most often from the standpoint of the participant. These data are usually not amenable to counting or measuring.”

Both quantitative and qualitative questions have their uses; in fact, they often complement each other. A well-designed research study will include a mix of both types of questions in order to gain a fuller understanding of the topic at hand.

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Crafting qualitative research questions for powerful insights

Now that we have a basic understanding of what qualitative research questions are and when they are used, let’s take a look at how you can begin crafting your own.

According to a study in the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, there is a certain process researchers should follow when crafting their questions, which we’ll explore in more depth.

1. Beginning the process

Start with a point of interest or curiosity, and pose a draft question or ‘self-question’. What do you want to know about the topic at hand? What is your specific curiosity? You may find it helpful to begin by writing several questions.

For example, if you’re interested in understanding how your customer base feels about a recent change to your product, you might ask:

What made you decide to try the new product?
How do you feel about the change?
What do you think of the new design/functionality?
What benefits do you see in the change?

2. Create one overarching, guiding question

At this point, narrow down the draft questions into one specific question. “Sometimes, these broader research questions are not stated as questions, but rather as goals for the study.”

As an example of this, you might narrow down these three questions:

into the following question:

What are our customers’ thoughts on the recent change to our product?

3. Theoretical framing

As you read the relevant literature and apply theory to your research, the question should be altered to achieve better outcomes. Experts agree that pursuing a qualitative line of inquiry should open up the possibility for questioning your original theories and altering the conceptual framework with which the research began.

If we continue with the current example, it’s possible you may uncover new data that informs your research and changes your question. For instance, you may discover that customers’ feelings about the change are not just a reaction to the change itself, but also to how it was implemented. In this case, your question would need to reflect this new information:

How did customers react to the process of the change, as well as the change itself?

4. Ethical considerations

A study in the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education stresses that ethics are “a central issue when a researcher proposes to study the lives of others, especially marginalized populations.” Consider how your question or inquiry will affect the people it relates to—their lives and their safety. Shape your question to avoid physical, emotional, or mental upset for the focus group.

In analyzing your question from this perspective, if you feel that it may cause harm, you should consider changing the question or ending your research project. Perhaps you’ve discovered that your question encourages harmful or invasive questioning, in which case you should reformulate it.

5. Writing the question

The actual process of writing the question comes only after considering the above points. The purpose of crafting your research questions is to delve into what your study is specifically about” Remember that qualitative research questions are not trying to find the cause of an effect, but rather to explore the effect itself.

Your questions should be clear, concise, and understandable to those outside of your field. In addition, they should generate rich data. The questions you choose will also depend on the type of research you are conducting:

If you’re doing a phenomenological study, your questions might be open-ended, in order to allow participants to share their experiences in their own words.
If you’re doing a grounded-theory study, your questions might be focused on generating a list of categories or themes.
If you’re doing ethnography, your questions might be about understanding the culture you’re studying.

Whenyou have well-written questions, it is much easier to develop your research design and collect data that accurately reflects your inquiry.

In writing your questions, it may help you to refer to this simple flowchart process for constructing questions:

good questions to ask about qualitative research

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25 examples of expertly crafted qualitative research questions

It's easy enough to cover the theory of writing a qualitative research question, but sometimes it's best if you can see the process in practice. In this section, we'll list 25 examples of B2B and B2C-related qualitative questions.

Let's begin with five questions. We'll show you the question, explain why it's considered qualitative, and then give you an example of how it can be used in research.

1. What is the customer's perception of our company's brand?

Qualitative research questions are often open-ended and invite respondents to share their thoughts and feelings on a subject. This question is qualitative because it seeks customer feedback on the company's brand.

This question can be used in research to understand how customers feel about the company's branding, what they like and don't like about it, and whether they would recommend it to others.

2. Why do customers buy our product?

This question is also qualitative because it seeks to understand the customer's motivations for purchasing a product. It can be used in research to identify the reasons customers buy a certain product, what needs or desires the product fulfills for them, and how they feel about the purchase after using the product.

3. How do our customers interact with our products?

Again, this question is qualitative because it seeks to understand customer behavior. In this case, it can be used in research to see how customers use the product, how they interact with it, and what emotions or thoughts the product evokes in them.

4. What are our customers' biggest frustrations with our products?

By seeking to understand customer frustrations, this question is qualitative and can provide valuable insights. It can be used in research to help identify areas in which the company needs to make improvements with its products.

5. How do our customers feel about our customer service?

Rather than asking why customers like or dislike something, this question asks how they feel. This qualitative question can provide insights into customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a company.

This type of question can be used in research to understand what customers think of the company's customer service and whether they feel it meets their needs.

20 more examples to refer to when writing your question

Now that you’re aware of what makes certain questions qualitative, let's move into 20 more examples of qualitative research questions:

How do your customers react when updates are made to your app interface?
How do customers feel when they complete their purchase through your ecommerce site?
What are your customers' main frustrations with your service?
How do people feel about the quality of your products compared to those of your competitors?
What motivates customers to refer their friends and family members to your product or service?
What are the main benefits your customers receive from using your product or service?
How do people feel when they finish a purchase on your website?
What are the main motivations behind customer loyalty to your brand?
How does your app make people feel emotionally?
For younger generations using your app, how does it make them feel about themselves?
What reputation do people associate with your brand?
How inclusive do people find your app?
In what ways are your customers' experiences unique to them?
What are the main areas of improvement your customers would like to see in your product or service?
How do people feel about their interactions with your tech team?
What are the top five reasons people use your online marketplace?
How does using your app make people feel in terms of connectedness?
What emotions do people experience when they're using your product or service?
Aside from the features of your product, what else about it attracts customers?
How does your company culture make people feel?

As you can see, these kinds of questions are completely open-ended. In a way, they allow the research and discoveries made along the way to direct the research. The questions are merely a starting point from which to explore.

This video offers tips on how to write good qualitative research questions, produced by Qualitative Research Expert, Kimberly Baker.

Wrap-up: crafting your own qualitative research questions.

Over the course of this article, we've explored what qualitative research questions are, why they matter, and how they should be written. Hopefully you now have a clear understanding of how to craft your own.

Remember, qualitative research questions should always be designed to explore a certain experience or phenomena in-depth, in order to generate powerful insights. As you write your questions, be sure to keep the following in mind:

Are you being inclusive of all relevant perspectives?
Are your questions specific enough to generate clear answers?
Will your questions allow for an in-depth exploration of the topic at hand?
Do the questions reflect your research goals and objectives?

If you can answer "yes" to all of the questions above, and you've followed the tips for writing qualitative research questions we shared in this article, then you're well on your way to crafting powerful queries that will yield valuable insights.

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Asking the right questions in the right way is the key to research success. That’s true for not just the discussion guide but for every step of a research project. Following are 100+ questions that will take you from defining your research objective through screening and participant discussions.

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83 Qualitative Research Questions & Examples

Qualitative research questions help you understand consumer sentiment. They’re strategically designed to show organizations how and why people feel the way they do about a brand, product, or service. It looks beyond the numbers and is one of the most telling types of market research a company can do.

The UK Data Service describes this perfectly, saying, “The value of qualitative research is that it gives a voice to the lived experience .”

Read on to see seven use cases and 83 qualitative research questions, with the added bonus of examples that show how to get similar insights faster with Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence.

Inspirational quote about customer insights

What is a qualitative research question?

A qualitative research question explores a topic in-depth, aiming to better understand the subject through interviews, observations, and other non-numerical data. Qualitative research questions are open-ended, helping to uncover a target audience’s opinions, beliefs, and motivations.

How to choose qualitative research questions?

Choosing the right qualitative research questions can be incremental to the success of your research and the findings you uncover. Here’s my six-step process for choosing the best qualitative research questions.

Start by understanding the purpose of your research. What do you want to learn? What outcome are you hoping to achieve?
Consider who you are researching. What are their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs? How can you best capture these in your research questions ?
Keep your questions open-ended . Qualitative research questions should not be too narrow or too broad. Aim to ask specific questions to provide meaningful answers but broad enough to allow for exploration.
Balance your research questions. You don’t want all of your questions to be the same type. Aim to mix up your questions to get a variety of answers.
Ensure your research questions are ethical and free from bias. Always have a second (and third) person check for unconscious bias.
Consider the language you use. Your questions should be written in a way that is clear and easy to understand. Avoid using jargon , acronyms, or overly technical language.

Types of qualitative research questions

For a question to be considered qualitative, it usually needs to be open-ended. However, as I’ll explain, there can sometimes be a slight cross-over between quantitative and qualitative research questions.

Open-ended questions

These allow for a wide range of responses and can be formatted with multiple-choice answers or a free-text box to collect additional details. The next two types of qualitative questions are considered open questions, but each has its own style and purpose.

Probing questions are used to delve deeper into a respondent’s thoughts, such as “Can you tell me more about why you feel that way?”
Comparative questions ask people to compare two or more items, such as “Which product do you prefer and why?” These qualitative questions are highly useful for understanding brand awareness , competitive analysis , and more.

Closed-ended questions

These ask respondents to choose from a predetermined set of responses, such as “On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the new product?” While they’re traditionally quantitative, adding a free text box that asks for extra comments into why a specific rating was chosen will provide qualitative insights alongside their respective quantitative research question responses.

Ranking questions get people to rank items in order of preference, such as “Please rank these products in terms of quality.” They’re advantageous in many scenarios, like product development, competitive analysis, and brand awareness.
Likert scale questions ask people to rate items on a scale, such as “On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the new product?” Ideal for placement on websites and emails to gather quick, snappy feedback.

Qualitative research question examples

There are many applications of qualitative research and lots of ways you can put your findings to work for the success of your business. Here’s a summary of the most common use cases for qualitative questions and examples to ask.

Qualitative questions for identifying customer needs and motivations

These types of questions help you find out why customers choose products or services and what they are looking for when making a purchase.

What factors do you consider when deciding to buy a product?
What would make you choose one product or service over another?
What are the most important elements of a product that you would buy?
What features do you look for when purchasing a product?
What qualities do you look for in a company’s products?
Do you prefer localized or global brands when making a purchase?
How do you determine the value of a product?
What do you think is the most important factor when choosing a product?
How do you decide if a product or service is worth the money?
Do you have any specific expectations when purchasing a product?
Do you prefer to purchase products or services online or in person?
What kind of customer service do you expect when buying a product?
How do you decide when it is time to switch to a different product?
Where do you research products before you decide to buy?
What do you think is the most important customer value when making a purchase?

Qualitative research questions to enhance customer experience

Use these questions to reveal insights into how customers interact with a company’s products or services and how those experiences can be improved.

What aspects of our product or service do customers find most valuable?
How do customers perceive our customer service?
What factors are most important to customers when purchasing?
What do customers think of our brand?
What do customers think of our current marketing efforts?
How do customers feel about the features and benefits of our product?
How do customers feel about the price of our product or service?
How could we improve the customer experience?
What do customers think of our website or app?
What do customers think of our customer support?
What could we do to make our product or service easier to use?
What do customers think of our competitors?
What is your preferred way to access our site?
How do customers feel about our delivery/shipping times?
What do customers think of our loyalty programs?

Qualitative research question example for customer experience

🙋‍♀️ Question: What is your preferred way to access our site?
🤓 Insight sought: How mobile-dominant are consumers? Should you invest more in mobile optimization or mobile marketing?
🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: While using this type of question is ideal if you have a large database to survey when placed on a site or sent to a limited customer list, it only gives you a point-in-time perspective from a limited group of people.
💡 A new approach: You can get better, broader insights quicker with Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence. To fully inform your research, you need to know preferences at the industry or market level.
⏰ Time to insight: 30 seconds
✅ How it’s done: Similarweb offers multiple ways to answer this question without going through a lengthy qualitative research process.

First, I’m going to do a website market analysis of the banking credit and lending market in the finance sector to get a clearer picture of industry benchmarks.

Here, I can view device preferences across any industry or market instantly. It shows me the device distribution for any country across any period. This clearly answers the question of how mobile dominate my target audience is , with 59.79% opting to access site via a desktop vs. 40.21% via mobile

I then use the trends section to show me the exact split between mobile and web traffic for each key player in my space. Let’s say I’m about to embark on a competitive campaign that targets customers of Chase and Bank of America ; I can see both their audiences are highly desktop dominant compared with others in their space .

Qualitative question examples for developing new products or services

Research questions like this can help you understand customer pain points and give you insights to develop products that meet those needs.

What is the primary reason you would choose to purchase a product from our company?
How do you currently use products or services that are similar to ours?
Is there anything that could be improved with products currently on the market?
What features would you like to see added to our products?
How do you prefer to contact a customer service team?
What do you think sets our company apart from our competitors?
What other product or service offerings would like to see us offer?
What type of information would help you make decisions about buying a product?
What type of advertising methods are most effective in getting your attention?
What is the biggest deterrent to purchasing products from us?

Qualitative research question example for service development

🙋‍♀️ Question: What type of advertising methods are most effective in getting your attention?
🤓 Insight sought: The marketing channels and/or content that performs best with a target audience .
🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: When using qualitative research surveys to answer questions like this, the sample size is limited, and bias could be at play.
💡 A better approach: The most authentic insights come from viewing real actions and results that take place in the digital world. No questions or answers are needed to uncover this intel, and the information you seek is readily available in less than a minute.
⏰ Time to insight: 5 minutes
✅ How it’s done: There are a few ways to approach this. You can either take an industry-wide perspective or hone in on specific competitors to unpack their individual successes. Here, I’ll quickly show a snapshot with a whole market perspective.

qualitative example question - marketing channels

Using the market analysis element of Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence, I select my industry or market, which I’ve kept as banking and credit. A quick click into marketing channels shows me which channels drive the highest traffic in my market. Taking direct traffic out of the equation, for now, I can see that referrals and organic traffic are the two highest-performing channels in this market.

Similarweb allows me to view the specific referral partners and pages across these channels.

qualitative question example - Similarweb referral channels

Looking closely at referrals in this market, I’ve chosen chase.com and its five closest rivals . I select referrals in the channel traffic element of marketing channels. I see that Capital One is a clear winner, gaining almost 25 million visits due to referral partnerships.

Next, I get to see exactly who is referring traffic to Capital One and the total traffic share for each referrer. I can see the growth as a percentage and how that has changed, along with an engagement score that rates the average engagement level of that audience segment. This is particularly useful when deciding on which new referral partnerships to pursue.

Once I’ve identified the channels and campaigns that yield the best results, I can then use Similarweb to dive into the various ad creatives and content that have the greatest impact.

Qualitative research example for ad creatives

These ads are just a few of those listed in the creatives section from my competitive website analysis of Capital One. You can filter this list by the specific campaign, publishers, and ad networks to view those that matter to you most. You can also discover video ad creatives in the same place too.

In just five minutes ⏰

I’ve captured audience loyalty statistics across my market
Spotted the most competitive players
Identified the marketing channels my audience is most responsive to
I know which content and campaigns are driving the highest traffic volume
I’ve created a target list for new referral partners and have been able to prioritize this based on results and engagement figures from my rivals
I can see the types of creatives that my target audience is responding to, giving me ideas for ways to generate effective copy for future campaigns

Qualitative questions to determine pricing strategies

Companies need to make sure pricing stays relevant and competitive. Use these questions to determine customer perceptions on pricing and develop pricing strategies to maximize profits and reduce churn.

How do you feel about our pricing structure?
How does our pricing compare to other similar products?
What value do you feel you get from our pricing?
How could we make our pricing more attractive?
What would be an ideal price for our product?
Which features of our product that you would like to see priced differently?
What discounts or deals would you like to see us offer?
How do you feel about the amount you have to pay for our product?

Get Faster Answers to Qualitative Research Questions with Similarweb Today

Qualitative research question example for determining pricing strategies.

🙋‍♀️ Question: What discounts or deals would you like to see us offer?
🤓 Insight sought: The promotions or campaigns that resonate with your target audience.
🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: Consumers don’t always recall the types of ads or campaigns they respond to. Over time, their needs and habits change. Your sample size is limited to those you ask, leaving a huge pool of unknowns at play.
💡 A better approach: While qualitative insights are good to know, you get the most accurate picture of the highest-performing promotion and campaigns by looking at data collected directly from the web. These analytics are real-world, real-time, and based on the collective actions of many, instead of the limited survey group you approach. By getting a complete picture across an entire market, your decisions are better informed and more aligned with current market trends and behaviors.
✅ How it’s done: Similarweb’s Popular Pages feature shows the content, products, campaigns, and pages with the highest growth for any website. So, if you’re trying to unpack the successes of others in your space and find out what content resonates with a target audience, there’s a far quicker way to get answers to these questions with Similarweb.

Here, I’m using Capital One as an example site. I can see trending pages on their site showing the largest increase in page views. Other filters include campaign, best-performing, and new–each of which shows you page URLs, share of traffic , and growth as a percentage. This page is particularly useful for staying on top of trending topics , campaigns, and new content being pushed out in a market by key competitors.

Qualitative research questions for product development teams

It’s vital to stay in touch with changing consumer needs. These questions can also be used for new product or service development, but this time, it’s from the perspective of a product manager or development team.

What are customers’ primary needs and wants for this product?
What do customers think of our current product offerings?
What is the most important feature or benefit of our product?
How can we improve our product to meet customers’ needs better?
What do customers like or dislike about our competitors’ products?
What do customers look for when deciding between our product and a competitor’s?
How have customer needs and wants for this product changed over time?
What motivates customers to purchase this product?
What is the most important thing customers want from this product?
What features or benefits are most important when selecting a product?
What do customers perceive to be our product’s pros and cons?
What would make customers switch from a competitor’s product to ours?
How do customers perceive our product in comparison to similar products?
What do customers think of our pricing and value proposition?
What do customers think of our product’s design, usability, and aesthetics?

Qualitative questions examples to understand customer segments

Market segmentation seeks to create groups of consumers with shared characteristics. Use these questions to learn more about different customer segments and how to target them with tailored messaging.

What motivates customers to make a purchase?
How do customers perceive our brand in comparison to our competitors?
How do customers feel about our product quality?
How do customers define quality in our products?
What factors influence customers’ purchasing decisions ?
What are the most important aspects of customer service?
What do customers think of our customer service?
What do customers think of our pricing?
How do customers rate our product offerings?
How do customers prefer to make purchases (online, in-store, etc.)?

Qualitative research question example for understanding customer segments

🙋‍♀️ Question: Which social media channels are you most active on?
🤓 Insight sought: Formulate a social media strategy . Specifically, the social media channels most likely to succeed with a target audience.
🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: Qualitative research question responses are limited to those you ask, giving you a limited sample size. Questions like this are usually at risk of some bias, and this may not be reflective of real-world actions.
💡 A better approach: Get a complete picture of social media preferences for an entire market or specific audience belonging to rival firms. Insights are available in real-time, and are based on the actions of many, not a select group of participants. Data is readily available, easy to understand, and expandable at a moment’s notice.
✅ How it’s done: Using Similarweb’s website analysis feature, you can get a clear breakdown of social media stats for your audience using the marketing channels element. It shows the percentage of visits from each channel to your site, respective growth, and specific referral pages by each platform. All data is expandable, meaning you can select any platform, period, and region to drill down and get more accurate intel, instantly.

Qualitative question example social media

This example shows me Bank of America’s social media distribution, with YouTube , Linkedin , and Facebook taking the top three spots, and accounting for almost 80% of traffic being driven from social media.

When doing any type of market research, it’s important to benchmark performance against industry averages and perform a social media competitive analysis to verify rival performance across the same channels.

Qualitative questions to inform competitive analysis

Organizations must assess market sentiment toward other players to compete and beat rival firms. Whether you want to increase market share , challenge industry leaders , or reduce churn, understanding how people view you vs. the competition is key.

What is the overall perception of our competitors’ product offerings in the market?
What attributes do our competitors prioritize in their customer experience?
What strategies do our competitors use to differentiate their products from ours?
How do our competitors position their products in relation to ours?
How do our competitors’ pricing models compare to ours?
What do consumers think of our competitors’ product quality?
What do consumers think of our competitors’ customer service?
What are the key drivers of purchase decisions in our market?
What is the impact of our competitors’ marketing campaigns on our market share ? 10. How do our competitors leverage social media to promote their products?

Qualitative research question example for competitive analysis

🙋‍♀️ Question: What other companies do you shop with for x?
🤓 Insight sought: W ho are your competitors? Which of your rival’s sites do your customers visit? How loyal are consumers in your market?
🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: Sample size is limited, and customers could be unwilling to reveal which competitors they shop with, or how often they around. Where finances are involved, people can act with reluctance or bias, and be unwilling to reveal other suppliers they do business with.
💡 A better approach: Get a complete picture of your audience’s loyalty, see who else they shop with, and how many other sites they visit in your competitive group. Find out the size of the untapped opportunity and which players are doing a better job at attracting unique visitors – without having to ask people to reveal their preferences.
✅ How it’s done: Similarweb website analysis shows you the competitive sites your audience visits, giving you access to data that shows cross-visitation habits, audience loyalty, and untapped potential in a matter of minutes.

Qualitative research example for audience analysis

Using the audience interests element of Similarweb website analysis, you can view the cross-browsing behaviors of a website’s audience instantly. You can see a matrix that shows the percentage of visitors on a target site and any rival site they may have visited.

Qualitative research question example for competitive analysis

With the Similarweb audience overlap feature, view the cross-visitation habits of an audience across specific websites. In this example, I chose chase.com and its four closest competitors to review. For each intersection, you see the number of unique visitors and the overall proportion of each site’s audience it represents. It also shows the volume of unreached potential visitors.

Here, you can see a direct comparison of the audience loyalty represented in a bar graph. It shows a breakdown of each site’s audience based on how many other sites they have visited. Those sites with the highest loyalty show fewer additional sites visited.

From the perspective of chase.com, I can see 47% of their visitors do not visit rival sites. 33% of their audience visited 1 or more sites in this group, 14% visited 2 or more sites, 4% visited 3 or more sites, and just 0.8% viewed all sites in this comparison.

How to answer qualitative research questions with Similarweb

Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence drastically improves market research efficiency and time to insight. Both of these can impact the bottom line and the pace at which organizations can adapt and flex when markets shift, and rivals change tactics.

Outdated practices, while still useful, take time . And with a quicker, more efficient way to garner similar insights, opting for the fast lane puts you at a competitive advantage.

With a birds-eye view of the actions and behaviors of companies and consumers across a market , you can answer certain research questions without the need to plan, do, and review extensive qualitative market research .

Wrapping up

Qualitative research methods have been around for centuries. From designing the questions to finding the best distribution channels, collecting and analyzing findings takes time to get the insights you need. Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence drastically improves efficiency and time to insight. Both of which impact the bottom line and the pace at which organizations can adapt and flex when markets shift.

Similarweb’s suite of digital intelligence solutions offers unbiased, accurate, honest insights you can trust for analyzing any industry, market, or audience.

Methodologies used for data collection are robust, transparent, and trustworthy.
Clear presentation of data via an easy-to-use, intuitive platform.
It updates dynamically–giving you the freshest data about an industry or market.
Data is available via an API – so you can plug into platforms like Tableau or PowerBI to streamline your analyses.
Filter and refine results according to your needs.

Are quantitative or qualitative research questions best?

Both have their place and purpose in market research. Qualitative research questions seek to provide details, whereas quantitative market research gives you numerical statistics that are easier and quicker to analyze. You get more flexibility with qualitative questions, and they’re non-directional.

What are the advantages of qualitative research?

Qualitative research is advantageous because it allows researchers to better understand their subject matter by exploring people’s attitudes, behaviors, and motivations in a particular context. It also allows researchers to uncover new insights that may not have been discovered with quantitative research methods.

What are some of the challenges of qualitative research?

Qualitative research can be time-consuming and costly, typically involving in-depth interviews and focus groups. Additionally, there are challenges associated with the reliability and validity of the collected data, as there is no universal standard for interpreting the results.

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Qualitative Research Questions

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How to write qualitative research questions.

11 min read Here’s how to write effective qualitative research questions for your projects, and why getting it right matters so much.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is a blanket term covering a wide range of research methods and theoretical framing approaches. The unifying factor in all these types of qualitative study is that they deal with data that cannot be counted. Typically this means things like people’s stories, feelings, opinions and emotions , and the meanings they ascribe to their experiences.

Qualitative study is one of two main categories of research, the other being quantitative research. Quantitative research deals with numerical data – that which can be counted and quantified, and which is mostly concerned with trends and patterns in large-scale datasets.

What are research questions?

Research questions are questions you are trying to answer with your research. To put it another way, your research question is the reason for your study, and the beginning point for your research design. There is normally only one research question per study, although if your project is very complex, you may have multiple research questions that are closely linked to one central question.

A good qualitative research question sums up your research objective. It’s a way of expressing the central question of your research, identifying your particular topic and the central issue you are examining.

Research questions are quite different from survey questions, questions used in focus groups or interview questions. A long list of questions is used in these types of study, as opposed to one central question. Additionally, interview or survey questions are asked of participants, whereas research questions are only for the researcher to maintain a clear understanding of the research design.

Research questions are used in both qualitative and quantitative research , although what makes a good research question might vary between the two.

In fact, the type of research questions you are asking can help you decide whether you need to take a quantitative or qualitative approach to your research project.

Discover the fundamentals of qualitative research

Quantitative vs. qualitative research questions

Writing research questions is very important in both qualitative and quantitative research, but the research questions that perform best in the two types of studies are quite different.

Quantitative research questions

Quantitative research questions usually relate to quantities, similarities and differences.

It might reflect the researchers’ interest in determining whether relationships between variables exist, and if so whether they are statistically significant. Or it may focus on establishing differences between things through comparison, and using statistical analysis to determine whether those differences are meaningful or due to chance.

How much? This kind of research question is one of the simplest. It focuses on quantifying something. For example:

How many Yoruba speakers are there in the state of Maine?

What is the connection?

This type of quantitative research question examines how one variable affects another.

For example:

How does a low level of sunlight affect the mood scores (1-10) of Antarctic explorers during winter?

What is the difference? Quantitative research questions in this category identify two categories and measure the difference between them using numerical data.

Do white cats stay cooler than tabby cats in hot weather?

If your research question fits into one of the above categories, you’re probably going to be doing a quantitative study.

Qualitative research questions

Qualitative research questions focus on exploring phenomena, meanings and experiences.

Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research isn’t about finding causal relationships between variables. So although qualitative research questions might touch on topics that involve one variable influencing another, or looking at the difference between things, finding and quantifying those relationships isn’t the primary objective.

In fact, you as a qualitative researcher might end up studying a very similar topic to your colleague who is doing a quantitative study, but your areas of focus will be quite different. Your research methods will also be different – they might include focus groups, ethnography studies, and other kinds of qualitative study.

A few example qualitative research questions:

What is it like being an Antarctic explorer during winter?
What are the experiences of Yoruba speakers in the USA?
How do white cat owners describe their pets?

Qualitative research question types

Marshall and Rossman (1989) identified 4 qualitative research question types, each with its own typical research strategy and methods.

Exploratory questions

Exploratory questions are used when relatively little is known about the research topic. The process researchers follow when pursuing exploratory questions might involve interviewing participants, holding focus groups, or diving deep with a case study.

Explanatory questions

With explanatory questions, the research topic is approached with a view to understanding the causes that lie behind phenomena. However, unlike a quantitative project, the focus of explanatory questions is on qualitative analysis of multiple interconnected factors that have influenced a particular group or area, rather than a provable causal link between dependent and independent variables.

Descriptive questions

As the name suggests, descriptive questions aim to document and record what is happening. In answering descriptive questions , researchers might interact directly with participants with surveys or interviews, as well as using observational studies and ethnography studies that collect data on how participants interact with their wider environment.

Predictive questions

Predictive questions start from the phenomena of interest and investigate what ramifications it might have in the future. Answering predictive questions may involve looking back as well as forward, with content analysis, questionnaires and studies of non-verbal communication (kinesics).

Why are good qualitative research questions important?

We know research questions are very important. But what makes them so essential? (And is that question a qualitative or quantitative one?)

Getting your qualitative research questions right has a number of benefits.

It defines your qualitative research project Qualitative research questions definitively nail down the research population, the thing you’re examining, and what the nature of your answer will be.This means you can explain your research project to other people both inside and outside your business or organization. That could be critical when it comes to securing funding for your project, recruiting participants and members of your research team, and ultimately for publishing your results. It can also help you assess right the ethical considerations for your population of study.
It maintains focus Good qualitative research questions help researchers to stick to the area of focus as they carry out their research. Keeping the research question in mind will help them steer away from tangents during their research or while they are carrying out qualitative research interviews. This holds true whatever the qualitative methods are, whether it’s a focus group, survey, thematic analysis or other type of inquiry.That doesn’t mean the research project can’t morph and change during its execution – sometimes this is acceptable and even welcome – but having a research question helps demarcate the starting point for the research. It can be referred back to if the scope and focus of the project does change.
It helps make sure your outcomes are achievable

Because qualitative research questions help determine the kind of results you’re going to get, it helps make sure those results are achievable. By formulating good qualitative research questions in advance, you can make sure the things you want to know and the way you’re going to investigate them are grounded in practical reality. Otherwise, you may be at risk of taking on a research project that can’t be satisfactorily completed.

Developing good qualitative research questions

All researchers use research questions to define their parameters, keep their study on track and maintain focus on the research topic. This is especially important with qualitative questions, where there may be exploratory or inductive methods in use that introduce researchers to new and interesting areas of inquiry. Here are some tips for writing good qualitative research questions.

1. Keep it specific

Broader research questions are difficult to act on. They may also be open to interpretation, or leave some parameters undefined.

Strong example: How do Baby Boomers in the USA feel about their gender identity?

Weak example: Do people feel different about gender now?

2. Be original

Look for research questions that haven’t been widely addressed by others already.

Strong example: What are the effects of video calling on women’s experiences of work?

Weak example: Are women given less respect than men at work?

3. Make it research-worthy

Don’t ask a question that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or with a quick Google search.

Strong example: What do people like and dislike about living in a highly multi-lingual country?

Weak example: What languages are spoken in India?

4. Focus your question

Don’t roll multiple topics or questions into one. Qualitative data may involve multiple topics, but your qualitative questions should be focused.

Strong example: What is the experience of disabled children and their families when using social services?

Weak example: How can we improve social services for children affected by poverty and disability?

4. Focus on your own discipline, not someone else’s

Avoid asking questions that are for the politicians, police or others to address.

Strong example: What does it feel like to be the victim of a hate crime?

Weak example: How can hate crimes be prevented?

5. Ask something researchable

Big questions, questions about hypothetical events or questions that would require vastly more resources than you have access to are not useful starting points for qualitative studies. Qualitative words or subjective ideas that lack definition are also not helpful.

Strong example: How do perceptions of physical beauty vary between today’s youth and their parents’ generation?

Weak example: Which country has the most beautiful people in it?

Related resources

Qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, business research methods 12 min read, qualitative research interviews 11 min read, market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, request demo.

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How to Write Qualitative Research Questions: Types & Examples

Qualitative research questions focus on depth and quality, exploring the “why and how” behind decisions, without relying on statistical tools.

Unlike quantitative research, which aims to collect tangible, measurable data from a broader demographic, qualitative analysis involves smaller, focused datasets, identifying patterns for insights.

The information collected by qualitative surveys can vary from text to images, demanding a deep understanding of the subject, and therefore, crafting precise qualitative research questions is crucial for success.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to write effective qualitative research questions, explore various types, and highlight characteristics of good qualitative research questions.

Let’s dive in!

What Are Qualitative Research Questions?

Qualitative questions aim to understand the depth and nuances of a phenomenon, focusing on “why” and “how” rather than quantifiable measures.

They explore subjective experiences, perspectives, and behaviors, often using open-ended inquiries to gather rich, descriptive data.

Unlike quantitative questions, which seek numerical data, qualitative questions try to find out meanings, patterns, and underlying processes within a specific context.

These questions are essential for exploring complex issues, generating hypotheses, and gaining deeper insights into human behavior and phenomena.

Here’s an example of a qualitative research question:

“How do you perceive and navigate organizational culture within a tech startup environment?”

This question asks about the respondent’s subjective interpretations and experiences of organizational culture within a specific context, such as a tech startup.

It seeks to uncover insights into the values, norms, and practices that shape workplace dynamics and employee behaviors, providing qualitative data for analysis and understanding.

When Should We Use Qualitative Research Questions?

Qualitative research questions typically aim to open up conversations, encourage detailed narratives, and foster a deep understanding of the subject matter. Here are some scenarios they are best suited for:

Exploring Complex Phenomena : When the research topic involves understanding complex processes, behaviors, or interactions that cannot be quantified easily, qualitative questions help delve into these intricate details.
Understanding Contexts and Cultures : To grasp the nuances of different social contexts, cultures, or subcultures, qualitative research questions allow for an in-depth exploration of these environments and how they influence individuals and groups.
Exploring Perceptions and Experiences : When the aim is to understand people’s perceptions, experiences, or feelings about a particular subject, qualitative questions facilitate capturing the depth and variety of these perspectives.
Developing Concepts or Theories : In the early stages of research, where concepts or theories are not yet well-developed, qualitative questions can help generate hypotheses, identify variables, and develop theoretical frameworks based on observations and interpretations.
Investigating Processes : To understand how processes unfold over time and the factors that influence these processes, qualitative questions are useful for capturing the dynamics and complexities involved.
Seeking to Understand Change : When researching how individuals or groups experience change, adapt to new circumstances, or make decisions, qualitative research questions can provide insights into the motivations, challenges, and strategies involved.
Studying Phenomena Not Easily Quantified : For phenomena that are not easily captured through quantitative measures, such as emotions, beliefs, or motivations, qualitative questions can probe these abstract concepts more effectively.
Addressing Sensitive or Taboo Topics : In studies where topics may be sensitive, controversial, or taboo, qualitative research questions allow for a respectful and empathetic exploration of these subjects, providing space for participants to share their experiences in their own words.

How to Write Qualitative Research Questions?

Read this guide to learn how you can craft well-thought-out qualitative research questions:

1. Begin with Your Research Goals

The first step in formulating qualitative research questions is to have a clear understanding of what you aim to discover or understand through your research. There are two types of qualitative questionnaires or research – Ontological and Epistemological.

Finding out the nature of your research influences all aspects of your research design, including the formulation of research questions.

Subsequently:

Identify your main objective : Consider the broader context of your study. Are you trying to explore a phenomenon, understand a process, or interpret the meanings behind behaviors? Your main objective should guide the formulation of your questions, ensuring they are aligned with what you seek to achieve.
Focus on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ : Qualitative research is inherently exploratory and aims to understand the nuances of human behavior and experience. Starting your questions with “how” or “why” encourages a deeper investigation into the motivations, processes, and contexts underlying the subject matter. This approach facilitates an open-ended exploration, allowing participants to provide rich, detailed responses that illuminate their perspectives and experiences.

Take a quick look at the following visual for a better understanding:

So, if you are doing Ontological research, ensure that the questions focus on the “what” aspects of reality (the premise of your research) and opt for the nature of the knowledge for Epistemological research.

2. Choose the Right Structure

The structure of your research questions significantly impacts the depth and quality of data you collect. Opting for an open-ended format allows respondents the flexibility to express themselves freely, providing insights that pre-defined answers might miss.

Open-ended format : These questions do not constrain respondents to a set of predetermined answers, unlike closed-ended questions. By allowing participants to articulate their thoughts in their own words, you can uncover nuances and complexities in their responses that might otherwise be overlooked.
Avoid yes/no questions : Yes/no questions tend to limit the depth of responses. While they might be useful for gathering straightforward factual information, they are not conducive to exploring the depths and nuances that qualitative research seeks to uncover. Encouraging participants to elaborate on their experiences and perspectives leads to richer, more informative data.

For example, take a look at some qualitative questions examples shown in the following image:

3. Be Clear and Specific

Clarity and specificity in your questions are crucial to ensure that participants understand what is being asked and that their responses are relevant to your research objectives.

Use clear language : Use straightforward, understandable language in your questions. Avoid jargon, acronyms, or overly technical terms that might confuse participants or lead to misinterpretation. The goal is to make your questions accessible to everyone involved in your study.
Be specific : While maintaining the open-ended nature of qualitative questions, it’s important to narrow down your focus to specific aspects of the phenomenon you’re studying. This specificity helps guide participants’ responses and ensures that the data you collect directly relates to your research objectives.

4. Ensure Relevance and Feasibility

Each question should be carefully considered for its relevance to your research goals and its feasibility, given the constraints of your study.

Relevance : Questions should be crafted to address the core objectives of your research directly. They should probe areas that are essential to understanding the phenomenon under investigation and should align with your theoretical framework or literature review findings.
Feasibility : Consider the practical aspects of your research, including the time available for data collection and analysis, resources, and access to participants. Questions should be designed to elicit meaningful responses within the constraints of your study, ensuring that you can gather and analyze data effectively.

5. Focus on a Single Concept or Theme per Question

To ensure clarity and depth, each question should concentrate on a single idea or theme. However, if your main qualitative research question is tough to understand or has a complex structure, you can create sub-questions in limited numbers and with a “ladder structure”.

This will help your respondents understand the overall research objective in mind, and your research can be executed in a better manner.

For example, suppose your main question is – “What is the current state of illiteracy in your state?”

Then, you can create the following subquestions:

“How does illiteracy block progress in your state?”

“How would you best describe the feelings you have about illiteracy in your state?”

For an even better understanding, you can see the various examples of qualitative research questions in the following image:

Types of Qualitative Research Questions With Examples

Qualitative survey questions primarily focus on a specific group of respondents that are participating in case studies, surveys, ethnography studies, etc., rather than numbers or statistics.

As a result, the questions are mostly open-ended and can be subdivided into the following types as discussed below:

1. Descriptive Questions

Descriptive research questions aim to detail the “what” of a phenomenon, providing a comprehensive overview of the context, individuals, or situations under study. These questions are foundational, helping to establish a baseline understanding of the research topic.

What are the daily experiences of teachers in urban elementary schools?
What strategies do small businesses employ to adapt to rapid technological changes?
How do young adults describe their transition from college to the workforce?
What are the coping mechanisms of families with members suffering from chronic illnesses?
How do community leaders perceive the impact of gentrification in their neighborhoods?

2. Interpretive Questions

Interpretive questions seek to understand the “how” and “why” behind a phenomenon, focusing on the meanings people attach to their experiences. These questions delve into the subjective interpretations and perceptions of participants.

How do survivors of natural disasters interpret their experiences of recovery and rebuilding?
Why do individuals engage in voluntary work within their communities?
How do parents interpret and navigate the challenges of remote schooling for their children?
Why do consumers prefer local products over global brands in certain markets?
How do artists interpret the influence of digital media on traditional art forms?

3. Comparative Questions

Comparative research questions are designed to explore differences and similarities between groups, settings, or time periods. These questions can help to highlight the impact of specific variables on the phenomenon under study.

How do the strategies for managing work-life balance compare between remote and office workers?
What are the differences in consumer behavior towards sustainable products in urban versus rural areas?
How do parenting styles in single-parent households compare to those in dual-parent households?
What are the similarities and differences in leadership styles across different cultures?
How has the perception of online privacy changed among teenagers over the past decade?

4. Process-oriented Questions

These questions focus on understanding the processes or sequences of events over time. They aim to uncover the “how” of a phenomenon, tracing the development, changes, or evolution of specific situations or behaviors.

How do non-profit organizations develop and implement community outreach programs?
What is the process of decision-making in high-stakes business environments?
How do individuals navigate the process of career transition after significant industry changes?
What are the stages of adaptation for immigrants in a new country?
How do social movements evolve from inception to national recognition?

5. Evaluative Questions

Evaluative questions aim to assess the effectiveness, value, or impact of a program, policy, or phenomenon. These questions are critical for understanding the outcomes and implications of various initiatives or situations.

How effective are online therapy sessions compared to in-person sessions in treating anxiety?
What is the impact of community gardening programs on neighborhood cohesion?
How do participants evaluate the outcomes of leadership training programs in their professional development?
What are the perceived benefits and drawbacks of telecommuting for employees and employers?
How do residents evaluate the effectiveness of local government policies on waste management?

6. One-on-One Questions

The one-on-one questions are asked to a single person and can be thought of as individual interviews that you can conduct online via phone and video chat as well.

The main aim of such questions is to ask your customers or people in the focus group a series of questions about their purchase motivations. These questions might also come with follow-ups, and if your customers respond with some interesting fact or detail, dig deeper and explore the findings as much as you want.

What makes you happy in regard to [your research topic]?
If I could make a wish of yours come true, what do you desire the most?
What do you still find hard to come to terms with?
Have you bought [your product] before?
If so, what was your initial motivation behind the purchase?

7. Exploratory Questions

These questions are designed to enhance your understanding of a particular topic. However, while asking exploratory questions, you must ensure that there are no preconceived notions or biases to it. The more transparent and bias-free your questions are, the better and fair results you will get.

What is the effect of personal smart devices on today’s youth?
Do you feel that smart devices have positively or negatively impacted you?
How do your kids spend their weekends?
What do you do on a typical weekend morning?

8. Predictive Questions

The predictive questions are used for qualitative research that is focused on the future outcomes of an action or a series of actions. So, you will be using past information to predict the reactions of respondents to hypothetical events that might or might not happen in the future.

These questions come in extremely handy for identifying your customers’ current brand expectations, pain points, and purchase motivation.

Are you more likely to buy a product when a celebrity promotes it?
Would you ever try a new product because one of your favorite celebs claims that it actually worked for them?
Would people in your neighborhood enjoy a park with rides and exercise options?
How often would you go to a park with your kids if it had free rides?

9. Focus Groups

These questions are mostly asked in person to the customer or respondent groups. The in-person nature of these surveys or studies ensures that the group members get a safe and comfortable environment to express their thoughts and feelings about your brand or services.

How would you describe your ease of using our product?
How well do you think you were able to do this task before you started using our product?
What do you like about our promotional campaigns?
How well do you think our ads convey the meaning?

10. In-Home Videos

Collecting video feedback from customers in their comfortable, natural settings offers a unique perspective. At home, customers are more relaxed and less concerned about their mannerisms, posture, and choice of words when responding.

This approach is partly why Vogue’s 73 Questions Series is highly popular among celebrities and viewers alike. In-home videos provide insights into customers in a relaxed environment, encouraging them to be honest and share genuine experiences.

What was your first reaction when you used our product for the first time?
How well do you think our product performed compared to your expectations?
What was your worst experience with our product?
What made you switch to our brand?

11. Online Focus Groups

Online focus groups mirror the traditional, in-person format but are conducted virtually, offering a more cost-effective and efficient approach to gathering data. This digital format extends your reach and allows a rapid collection of responses from a broader audience through online platforms.

You can utilize social media and other digital forums to create communities of respondents and initiate meaningful discussions. Once you have them started, you can simply observe the exchange of thoughts and gather massive amounts of interesting insights!

What do you like best about our product?
How familiar are you with this particular service or product we offer?
What are your concerns with our product?
What changes can we make to make our product better?

Ask the Right Qualitative Research Questions for Meaningful Insights From Your Respondents

Watch: How to Create a Survey Using ProProfs Survey Maker

By now, you might have realized that manually creating a list of qualitative research questions is a daunting task. Keeping numerous considerations in mind, it’s easy to run out of ideas while crafting qualitative survey questions.

However, investing in smart survey tools, like ProProfs Survey Maker, can significantly streamline this process, allowing you to create various types of surveys in minutes.

With this survey tool , you can generate forms, NPS surveys , tests, quizzes, and assessments.

It’s also useful for conducting polls, sidebar surveys, and in-app surveys. Offering over 100 templates and more than 1,000,000 ready-to-use examples of phenomenological research questions, this software simplifies the task immensely.

Equipped with the right tools and the professional tips shared here, you’re well-prepared to conduct thorough research studies and obtain valuable insights that drive impactful results.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how do you choose qualitative research questions.

To choose qualitative research questions, identify your main research goal, focus on exploring ‘how’ and ‘why’ aspects, ensure questions are open-ended, and align them with your theoretical framework and methodology.

2. Why are good qualitative research questions important?

Good qualitative research questions are important because they guide the research focus, enable the exploration of depth and complexity, and facilitate the gathering of rich, detailed insights into human experiences and behaviors.

About the author

Emma David is a seasoned market research professional with 8+ years of experience. Having kick-started her journey in research, she has developed rich expertise in employee engagement, survey creation and administration, and data management. Emma believes in the power of data to shape business performance positively. She continues to help brands and businesses make strategic decisions and improve their market standing through her understanding of research methodologies.

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What’s in a Qualitative Research Question?

Qualitative research questions are driven by the need for the study. Ideally, research questions are formulated as a result of the problem and purpose, which leads to the identification of the methodology. When a qualitative methodology is chosen, research questions should be exploratory and focused on the actual phenomenon under study.

From the Dissertation Center, Chapter 1: Research Question Overview , there are several considerations when forming a qualitative research question. Qualitative research questions should

Below is an example of a qualitative phenomenological design. Note the use of the term “lived experience” in the central research question. This aligns with phenomenological design.

RQ1: “ What are the lived experiences of followers of mid-level managers in the financial services sector regarding their well-being on the job?”

If the researcher wants to focus on aspects of the theory used to support the study or dive deeper into aspects of the central RQ, sub-questions might be used. The following sub-questions could be formulated to seek further insight:

RQ1a. “How do followers perceive the quality and adequacy of the leader-follower exchanges between themselves and their novice leaders?”

RQ1b. “Under what conditions do leader-member exchanges affect a follower’s own level of well-being?”

Qualitative research questions also display the desire to explore or describe phenomena. Qualitative research seeks the lived experience, the personal experiences, the understandings, the meanings, and the stories associated with the concepts present in our studies.

We want to ensure our research questions are answerable and that we are not making assumptions about our sample. View the questions below:

How do healthcare providers perceive income inequality when providing care to poor patients?

In Example A, we see that there is no specificity of location or geographic areas. This could lead to findings that are varied, and the researcher may not find a clear pattern. Additionally, the question implies the focus is on “income inequality” when the actual focus is on the provision of care. The term “poor patients” can also be offensive, and most providers will not want to seem insensitive and may perceive income inequality as a challenge (of course!).

How do primary care nurses in outreach clinics describe providing quality care to residents of low-income urban neighborhoods?

In Example B, we see that there is greater specificity in the type of care provider. There is also a shift in language so that the focus is on how the individuals describe what they think about, experience, and navigate providing quality care.

Becoming a Critical Reader: Questions to Ask About Qualitative Research

By: Andrea D. Lythgoe, LCCE | 0 Comments

Qualitative research generally describes and sometimes explains. It doesn't try to prove anything. Because qualitative research is more interested in depth, the sample sizes tend to be much smaller. Once you've determined that what you have here is an original piece of quantitative research and you've already considered the basic questions here and here , you're ready for the specific questions:

1. Did the researcher have a clear question? Remember in qualitative research, the authors are not trying to prove any hypothesis, but they still should have an idea of what they are setting out to do. It can be as broad as ' To explore college students' beliefs about childbirth and midwifery ' or as specific as ' to assess certified nurse-midwives' (CNMs') knowledge of female Genital Cutting (FGC) and to explore their experiences caring for African immigrant women with a history of genital cutting .'

2. How was the data collected? Was data collection well described?

Among the possible methods are:

Survey - this could be numerical data from a questionnaire or open ended questions with respondents filling out their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes researchers will use an existing tool that has been validated . This means that the survey, test, etc. has been studied and found to consistently give good results. Sometimes there isn't a validated tool available, so researchers make their own or adapt an existing one. The researcher should describe the tool used.

Interview - Can be done either free-form or with a prepared set of questions/prompts. If a set of prepared questions is used, you'll often see it (or excerpts) in the published study.

Observation - Can be either overt, where the subjects know they are being observed, or covert, where subjects do not know they are observed. Because being observed sometimes changes behavior, covert observation does have a place. Look for a description of how the observations were recorded. Did the observer make notes? Tally the number of times something happened? Video and audio recordings are sometimes used, but how are they analyzed?

Focus groups - small groups gathered together to discuss issues.

3. What was the setting? The setting is important to the generalizeability of the study. Generalizeability refers to whether or not the study can be applied beyond the scope of the study. Looking at how laboring women communicate with hospital staff probably doesn't apply to home births, and vice versa. Consider cultural issues as well. While a study on how Hispanic women feel about breastfeeding is valuable, it won't apply to a Muslim or Eastern orthodox woman.

4. How was the data evaluated/coded? In much of qualitative research, the authors do something called a thematic analysis. This kind of analysis looks for recurring themes. Sometimes the researchers will use coding where they have a list of themes they are looking for and will assign these codes whenever they see them. For example, one study (Ayers, S. (2007) Thoughts and Emotions During Traumatic Birth: A Qualitative Study. BIRTH 34:3 September 2007) listed one possible theme of 'Negative Emotions' and assigned that code whenever an interview transcript showed words like 'scared' 'upset' or 'shock'. Look into how the process was done. Was there one person doing the analysis or was it done by different researchers? Did the researcher analyze her own data or have a different person do it? Having multiple people look into the data makes for a stronger study. If the authors describe their analysis using terms you don't understand, look them up.

5. What is the researcher's perspective? Is the researcher coming from a medical point of view? A public health point of view? A consumer point of view? Consider how this point of view may have impacted the implementation of the study and the analysis.

6. What was the underlying framework?

Phenomenological - this research framework tries to gain insight into other people's experience. You'll often see this framed using the phrase 'the lived experience.' Here is an example of a phenomenological study.

Ethnographic Research tries to understand various cultures and social systems. An ethnographic researcher might observe a group of labor and delivery nurses to figure out their social system, or interview student midwives about their interactions with preceptors and each other. Here is an example of an ethnographic study.

Grounded Theory goes beyond simply describing and understanding and actually tries to draw a conclusion that is 'grounded' in the data collected. Here is an example of a qualitative study using a grounded theory approach.

There are many other possible approaches, including 'integrated' designs which may include aspects of various frameworks.

7. How were the subjects / setting chosen? Often with qualitative research the researchers will use a convenience sample, where they look at a population that they have easy access to, or a quota sample, where they look at the first number of subjects that they can find, up to a set amount. Consider how similar the subject and setting are to your practice. The more similar, the more applicable.

8. And finally, what does this mean for me? That will vary widely based on your personal situation. As a reader, you may be a nurse, midwife, childbirth educator, doula, doctor, or parent. You may have more than one role. Carefully think about how this may - or may not - apply to you in your various roles.

Careful consideration of all these aspects can help you come to conclusions about this study and its usefulness. Next up: Questions specific to quantitative research.

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Andrea D. Lythgoe, LCCE

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The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

Introduction and overview
What is qualitative research?
What is qualitative data?
Examples of qualitative data
Qualitative vs. quantitative research
Mixed methods
Qualitative research preparation
Theoretical perspective
Theoretical framework
Literature reviews
Introduction

Why are research questions so important?

Research question examples, types of qualitative research questions, writing a good research question, guiding your research through research questions.

Conceptual framework
Conceptual vs. theoretical framework
Data collection
Qualitative research methods
Focus groups
Observational research
Case studies
Ethnographical research
Ethical considerations
Confidentiality and privacy
Power dynamics
Reflexivity

Research questions

The research question plays a critical role in the research process, as it guides the study design, data collection , analysis , and interpretation of the findings.

A research paper relies on a research question to inform readers of the research topic and the research problem being addressed. Without such a question, your audience may have trouble understanding the rationale for your research project.

People can take for granted the research question as an essential part of a research project. However, explicitly detailing why researchers need a research question can help lend clarity to the research project. Here are some of the key roles that the research question plays in the research process:

Defines the scope and focus of the study

The research question helps to define the scope and focus of the study. It identifies the specific topic or issue that the researcher wants to investigate, and it sets the boundaries for the study. A research question can also help you determine if your study primarily contributes to theory or is more applied in nature. Clinical research and public health research, for example, may be more concerned with research questions that contribute to practice, while a research question focused on cognitive linguistics are aimed at developing theory.

Provides a rationale for the study

The research question provides a rationale for the study by identifying a gap or problem in existing literature or practice that the researcher wants to address. It articulates the purpose and significance of the study, and it explains why the study is important and worth conducting.

Guides the study design

The research question guides the study design by helping the researcher select appropriate research methods , sampling strategies, and data collection tools. It also helps to determine the types of data that need to be collected and the best ways to analyze and interpret the data because the principal aim of the study is to provide an answer to that research question.

Shapes the data analysis and interpretation

The research question shapes the data analysis and interpretation by guiding the selection of appropriate analytical methods and by focusing the interpretation of the findings. It helps to identify which patterns and themes in the data are more relevant and worth digging into, and it guides the development of conclusions and recommendations based on the findings.

Generates new knowledge

The research question is the starting point for generating new knowledge. By answering the research question, the researcher contributes to the body of knowledge in the field and helps to advance the understanding of the topic or issue under investigation.

Overall, the research question is a critical component of the research process, as it guides the study from start to finish and provides a foundation for generating new knowledge.

Supports the thesis statement

The thesis statement or main assertion in any research paper stems from the answers to the research question. As a result, you can think of a focused research question as a preview of what the study aims to present as a new contribution to existing knowledge.

Here area few examples of focused research questions that can help set the stage for explaining different types of research questions in qualitative research . These questions touch upon various fields and subjects, showcasing the versatility and depth of research.

What factors contribute to the job satisfaction of remote workers in the technology industry?
How do teachers perceive the implementation of technology in the classroom, and what challenges do they face?
What coping strategies do refugees use to deal with the challenges of resettlement in a new country?
How does gentrification impact the sense of community and identity among long-term residents in urban neighborhoods?
In what ways do social media platforms influence body image and self-esteem among adolescents?
How do family dynamics and communication patterns affect the management of type 2 diabetes in adult patients?
What is the role of mentorship in the professional development and career success of early-career academics?
How do patients with chronic illnesses experience and navigate the healthcare system, and what barriers do they encounter?
What are the motivations and experiences of volunteers in disaster relief efforts, and how do these experiences impact their future involvement in humanitarian work?
How do cultural beliefs and values shape the consumer preferences and purchasing behavior of young adults in a globalized market?
How do individuals whose genetic factors predict a high risk for developing a specific medical condition perceive, cope with, and make lifestyle choices based on this information?

These example research questions highlight the different kinds of inquiries common to qualitative research. They also demonstrate how qualitative research can address a wide range of topics, from understanding the experiences of specific populations to examining the impact of broader social and cultural phenomena.

Also, notice that these types of research questions tend to be geared towards inductive analyses that describe a concept in depth or develop new theory. As such, qualitative research questions tend to ask "what," "why," or "how" types of questions. This contrasts with quantitative research questions that typically aim to verify an existing theory. and tend to ask "when," "how much," and "why" types of questions to nail down causal mechanisms and generalizable findings.

Whatever your research inquiry, turn to ATLAS.ti

Powerful tools to help turn your research question into meaningful analysis, starting with a free trial.

As you can see above, the research questions you ask play a critical role in shaping the direction and depth of your study. These questions are designed to explore, understand, and interpret social phenomena, rather than testing a hypothesis or quantifying data like in quantitative research. In this section, we will discuss the various types of research questions typically found in qualitative research, making it easier for you to craft appropriate questions for your study.

Descriptive questions

Descriptive research questions aim to provide a detailed account of the phenomenon being studied. These questions usually begin with "what" or "how" and seek to understand the nature, characteristics, or functions of a subject. For example, "What are the experiences of first-generation college students?" or "How do small business owners adapt to economic downturns?"

Comparative questions

Comparative questions seek to examine the similarities and differences between two or more groups, cases, or phenomena. These questions often include the words "compare," "contrast," or "differences." For example, "How do parenting practices differ between single-parent and two-parent families?" or "What are the similarities and differences in leadership styles among successful female entrepreneurs?"

Exploratory questions

Exploratory research questions are open-ended and intended to investigate new or understudied areas. These questions aim to identify patterns, relationships, or themes that may warrant further investigation. For example, "How do teenagers use social media to construct their identities?" or "What factors influence the adoption of renewable energy technologies in rural communities?"

Explanatory questions

Explanatory research questions delve deeper into the reasons or explanations behind a particular phenomenon or behavior. They often start with "why" or "how" and aim to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, or processes. For example, "Why do some employees resist organizational change?" or "How do cultural factors influence decision-making in international business negotiations?"

Evaluative questions

Evaluative questions assess the effectiveness, impact, or outcomes of a particular intervention, program, or policy. They seek to understand the value or significance of an initiative by examining its successes, challenges, or unintended consequences. For example, "How effective is the school's anti-bullying program in reducing incidents of bullying?" or "What are the long-term impacts of a community-based health promotion campaign on residents' well-being?"

Interpretive questions

Interpretive questions focus on understanding how individuals or groups make sense of their experiences, actions, or social contexts. These questions often involve the analysis of language, symbols, or narratives to uncover the meanings and perspectives that shape human behavior. For example, "How do cancer survivors make sense of their illness journey?" or "What meanings do members of a religious community attach to their rituals and practices?"

There are mainly two overarching ways to think about how to devise a research question. Many studies are built on existing research, but others can be founded on personal experiences or pilot research.

Using the literature review

Within scholarly research, the research question is often built from your literature review . An analysis of the relevant literature reporting previous studies should allow you to identify contextual, theoretical, or methodological gaps that can be addressed in future research.

A compelling research question built on a robust literature review ultimately illustrates to your audience what is novel about your study's objectives.

Conducting pilot research

Researchers may conduct preliminary research or pilot research when they are interested in a particular topic but don't yet have a basis for forming a research question on that topic. A pilot study is a small-scale, preliminary study that is conducted in order to test the feasibility of a research design, methods, and procedures. It can help identify unresolved puzzles that merit further investigation, and pilot studies can draw attention to potential issues or problems that may arise in the full study.

One potential benefit of conducting a pilot study in qualitative research is that it can help the researcher to refine their research question. By collecting and analyzing a small amount of data, the researcher can get a better sense of the phenomenon under investigation and can develop a more focused and refined research question for the full study. The pilot study can also help the researcher to identify key themes, concepts, or variables that should be included in the research question.

In addition to helping to refine the research question, a pilot study can also help the researcher to develop a more effective data collection and analysis plan. The researcher can test different methods for collecting and analyzing data, and can make adjustments based on the results of the pilot study. This can help to ensure that the full study is conducted in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

Overall, conducting a pilot study in qualitative research can be a valuable tool for refining the research question and developing a more effective research design, methods, and procedures. It can help to ensure that the full study is conducted in a rigorous and effective manner, and can increase the likelihood of generating meaningful and useful findings.

When you write a research question for your qualitative study, consider which type of question best aligns with your research objectives and the nature of the phenomenon you are investigating. Remember, qualitative research questions should be open-ended, allowing for a range of perspectives and insights to emerge. As you progress in your research, these questions may evolve or be refined based on the data you collect, helping to guide your analysis and deepen your understanding of the topic.

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Qualitative Methods in Monitoring and Evaluation: Qualitative Research Questions

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Selecting your research topic and crafting a qualitative research question from it is the first, and possibly the hardest, step of qualitative research. You will likely start with a topic, and as you start reading and do exploratory research, hone that topic into a research question that can be answered using qualitative methods.

I suggest that students start big and then narrow their topics. As you review the literature and current events around your larger topic, you will likely discover what questions academics and policymakers are asking about that topic. You should identify your topic’s puzzles, those questions that have yet to be answered. Then you should choose one of these puzzles to meld into your research question.

Throughout this process, you should constantly remind yourself of the purpose of qualitative inquiry. As researchers, we use qualitative data collection techniques to gather rich, emic data around a topic. That data highlights experiences and perceptions that help to provide explanation. As you explore your larger topic, focus on those puzzles that need qualitative explanation. As you hone your topic into possible research questions, ask yourself why qualitative data collection techniques would be the best way to provide insight into your topic and answer your research question. This is actually harder than you might think, as many of us tend towards the quantitative. Usually, crafting a qualitative research question means asking a why or a what explains question, NOT a how or a descriptive question.

The best qualitative research questions are:

Interesting to you. Depending on the purpose of your research and your research output, you will likely spend a lot of time on your topic. Pick a topic that you find interesting, so that you will be engaged throughout the research process.
Original. When we conduct primary research, we are not summarizing the research of others. We are coming up with our own research question and qualitative design to answer it. Your qualitative research could identify a brand new topic, or it could take a new spin on an old topic, or look at a new topic in a different light.
Answerable. Your research question should be answerable using qualitative methods. Not every research question can and should be answered using qualitative data collection techniques. You should craft a question that is best answered using qualitative research.
Manageable. Your research question should be manageable within your time, space, and budget constraints. Craft a question that fits within the purpose and scope of your research. Some qualitative questions might take an article length paper to answer, and some may take a book! Some questions might require a longer time to answer, travel that you are not able to do, or a larger budget than you have to support your research. Craft your question with these constraints and parameters in mind.

Once you have a research question, you will need to draft your qualitative research design. Your design will need to provide specifics on the qualitative data collection techniques you intend to use to answer your research question. You should think in advance about what kinds of data you will need, and what qualitative data collection techniques would be most useful to gather it. You have a number of tools available in your qualitative data collection toolkit, and you need to figure out which is most appropriate for your data collection need. You might use observation, participant observation , interviews , focus groups , or participatory tools , for example. You also need to think through how you will address missing or incomplete data, and how you will manage and analyze the data that you collect.

Qualitative Questions and Evaluation

When we conduct an evaluation , we usually start by crafting a logic model or Logical Framework (LogFrame) . As evaluators, we usually ask qualitative questions that help us to understand an organization’s logic model or to populate its LogFrame. We might ask a broad question such as: What explains this organization’s theory of change? Such a broad question would also have support questions such as: What does this organization do? Why does it do it that way? What are some examples of projects? How are those projects managed? Who are the beneficiaries? What are this organization’s challenges? What are this organization’s risks and assumptions?

Good qualitative research questions that help us to craft an evaluation might include questions around program need, and program conceptualization and design (Rossi, Lipsey, and Freeman, 2004). Depending on the purpose of the evaluation and your evaluation design, you might ask process-focused questions such as who, what, when, where, why, and how; or you might ask outcome focused questions around changes, effects, and impacts.

Your qualitative research and the answers to all of these questions could help you to develop a LogFrame that you could use to guide a future evaluation that asks questions around program operations and service delivery, program outcomes, or program cost efficiency. Your evaluation design would include evaluation questions that likely have a mixed method element that uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative data and methods to help measure progress or change. Our evaluation questions are not necessarily qualitative in nature; they are often questions that require mixed methods or quantitative tools and analyses to answer. However, we often use qualitative research questions and data collection techniques to help us craft our evaluation questions, LogFrame, and evaluation design.

Rossi, Peter, Mark Lipsey, and Howard Freeman. Evaluation: A Systematic Approach. 7th edition. Thousand Oaks, SAGE, 2004.

About The Author

Dr. Beverly Peters has more than twenty years of experience teaching, conducting qualitative research, and managing community development, microcredit, infrastructure, and democratization projects in several countries in Africa. As a consultant, Dr. Peters worked on EU and USAID funded infrastructure, education, and microcredit projects in South Africa and Mozambique. She also conceptualized and developed the proposal for Darfur Peace and Development Organization’s women’s crisis center, a center that provides physical and economic assistance to women survivors of violence in the IDP camps in Darfur. Dr. Peters has a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about Dr. Peters.

To learn more about American University’s online MS in Measurement & Evaluation or Graduate Certificate in Project Monitoring & Evaluation, request more information or call us toll free at 855-725-7614.

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4.4 Qualitative research questions

Learning objectives.

List the key terms associated with qualitative research questions
Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research questions

Qualitative research questions differ from quantitative research questions. Because qualitative research questions seek to explore or describe phenomena, not provide a neat nomothetic explanation, they are often more general and vaguely worded. They may include only one concept, though many include more than one. Instead of asking how one variable causes changes in another, we are instead trying to understand the experiences , understandings , and meanings that people have about the concepts in our research question.

Let’s work through an example from our last section. In Table 4.1, a student asked, “What is the relationship between sexual orientation or gender identity and homelessness for late adolescents in foster care?” In this question, it is pretty clear that the student believes that adolescents in foster care who identify as LGBTQ may be at greater risk for homelessness. This is a nomothetic causal relationship—LGBTQ status causes homelessness.

two people thinking about each other with the word empathy above

However, what if the student were less interested in predicting homelessness based on LGBTQ status and more interested in understanding the stories of foster care youth who identify as LGBTQ and may be at risk for homelessness? In that case, the researcher would be building an idiographic causal explanation. The youths whom the researcher interviews may share stories of how their foster families, caseworkers, and others treated them. They may share stories about how they thought of their own sexuality or gender identity and how it changed over time. They may have different ideas about what it means to transition out of foster care.

Because qualitative questions usually look for idiographic causal explanationsthey look different than quantitative questions. (For a detailed discussion of idiographic causal explanations, see DeCarlo (2018), Chapter 7.2) . Table 4.3 below takes the final research questions from Table 4.1 and adapts them for qualitative research. The guidelines for research questions previously described in this chapter still apply, but there are some new elements to qualitative research questions that are not present in quantitative questions. First, qualitative research questions often ask about lived experience, personal experience, understanding, meaning, and stories. These keywords indicate that you will be using qualitative methods. Second, qualitative research questions may be more general and less specific. Instead of asking how one concept causes another, we are asking about how people understand or feel about a concept. They may also contain only one variable, rather than asking about relationships between multiple variables.

Qualitative research questions have one final feature that distinguishes them from quantitative research questions. They can change over the course of a study. Qualitative research is a reflexive process, one in which the researcher adapts her approach based on what participants say and do. The researcher must constantly evaluate whether their question is important and relevant to the participants. As the researcher gains information from participants, it is normal for the focus of the inquiry to shift.

For example, a qualitative researcher may want to study how a new truancy rule impacts youth at risk of expulsion. However, after interviewing some of the youth in her community, a researcher might find that the rule is actually irrelevant to their behavior and thoughts. Instead, her participants will direct the discussion to their frustration with the school administrators or their family’s economic insecurity. This is a natural part of qualitative research, and it is normal for research questions and hypothesis to evolve based on the information gleaned from participants.

Key Takeaways

Qualitative research questions often contain words like lived experience, personal experience, understanding, meaning, and stories.
Qualitative research questions can change and evolve as the researcher conducts the study.

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Empathy by sean macentee cc-by-2.0.

Guidebook for Social Work Literature Reviews and Research Questions Copyright © 2020 by Rebecca Mauldin and Matthew DeCarlo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Home Market Research

Qualitative Research Questions: What it is and how to write it

Qualitative research questions are like a compass that points researchers in the right direction to find rich stories, untangle complicated social relationships, and get a clear picture of how people act in subtle ways. Unlike their quantitative counterparts, these questions go beyond numbers and figures to explore the subjective, contextual, and complex parts of the human experience.

It’s well-established that all forms of research come with their own theories and implementation methods. Qualitative research is much the same. Qualitative research is conducted to understand the thought process of both the respondents as well as researchers. It usually is conducted in a natural setup where respondents will be their true selves and would respond transparently.

Results achieved from this research will not be generalized to the entire population but asked research questions , and their vocabulary gives away the researcher’s motive making it easier for respondents to participate in qualitative market research .

LEARN ABOUT: Research Process Steps

Qualitative research survey questions are created to understand a particular topic better or to inspect a new subject to understand the nerve of respondent experiences.

Content Index

What are qualitative research questions?

How to write qualitative research questions, types of qualitative research questions, how to choose qualitative research questions, what should be the process of forming qualitative research questions and questionnaires.

Qualitative research questions are the inquiries that lead to qualitative research studies and investigations. They are meant to help people explore and understand phenomena, experiences, meanings, and views from the participant’s point of view.

Different from quantitative research questions, which often try to measure and quantify variables, qualitative research questions try to understand the richness and complexity of human experiences and social events.

Most qualitative research questions are open-ended and allow for in-depth study. They want more than simple yes/no answers but instead want people to talk about their thoughts, feelings, views, and experiences. These questions try to find deeper meanings, patterns, and connections in a given situation.

Here are some examples of qualitative study questions in different fields:

In psychology: How do individuals experience and cope with traumatic events?
In sociology: What factors influence a student’s decision to pursue higher education?
In anthropology: How do cultural norms and values shape gender roles in a specific community?
In education: What are the challenges faced by teachers in implementing project-based learning in the classroom?
In healthcare: What are the experiences and perspectives of patients undergoing long-term treatment for a chronic illness?

Qualitative research questions should be straightforward, specific, and tailored to the research’s goals. They guide the process of gathering data through interviews, observations, or document analysis and give a method for analyzing and interpreting data.

Writing the right qualitative research questions requires careful thought about the research goals, the event being studied, and the wanted level of understanding. Here are some tips to help you write good qualitative research questions:

Begin with a broad research question

Start by posing an all-encompassing question that probes the subject or phenomenon of interest. Exploring and learning from the answer to this open-ended question should be possible.

Specify the research objectives

Clearly state the objectives and purposes of your research. What do you want your qualitative study to accomplish? What facets or dimensions of the subject do you wish to investigate?

Focus on the phenomenon

Decide on whatever specific subject or phenomenon you want to research. Any pertinent topic, including social behavior, cultural customs, personal experiences, and more, may be used.

Use open-ended and exploratory language

In qualitative research, open-ended questions should be used to enable participants to offer thorough and in-depth responses. Avoid yes/no questions and queries with a one-word answer. Use words like “how,” “what,” “why,” or “describe” instead to compel people to express their thoughts and experiences.

LEARN ABOUT: Qualitative Interview

Consider the context and participants

Consider your research’s background as well as the qualities of your subjects. Make sure your qualitative methods are specific to the people you will be studying so that they are pertinent and meaningful to them.

Incorporate theory and literature

Your research questions should be based on pertinent theories and available literature. This gives your investigation a theoretical foundation and places your study within the body of knowledge.

Balance breadth and depth

When formulating your research topics, try to strike a balance between depth and breadth. To fully understand the subject, you should investigate it broadly to get a variety of viewpoints and intensively delve into certain areas.

Avoid leading or biased questions

Ensure your questions are neutral and unbiased. Avoid leading participants towards a particular response. Instead, create questions that allow participants to express their thoughts and experiences freely.

Pilot test your questions

Pilot-test your research questions with a small group of people before finalizing them. This will make it easier to spot any possible problems, ambiguities, or places where clarity may be increased.

Revise and refine

Revise and clarify your research questions based on the comments and understandings received from the pilot testing. Aim for consistency, coherence, and congruence with your research goals.

Remember, qualitative market research questions should be flexible and adaptable throughout the research process. They serve as a guide but may evolve as you delve deeper into the data and discover new insights.

LEARN ABOUT: Steps in Qualitative Research

There are several types of qualitative research questions focus that can be used to guide qualitative studies. Here are some common types:

1. Descriptive questions

These questions aim to describe and understand a phenomenon or topic in detail. They focus on providing a comprehensive account of the subject matter. For example:

What are the experiences of individuals living with chronic pain?
How do employees perceive the organizational culture in a specific company?

2. Exploratory questions

These questions are used to explore new or under-researched areas. They seek to gain a deeper understanding of a topic or phenomenon. For example:

What are the factors influencing consumers’ decision-making process when purchasing organic food?
How do teachers perceive the implementation of project-based learning in the classroom?

3. Experiential questions

These questions focus on understanding individuals’ experiences, perspectives, and subjective meanings related to a particular phenomenon. They aim to capture personal experiences and emotions. For example:

What are the challenges first-generation college students face during their transition to higher education?
How do individuals with social anxiety disorder experience social interactions?

4. Comparative questions

These questions involve comparing and contrasting different groups, contexts, or perspectives to identify similarities, differences, or patterns. They explore variations in experiences or phenomena. For example:

How do parenting practices differ between cultures A and B in terms of child discipline?
What are the similarities and differences in the coping strategies used by individuals with individuals and depression questionnaire with anxiety disorders?

5. Process-oriented questions

These questions focus on understanding a phenomenon’s processes, mechanisms, or dynamics. They aim to uncover how and why certain outcomes or behaviors occur. For example:

What are the processes by which teams in a workplace reach a consensus on decision-making?
How does the negotiation process unfold during conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships?

6. Theoretical questions

These questions seek to generate or refine theory. They explore concepts, relationships, or theoretical frameworks to contribute to the existing body of knowledge. For example:

How does the concept of “self-efficacy” manifest in the context of entrepreneurship?
What underlying mechanisms explain the relationship between social support and mental health outcomes?

These are just a few examples of the types of qualitative research questions that can be used. The specific type of question you choose will depend on your research objectives, the phenomenon under investigation, and the depth of understanding you aim to achieve.

Explore Insightfully Contextual Inquiry in Qualitative Research

Choosing a good qualitative research question involves a thoughtful and systematic approach to ensure they align with the objectives of your study and allows for an in-depth exploration of the topic. Here are some steps to help you choose effective qualitative research questions:

Identify your research objectives

Clearly define the purpose of your study. What do you want to explore or understand? What specific insights or knowledge are you seeking to gain through your market research?

Review existing literature

Conduct a thorough review of relevant literature to identify existing research gaps or areas requiring further exploration. This will help you understand the current state of knowledge and inform the development of your research questions.

Brainstorm potential qualitative research question

Generate a list of potential research questions that address your research objectives. Consider different angles, perspectives, and dimensions of your topic. Creating open-ended questions that allow for in-depth exploration rather than simple yes/no answers is important.

Prioritize and refine the questions

Evaluate the generated questions based on their relevance to your research objectives, feasibility, and potential to yield meaningful insights. Prioritize the questions that are most likely to provide rich and valuable data. Refine and rephrase the questions as needed to ensure clarity and focus.

Consider the research design and methodology

Take into account the specific qualitative research design and methodology you plan to use. Different research approaches, such as ethnography, interviews, focus groups, or case studies, may require different types of research questions. Ensure that your questions align with your chosen methodology and will help you gather the desired data.

Pilot test the questions

Before finalizing your research questions, consider conducting a pilot test with a small group of participants. This will allow you to assess your questions’ clarity, appropriateness, and effectiveness. Make necessary revisions based on the feedback received.

Seek feedback

Share your research questions with colleagues, mentors, or experts in your field for feedback and suggestions. They can provide valuable insights and help you refine your questions further.

Finalize your research questions

Based on the steps above, select a set of research questions that are well-aligned with your research objectives, provide scope for exploration, and are feasible within the resources and time available for your study.

1. Mention the purpose of conducting qualitative research. It can be in the form of either of these sentences:

This study will be on the topic of ….
The reason for conducting this research is ….

2. Create qualitative statements with a defined objective that can be easily communicated to the target audience .

Keep these pointers in mind while designing this statement:

Try and form single-sentence statements. Single statements can be much more effective than elaborate ones as they help in communicating important messages in an impactful manner in a short and succinct sentence.
Clarify the purpose of conducting qualitative research in clear words so that respondents understand their contribution to this research.
Mention the main topic of research that would prompt respondents to have a clearer idea about what they’re getting into.
It’s the words that make all the difference. Use qualitative words that demonstrate the quality or feeling behind your purpose, such as understanding, describing, explore.
Specify details that you would want to communicate to your respondents.
Mention the name of the research website.

3. Other than the primary qualitative questions, you must create sub-questions so that the purpose is executed in a better manner.

The main question might be – “What is the state of illiteracy in your state?”
You can create sub-questions such as: “How does illiteracy hamper progress in your state?” or “How would you best describe your feelings about illiteracy?”

4. Highlight these questions using ‘qualitative’ words:

Start the questions with “What” or “How” to make sure the respondents provide details about their feelings.
Communicate what you’re trying to “understand,” “explore,” or “identify” using this Qualitative research online survey questionnaire.
Questions such as “What happened” can be asked to develop a description of the topic.
Questions about “how did respondents interpret the what happened question” can be asked to examine the outcome.
Understand the entire qualitative research process by asking questions about “What happened to you with time?”

5. Develop a skeleton to design the primary questions and also the sub-questions. For example:

Primary Qualitative research survey question: “How do you think _______ (the main topic of research) means?” or “Describe _____(the main topic of research) as you’ve experienced.”
Sub-question for qualitative research: “What _________ (characteristic) does __________ (respondents) interest in as a _________ (main topic of research)?”

LEARN ABOUT: Structured Questionnaire

Qualitative research questions are key to giving research studies depth and breadth. These questions go into the details and complexities of human experiences, perceptions, and behaviors. This helps researchers get a full picture of a certain occurrence.

Qualitative research questions are meant to explore, describe, and make sense of subjective truths. Most of the time, they are open-ended, so people can say what they think and feel in their own words.

QuestionPro is an online poll and research platform with several tools and features that can make it easier to make and use qualitative research questions. Its easy-to-use design and variety of question types help researchers collect qualitative data quickly and easily, improving the whole research process.

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Behavioural Insights in Higher Education

The science and art of asking good questions in qualitative research

February 17, 2022 Hannah Ogundipe Akinbode Lessons learnt , Methods toolkit , Qualitative Research 0

By Hannah Ogundipe Akinbode, Research Manager

Gaining a better understanding of the student experience through research is something all universities should continually want to do. This increased awareness should inform and change practice and enable students to develop as learners to get the most from their time at university. Usually pitted against the other, the choice between quantitative and qualitative methods depends upon the research purpose, aims and design. Whilst it is considered more time consuming, qualitative research can be particularly useful to understand the feelings and reasons behind presented statistical data. It is necessary to carry out for a thorough, deeper insight [i] into students’ lived experiences, and of their: academics, support services and extra-curricular activities. Conducting better in-depth qualitative research requires the ability to ask good questions and to listen. Without qualitative research, we can’t genuinely ascertain what students think and feel about the issues that affect them which can impact how well the support offered by institutions to students meets their needs.

Things to consider when developing good questions. A science and an art

Quality qualitative research is possible, and the key to conducting good qualitative research is asking good questions; this is both a science and an art. Within my role as a Research Manager I methodically apply the principles below.

Be clear and define: Try to cut out the unnecessary use of complex terms. Where you feel the use of key concepts is appropriate be sure to explain what they mean.

Sequence of questions: Start with easier questions or statements to help your participants feel comfortable. Assess flow of questions and consider if there is a logical sequence.

Pilot study: Test questions with a small group before your full-scale research to check questions are answerable.

Emotive language: When speaking keep away from using emotive language that shows your feelings towards a topic. Be sure to consider your body language.

Leading questions: Avoid leading questions.

Double-barrelled questions: Asking double barrelled questions is a common pitfall such as e.g. What challenges do BME students face when transitioning from school to university, and how does this affect academic performance, making friends and finding support?

Active listening is essential when navigating the time to stray or stay

It is good practice to go into a focus group or interview with a topic guide to lead the discussion. Part of the art and toolbox of a qualitative researcher is knowing when to stray and develop questioning not necessarily in line with your topic guide. Employing the skill of active listening is not only an important sign of respect to whomever is speaking, but you as the researcher become more informed on what your participants share. Which helps you ask better questions and ultimately conduct better research. Listening for the subtleties in what students say helps deepen understanding and enables you to seek clarification on unclear answers. As well as provide the opportunity to dig deeper into a specific comment that may be particularly interesting to, or repeated by participants. Active listening informs the extent you as researcher are able to use a participant’s own words to capture what was said more accurately and enables you to ask relevant and linked questions – a skill that gets better with practice.

Phrase questions in a way that gets the most out of your participants

Helping participants feel comfortable is foundational to qualitative research and has a big impact on how much students will want to share. We always want to find out how to improve the services we run, but this can sometimes be hard to translate into questions that are able to be well understood, and deeply answered by students. Consider the ease participants taking part in research will have discussing the subject matter – current experiences are easier to discuss than past or future ones. Be creative in your phrasing. Include some direct questions and think about how you can ask the same question in a different way. Remember, we can utilise the stimulus of video and pictures as part of our qualitative research toolkit as we see fit.

Scenarios are another tool and can be good to include when there is potential difficulty with asking a question directly. Considering this practical example (below), both questions are valid and are asking about improving welcome week in a different way.

A . Do you have any suggestions for how welcome week can be improved?

B . Imagine you are part of the student experience improvement group for your faculty and have been asked to improve welcome week for first years. What things will you think about?

Going with option B a scenario-based question allows students to have a more accessible starting point to answer the question more easily. Additionally, students are likely to reflect on and mention aspects of their experiences of welcome week when answering the scenario giving an extra layer of detail.

Dig deeper with follow up questions

Once you’ve drafted questions and decided on the ones that most clearly answer your research questions, then, decide on some specifying and follow up questions. A few classics we love to use are: Can you tell me more about?, why?, why not?, has this been your experience?, what do you mean by?

Not just for the sake of research. Research findings must be used to impact real change

Yes, it’s important to ground research in theory but, not just for the sake of it. We research to enact and impact real tangible change for students. Conducting meaningful qualitative research and robust analysis is a crucial part of the process to promote a more positive higher education experience for students, and to improve overall outcomes for them. This is an essential goal of our work as practitioners.

Case study: how qualitative research informed our current RCT for girls from low-income backgrounds

In summer 2021, we interviewed a group of year 12 students (who identified as female and working-class). Many students reported feeling overwhelmed with choices about university, not having a process of comparing universities because they mostly stored information in their heads, and not having people they feel they could speak to (this supported findings from earlier interviews with King’s students in their first year) [ii] . We’re now designing a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) which will test a decision processing and reflection module, providing support for such students to make the ‘right choices for them’ when considering university. The findings from this RCT have the potential to directly impact the approach of our widening participation work at King’s. To hear more about the RCT project titled ‘Navigating Your University Choices’ – you can contact What Works at [email protected] .

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[i] Bryman, A., Clark T., Foster, L., Sloan, L. (2021) Bryman’s Social Research Methods. 6 th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[ii] https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/behaviouralinsights/2019/05/16/helping-working-class-females-find-their-place-at-university/#_edn2

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Criteria for Good Qualitative Research: A Comprehensive Review

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Published: 18 September 2021
Volume 31 , pages 679–689, ( 2022 )

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This review aims to synthesize a published set of evaluative criteria for good qualitative research. The aim is to shed light on existing standards for assessing the rigor of qualitative research encompassing a range of epistemological and ontological standpoints. Using a systematic search strategy, published journal articles that deliberate criteria for rigorous research were identified. Then, references of relevant articles were surveyed to find noteworthy, distinct, and well-defined pointers to good qualitative research. This review presents an investigative assessment of the pivotal features in qualitative research that can permit the readers to pass judgment on its quality and to condemn it as good research when objectively and adequately utilized. Overall, this review underlines the crux of qualitative research and accentuates the necessity to evaluate such research by the very tenets of its being. It also offers some prospects and recommendations to improve the quality of qualitative research. Based on the findings of this review, it is concluded that quality criteria are the aftereffect of socio-institutional procedures and existing paradigmatic conducts. Owing to the paradigmatic diversity of qualitative research, a single and specific set of quality criteria is neither feasible nor anticipated. Since qualitative research is not a cohesive discipline, researchers need to educate and familiarize themselves with applicable norms and decisive factors to evaluate qualitative research from within its theoretical and methodological framework of origin.

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Introduction

“… It is important to regularly dialogue about what makes for good qualitative research” (Tracy, 2010 , p. 837)

To decide what represents good qualitative research is highly debatable. There are numerous methods that are contained within qualitative research and that are established on diverse philosophical perspectives. Bryman et al., ( 2008 , p. 262) suggest that “It is widely assumed that whereas quality criteria for quantitative research are well‐known and widely agreed, this is not the case for qualitative research.” Hence, the question “how to evaluate the quality of qualitative research” has been continuously debated. There are many areas of science and technology wherein these debates on the assessment of qualitative research have taken place. Examples include various areas of psychology: general psychology (Madill et al., 2000 ); counseling psychology (Morrow, 2005 ); and clinical psychology (Barker & Pistrang, 2005 ), and other disciplines of social sciences: social policy (Bryman et al., 2008 ); health research (Sparkes, 2001 ); business and management research (Johnson et al., 2006 ); information systems (Klein & Myers, 1999 ); and environmental studies (Reid & Gough, 2000 ). In the literature, these debates are enthused by the impression that the blanket application of criteria for good qualitative research developed around the positivist paradigm is improper. Such debates are based on the wide range of philosophical backgrounds within which qualitative research is conducted (e.g., Sandberg, 2000 ; Schwandt, 1996 ). The existence of methodological diversity led to the formulation of different sets of criteria applicable to qualitative research.

Among qualitative researchers, the dilemma of governing the measures to assess the quality of research is not a new phenomenon, especially when the virtuous triad of objectivity, reliability, and validity (Spencer et al., 2004 ) are not adequate. Occasionally, the criteria of quantitative research are used to evaluate qualitative research (Cohen & Crabtree, 2008 ; Lather, 2004 ). Indeed, Howe ( 2004 ) claims that the prevailing paradigm in educational research is scientifically based experimental research. Hypotheses and conjectures about the preeminence of quantitative research can weaken the worth and usefulness of qualitative research by neglecting the prominence of harmonizing match for purpose on research paradigm, the epistemological stance of the researcher, and the choice of methodology. Researchers have been reprimanded concerning this in “paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences” (Lincoln & Guba, 2000 ).

In general, qualitative research tends to come from a very different paradigmatic stance and intrinsically demands distinctive and out-of-the-ordinary criteria for evaluating good research and varieties of research contributions that can be made. This review attempts to present a series of evaluative criteria for qualitative researchers, arguing that their choice of criteria needs to be compatible with the unique nature of the research in question (its methodology, aims, and assumptions). This review aims to assist researchers in identifying some of the indispensable features or markers of high-quality qualitative research. In a nutshell, the purpose of this systematic literature review is to analyze the existing knowledge on high-quality qualitative research and to verify the existence of research studies dealing with the critical assessment of qualitative research based on the concept of diverse paradigmatic stances. Contrary to the existing reviews, this review also suggests some critical directions to follow to improve the quality of qualitative research in different epistemological and ontological perspectives. This review is also intended to provide guidelines for the acceleration of future developments and dialogues among qualitative researchers in the context of assessing the qualitative research.

The rest of this review article is structured in the following fashion: Sect. Methods describes the method followed for performing this review. Section Criteria for Evaluating Qualitative Studies provides a comprehensive description of the criteria for evaluating qualitative studies. This section is followed by a summary of the strategies to improve the quality of qualitative research in Sect. Improving Quality: Strategies . Section How to Assess the Quality of the Research Findings? provides details on how to assess the quality of the research findings. After that, some of the quality checklists (as tools to evaluate quality) are discussed in Sect. Quality Checklists: Tools for Assessing the Quality . At last, the review ends with the concluding remarks presented in Sect. Conclusions, Future Directions and Outlook . Some prospects in qualitative research for enhancing its quality and usefulness in the social and techno-scientific research community are also presented in Sect. Conclusions, Future Directions and Outlook .

For this review, a comprehensive literature search was performed from many databases using generic search terms such as Qualitative Research , Criteria , etc . The following databases were chosen for the literature search based on the high number of results: IEEE Explore, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The following keywords (and their combinations using Boolean connectives OR/AND) were adopted for the literature search: qualitative research, criteria, quality, assessment, and validity. The synonyms for these keywords were collected and arranged in a logical structure (see Table 1 ). All publications in journals and conference proceedings later than 1950 till 2021 were considered for the search. Other articles extracted from the references of the papers identified in the electronic search were also included. A large number of publications on qualitative research were retrieved during the initial screening. Hence, to include the searches with the main focus on criteria for good qualitative research, an inclusion criterion was utilized in the search string.

From the selected databases, the search retrieved a total of 765 publications. Then, the duplicate records were removed. After that, based on the title and abstract, the remaining 426 publications were screened for their relevance by using the following inclusion and exclusion criteria (see Table 2 ). Publications focusing on evaluation criteria for good qualitative research were included, whereas those works which delivered theoretical concepts on qualitative research were excluded. Based on the screening and eligibility, 45 research articles were identified that offered explicit criteria for evaluating the quality of qualitative research and were found to be relevant to this review.

Figure 1 illustrates the complete review process in the form of PRISMA flow diagram. PRISMA, i.e., “preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses” is employed in systematic reviews to refine the quality of reporting.

PRISMA flow diagram illustrating the search and inclusion process. N represents the number of records

Criteria for Evaluating Qualitative Studies

Fundamental criteria: general research quality.

Various researchers have put forward criteria for evaluating qualitative research, which have been summarized in Table 3 . Also, the criteria outlined in Table 4 effectively deliver the various approaches to evaluate and assess the quality of qualitative work. The entries in Table 4 are based on Tracy’s “Eight big‐tent criteria for excellent qualitative research” (Tracy, 2010 ). Tracy argues that high-quality qualitative work should formulate criteria focusing on the worthiness, relevance, timeliness, significance, morality, and practicality of the research topic, and the ethical stance of the research itself. Researchers have also suggested a series of questions as guiding principles to assess the quality of a qualitative study (Mays & Pope, 2020 ). Nassaji ( 2020 ) argues that good qualitative research should be robust, well informed, and thoroughly documented.

Qualitative Research: Interpretive Paradigms

All qualitative researchers follow highly abstract principles which bring together beliefs about ontology, epistemology, and methodology. These beliefs govern how the researcher perceives and acts. The net, which encompasses the researcher’s epistemological, ontological, and methodological premises, is referred to as a paradigm, or an interpretive structure, a “Basic set of beliefs that guides action” (Guba, 1990 ). Four major interpretive paradigms structure the qualitative research: positivist and postpositivist, constructivist interpretive, critical (Marxist, emancipatory), and feminist poststructural. The complexity of these four abstract paradigms increases at the level of concrete, specific interpretive communities. Table 5 presents these paradigms and their assumptions, including their criteria for evaluating research, and the typical form that an interpretive or theoretical statement assumes in each paradigm. Moreover, for evaluating qualitative research, quantitative conceptualizations of reliability and validity are proven to be incompatible (Horsburgh, 2003 ). In addition, a series of questions have been put forward in the literature to assist a reviewer (who is proficient in qualitative methods) for meticulous assessment and endorsement of qualitative research (Morse, 2003 ). Hammersley ( 2007 ) also suggests that guiding principles for qualitative research are advantageous, but methodological pluralism should not be simply acknowledged for all qualitative approaches. Seale ( 1999 ) also points out the significance of methodological cognizance in research studies.

Table 5 reflects that criteria for assessing the quality of qualitative research are the aftermath of socio-institutional practices and existing paradigmatic standpoints. Owing to the paradigmatic diversity of qualitative research, a single set of quality criteria is neither possible nor desirable. Hence, the researchers must be reflexive about the criteria they use in the various roles they play within their research community.

Improving Quality: Strategies

Another critical question is “How can the qualitative researchers ensure that the abovementioned quality criteria can be met?” Lincoln and Guba ( 1986 ) delineated several strategies to intensify each criteria of trustworthiness. Other researchers (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016 ; Shenton, 2004 ) also presented such strategies. A brief description of these strategies is shown in Table 6 .

It is worth mentioning that generalizability is also an integral part of qualitative research (Hays & McKibben, 2021 ). In general, the guiding principle pertaining to generalizability speaks about inducing and comprehending knowledge to synthesize interpretive components of an underlying context. Table 7 summarizes the main metasynthesis steps required to ascertain generalizability in qualitative research.

Figure 2 reflects the crucial components of a conceptual framework and their contribution to decisions regarding research design, implementation, and applications of results to future thinking, study, and practice (Johnson et al., 2020 ). The synergy and interrelationship of these components signifies their role to different stances of a qualitative research study.

Essential elements of a conceptual framework

In a nutshell, to assess the rationale of a study, its conceptual framework and research question(s), quality criteria must take account of the following: lucid context for the problem statement in the introduction; well-articulated research problems and questions; precise conceptual framework; distinct research purpose; and clear presentation and investigation of the paradigms. These criteria would expedite the quality of qualitative research.

How to Assess the Quality of the Research Findings?

The inclusion of quotes or similar research data enhances the confirmability in the write-up of the findings. The use of expressions (for instance, “80% of all respondents agreed that” or “only one of the interviewees mentioned that”) may also quantify qualitative findings (Stenfors et al., 2020 ). On the other hand, the persuasive reason for “why this may not help in intensifying the research” has also been provided (Monrouxe & Rees, 2020 ). Further, the Discussion and Conclusion sections of an article also prove robust markers of high-quality qualitative research, as elucidated in Table 8 .

Quality Checklists: Tools for Assessing the Quality

Numerous checklists are available to speed up the assessment of the quality of qualitative research. However, if used uncritically and recklessly concerning the research context, these checklists may be counterproductive. I recommend that such lists and guiding principles may assist in pinpointing the markers of high-quality qualitative research. However, considering enormous variations in the authors’ theoretical and philosophical contexts, I would emphasize that high dependability on such checklists may say little about whether the findings can be applied in your setting. A combination of such checklists might be appropriate for novice researchers. Some of these checklists are listed below:

The most commonly used framework is Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) (Tong et al., 2007 ). This framework is recommended by some journals to be followed by the authors during article submission.

Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) is another checklist that has been created particularly for medical education (O’Brien et al., 2014 ).

Also, Tracy ( 2010 ) and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP, 2021 ) offer criteria for qualitative research relevant across methods and approaches.

Further, researchers have also outlined different criteria as hallmarks of high-quality qualitative research. For instance, the “Road Trip Checklist” (Epp & Otnes, 2021 ) provides a quick reference to specific questions to address different elements of high-quality qualitative research.

Conclusions, Future Directions, and Outlook

This work presents a broad review of the criteria for good qualitative research. In addition, this article presents an exploratory analysis of the essential elements in qualitative research that can enable the readers of qualitative work to judge it as good research when objectively and adequately utilized. In this review, some of the essential markers that indicate high-quality qualitative research have been highlighted. I scope them narrowly to achieve rigor in qualitative research and note that they do not completely cover the broader considerations necessary for high-quality research. This review points out that a universal and versatile one-size-fits-all guideline for evaluating the quality of qualitative research does not exist. In other words, this review also emphasizes the non-existence of a set of common guidelines among qualitative researchers. In unison, this review reinforces that each qualitative approach should be treated uniquely on account of its own distinctive features for different epistemological and disciplinary positions. Owing to the sensitivity of the worth of qualitative research towards the specific context and the type of paradigmatic stance, researchers should themselves analyze what approaches can be and must be tailored to ensemble the distinct characteristics of the phenomenon under investigation. Although this article does not assert to put forward a magic bullet and to provide a one-stop solution for dealing with dilemmas about how, why, or whether to evaluate the “goodness” of qualitative research, it offers a platform to assist the researchers in improving their qualitative studies. This work provides an assembly of concerns to reflect on, a series of questions to ask, and multiple sets of criteria to look at, when attempting to determine the quality of qualitative research. Overall, this review underlines the crux of qualitative research and accentuates the need to evaluate such research by the very tenets of its being. Bringing together the vital arguments and delineating the requirements that good qualitative research should satisfy, this review strives to equip the researchers as well as reviewers to make well-versed judgment about the worth and significance of the qualitative research under scrutiny. In a nutshell, a comprehensive portrayal of the research process (from the context of research to the research objectives, research questions and design, speculative foundations, and from approaches of collecting data to analyzing the results, to deriving inferences) frequently proliferates the quality of a qualitative research.

Prospects : A Road Ahead for Qualitative Research

Irrefutably, qualitative research is a vivacious and evolving discipline wherein different epistemological and disciplinary positions have their own characteristics and importance. In addition, not surprisingly, owing to the sprouting and varied features of qualitative research, no consensus has been pulled off till date. Researchers have reflected various concerns and proposed several recommendations for editors and reviewers on conducting reviews of critical qualitative research (Levitt et al., 2021 ; McGinley et al., 2021 ). Following are some prospects and a few recommendations put forward towards the maturation of qualitative research and its quality evaluation:

In general, most of the manuscript and grant reviewers are not qualitative experts. Hence, it is more likely that they would prefer to adopt a broad set of criteria. However, researchers and reviewers need to keep in mind that it is inappropriate to utilize the same approaches and conducts among all qualitative research. Therefore, future work needs to focus on educating researchers and reviewers about the criteria to evaluate qualitative research from within the suitable theoretical and methodological context.

There is an urgent need to refurbish and augment critical assessment of some well-known and widely accepted tools (including checklists such as COREQ, SRQR) to interrogate their applicability on different aspects (along with their epistemological ramifications).

Efforts should be made towards creating more space for creativity, experimentation, and a dialogue between the diverse traditions of qualitative research. This would potentially help to avoid the enforcement of one's own set of quality criteria on the work carried out by others.

Moreover, journal reviewers need to be aware of various methodological practices and philosophical debates.

It is pivotal to highlight the expressions and considerations of qualitative researchers and bring them into a more open and transparent dialogue about assessing qualitative research in techno-scientific, academic, sociocultural, and political rooms.

Frequent debates on the use of evaluative criteria are required to solve some potentially resolved issues (including the applicability of a single set of criteria in multi-disciplinary aspects). Such debates would not only benefit the group of qualitative researchers themselves, but primarily assist in augmenting the well-being and vivacity of the entire discipline.

To conclude, I speculate that the criteria, and my perspective, may transfer to other methods, approaches, and contexts. I hope that they spark dialog and debate – about criteria for excellent qualitative research and the underpinnings of the discipline more broadly – and, therefore, help improve the quality of a qualitative study. Further, I anticipate that this review will assist the researchers to contemplate on the quality of their own research, to substantiate research design and help the reviewers to review qualitative research for journals. On a final note, I pinpoint the need to formulate a framework (encompassing the prerequisites of a qualitative study) by the cohesive efforts of qualitative researchers of different disciplines with different theoretic-paradigmatic origins. I believe that tailoring such a framework (of guiding principles) paves the way for qualitative researchers to consolidate the status of qualitative research in the wide-ranging open science debate. Dialogue on this issue across different approaches is crucial for the impending prospects of socio-techno-educational research.

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Yadav, D. Criteria for Good Qualitative Research: A Comprehensive Review. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 31 , 679–689 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-021-00619-0

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Mass Communication Theory

Mass communication theory: from theory to practical application, writing good qualitative research questions.

Got a great handout a while back that I stumbled over today, hopefully it’s as helpful to you as it was to me. Here are the steps for writing good (mass communication of course) qualitative research questions:

Specify the research problem: the practical issue that leads to a need for your study.

Complete these sentences:

“The topic for this study will be…”
“This study needs to be conducted because…”

How to write a good qualitative purpose statement: a statement that provides the major objective or intent or roadmap to the study. Fulfill the following criteria:

Single sentence
Include the purpose of the study
Include the central phenomenon
Use qualitative words e.g. explore, understand, discover
Note the participants (if any)
State the research site

A good place to start: The purpose of this ______________ (narrative, phenomenological, grounded theory, ethnographic, case, etc.) study is (was? will be?) will be to ____________ (understand, describe, develop, discover) the _____________ (central phenomenon of the study) for ______________ (the participants) at (the site). At this stage in the research, the ___________ (central phenomenon) will be generally defined as ____________ (a general definition of the central concept).

Research questions serve to narrow the purpose. There are two types: Central

The most general questions you could ask

Sub-questions

Subdivides central question into more specific topical questions
Limited number

Use good qualitative wording for these questions.

Begin with words such as “how” or “what”
Tell the reader what you are attempting to “discover,” “generate,” “explore,” “identify,” or “describe”
Ask “what happened?” to help craft your description
Ask “what was the meaning to people of what happened?” to understand your results
Ask “what happened over time?” to explore the process

Avoid words such as: relate, influence, impact, effect, cause

Scripts to help design qualitative central and sub-questions: Central question script (usually use only one):

“What does it mean to _________________ (central phenomenon)?”
“How would ______________ (participants) describe (central phenomenon)?”

Sub-question script:

“What _________ (aspect) does __________ (participant) engage in as a _____________ (central phenomenon)?”
Cresswell. J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. Principles of qualitative research: Designing a qualitative study. You can download the entire document here .
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19 thoughts on “ Writing Good Qualitative Research Questions ”

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very clear and helpful, thanks!

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Thank you helpful

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Reblogged this on VeryVexed .

This is helpful, thank you.

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This is incredibly helpful. Thank you!

Reblogged this on Writing Across the Curriculum @ Staten Island and commented: Some great ideas from the folks as masscommtheory.com!

You saved my sanity! Thanks so so much! Juli

Thanks for this. It was very simple and clear. A lot of the textbooks I am reading for my EdD aren’t as easy to understand!

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How to write a research question

Last updated

7 February 2023

Reviewed by

Miroslav Damyanov

In this article, we take an in-depth look at what a research question is, the different types of research questions, and how to write one (with examples). Read on to get started with your thesis, dissertation, or research paper .

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What is a research question?

A research question articulates exactly what you want to learn from your research. It stems directly from your research objectives, and you will arrive at an answer through data analysis and interpretation.

However, it is not that simple to write a research question—even when you know the question you intend to answer with your study. The main characteristics of a good research question are:

Feasible. You need to have the resources and abilities to examine the question, collect the data, and give answers.

Interesting. Create research questions that offer fascinating insights into your industry.

Novel. Research questions have to offer something new within your field of study.

Ethical. The research question topic should be approved by the relevant authorities and review boards.

Relevant. Your research question should lead to visible changes in society or your industry.

Usually, you write one single research question to guide your entire research paper. The answer becomes the thesis statement—the central position of your argument. A dissertation or thesis, on the other hand, may require multiple problem statements and research questions. However, they should be connected and focused on a specific problem.

Importance of the research question

A research question acts as a guide for your entire study. It serves two vital purposes:

to determine the specific issue your research paper addresses

to identify clear objectives

Therefore, it helps split your research into small steps that you need to complete to provide answers.

Your research question will also provide boundaries for your study, which help set limits and ensure cohesion.

Finally, it acts as a frame of reference for assessing your work. Bear in mind that research questions can evolve, shift, and change during the early stages of your study or project.

Types of research questions

The type of research you are conducting will dictate the type of research question to use. Primarily, research questions are grouped into three distinct categories of study:

qualitative

quantitative

mixed-method

Let’s look at each of these in turn:

Quantitative research questions

The number-one rule of quantitative research questions is that they are precise. They mainly include:

independent and dependent variables

the exact population being studied

the research design to be used

Therefore, you must frame and finalize quantitative research questions before starting the study.

Equally, a quantitative research question creates a link between itself and the research design. These questions cannot be answered with simple 'yes' or' no' responses, so they begin with words like 'does', 'do', 'are', and 'is'.

Quantitative research questions can be divided into three categories:

Relationship research questions usually leverage words such as 'trends' and 'association' because they include independent and dependent variables. They seek to define or explore trends and interactions between multiple variables.

Comparative research questions tend to analyze the differences between different groups to find an outcome variable. For instance, you may decide to compare two distinct groups where a specific variable is present in one and absent in the other.

Descriptive research questions usually start with the word 'what' and aim to measure how a population will respond to one or more variables.

Qualitative research questions

Like quantitative research questions, these questions are linked to the research design. However, qualitative research questions may deal with a specific or broad study area. This makes them more flexible, very adaptable, and usually non-directional.

Use qualitative research questions when your primary aim is to explain, discover, or explore.

There are seven types of qualitative research questions:

Explanatory research questions investigate particular topic areas that aren't well known.

Contextual research questions describe the workings of what is already in existence.

Evaluative research questions examine the effectiveness of specific paradigms or methods.

Ideological research questions aim to advance existing ideologies.

Descriptive research questions describe an event.

Generative research questions help develop actions and theories by providing new ideas.

Emancipatory research questions increase social action engagement, usually to benefit disadvantaged people.

Mixed-methods studies

With mixed-methods studies, you combine qualitative and quantitative research elements to get answers to your research question. This approach is ideal when you need a more complete picture. through a blend of the two approaches.

Mixed-methods research is excellent in multidisciplinary settings, societal analysis, and complex situations. Consider the following research question examples, which would be ideal candidates for a mixed-methods approach

How can non-voter and voter beliefs about democracy (qualitative) help explain Town X election turnout patterns (quantitative)?

How does students’ perception of their study environment (quantitative) relate to their test score differences (qualitative)?

Developing a strong research question—a step-by-step guide

Research questions help break up your study into simple steps so you can quickly achieve your objectives and find answers. However, how do you develop a good research question? Here is our step-by-step guide:

1. Choose a topic

The first step is to select a broad research topic for your study. Pick something within your expertise and field that interests you. After all, the research itself will stem from the initial research question.

2. Conduct preliminary research

Once you have a broad topic, dig deeper into the problem by researching past studies in the field and gathering requirements from stakeholders if you work in a business setting.

Through this process, you will discover articles that mention areas not explored in that field or products that didn’t resonate with people’s expectations in a particular industry. For instance, you could explore specific topics that earlier research failed to study or products that failed to meet user needs.

3. Keep your audience in mind

Is your audience interested in the particular field you want to study? Are the research questions in your mind appealing and interesting to the audience? Defining your audience will help you refine your research question and ensure you pick a question that is relatable to your audience.

4. Generate a list of potential questions

Ask yourself numerous open-ended questions on the topic to create a potential list of research questions. You could start with broader questions and narrow them down to more specific ones. Don’t forget that you can challenge existing assumptions or use personal experiences to redefine research issues.

5. Review the questions

Evaluate your list of potential questions to determine which seems most effective. Ensure you consider the finer details of every question and possible outcomes. Doing this helps you determine if the questions meet the requirements of a research question.

6. Construct and evaluate your research question

Consider these two frameworks when constructing a good research question: PICOT and PEO.

PICOT stands for:

P: Problem or population

I: Indicator or intervention to be studied

C: Comparison groups

O: Outcome of interest

T: Time frame

PEO stands for:

P: Population being studied

E: Exposure to any preexisting conditions

To evaluate your research question once you’ve constructed it, ask yourself the following questions:

Is it clear?

Your study should produce precise data and observations. For qualitative studies, the observations need to be delineable across categories. Quantitative studies must have measurable and empirical data.

Is it specific and focused?

An excellent research question must be specific enough to ensure your testing yields objective results. General or open-ended research questions are often ambiguous and subject to different kinds of interpretation.

Is it sufficiently complex?

Your research needs to yield substantial and consequential results to warrant the study. Merely supporting or reinforcing an existing paper is not good enough.

Examples of good research questions

A robust research question actively contributes to a specific body of knowledge; it is a question that hasn’t been answered before within your research field.

Here are some examples of good and bad research questions :

Good: How effective are A and B policies at reducing the rates of Z?

Bad: Is A or B a better policy?

The first is more focused and researchable because it isn't based on value judgment. The second fails to give clear criteria for answering the question.

Good: What is the effect of daily Twitter use on the attention span of college students?

Bad: What is the effect of social media use on people's minds?

The first includes specific and well-defined concepts, which the second lacks.

Ensure all terms within your research question have precise meanings. Avoid vague or general language that makes the topic too broad.

The bottom line

The success of any research starts with formulating the right questions that ensure you collect the most insightful data. A good research question will showcase the objectives of your systematic investigation and emphasize specific contexts.

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100 Questions (and Answers) About Qualitative Research

Lisa M. Given - Swinburne University, Australia, Charles Sturt University, Australia, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Description

Exploring 100 key questions (and answers) on the nature and practice of qualitative inquiry, this unique book addresses the practical decisions that researchers must make in their work, from the design of the study, through ethics approval, implementation, and writing. The book’s quick-scan, question-and-answer format make it ideal as a supplementary text or as a ready reference for graduate students preparing for comprehensive exams and writing research proposals, undergraduates in affiliated programs who will not be taking a primary course in qualitative research methods, and researchers working across disciplines in academic or practice environments.

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

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“This is a great companion book for a course on qualitative methods and it is also a great resource as a ‘ready-reference,’ which should be a required companion for all graduate students who will be taking qualitative research methods.”

“It provides an overview of the subject on the nuances of qualitative research.”

“ Very precise in helping students determine if their study is appropriate for this type of research design.”

“The book appears to provide the right combination of breadth and depth . There are a lot of topics covered, but the book seems to provide a succinct, snapshot-like answer for each question.”

“A book like this can provide a useful supplement to major texts and be used as a reference.”

KEY FEATURES:

The book answers questions about activities in research that are learned over time and often not well articulated in methods texts.
Each question is addressed with a conversational stand-alone answer that is concrete and to-the-point.
Tables, bullets, numbered lists, and diagrams make the book easy to scan and information easy to locate.
Examples from a wide range of disciplines make the book useful for readers across disciplines and contexts.
Topics can be read in any order , providing maximum flexibility.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Question 16

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For instructors

Select a purchasing option, related products.

This title is also available on SAGE Research Methods , the ultimate digital methods library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial .

10+ Qualitative Survey Questions to Collect Deep Insights

Just like great ingredients are the basis for preparing an amazing meal, a great survey needs to have amazing questions. And unless you know the recipe by heart, choosing effective survey questions can be difficult. One of the most common choices you can make are qualitative survey questions.

They let you uncover deep insights with qualitative research, but they do come with some challenges. In this article, we’ll show you how to write great qualitative questions, what makes them good (and bad) choices for your qualitative surveys, as well as some examples to get you inspired.

Qualitative vs. quantitative questions

Before we go any further, we need to make a distinction between qualitative and quantitative survey questions .

Qualitative questions help you get qualitative data. These are the questions that get behind the why, what, and how of a particular subject through qualitative research of your focus groups. An example of a qualitative question would be: Please describe your recent experience with our customer support.

Use qualitative research questions when you need customers to explain their experience in their own words and provide you with deeper insights.

Quantitative questions help you collect quantitative, numerical data. They help you put a numerical value on your customers’ feedback. An example of a quantitative question would be: “On a scale from 1 to 10, please rate your satisfaction with your recent experience with our customer support?”

‍ Use quantitative research questions when you need data that is easy to analyze and quantify so that you can make an important decision based on data.

Both question types have their pros and cons, and depending on your needs, you’ll want to use one or the other or a combination of both research methods on your target audience.

How to write good qualitative survey questions

Qualitative survey questions can unearth impressive data. However, you need to be very careful about how you write them to get the best feedback from your focus groups. Here are some quick tips to get started.

Make the qualitative research questions specific

The first rule is very simple. A qualitative question leaves your audience with a space to write anything they want. And the truth is, they will literally write anything if you don’t point them in the right direction.

If your survey questions are too broad, they will result in broad answers and feedback that is not particularly useful. For example, asking “How do you like our dashboard?” is going to give you a wide range of answers.

Instead, ask something along the lines of “What do you think of the different visualization styles in our reporting dashboard?”

The more specific the survey questions, the better the feedback.

Have a clear purpose

Why are you asking a certain question? In the case of quantitative surveys, you don’t always need a specific reason, e.g. checking up on your NPS score .

However, qualitative questions demand lengthier answers and you need to motivate your target audience to provide that answer. The best way to do so? Just let them know why you’re asking.

For example, you could say that you’re asking about the checkout process in order to make it quicker to purchase and easier to choose a preferred payment method. The stronger the benefit for the customer, the more reasons for stating the purpose of the survey.

Focus on quality, not numbers

You won’t get the same number of answers with qualitative questions compared to quantitative ones such as CSAT surveys . Put simply, writing out an answer takes more time than selecting a number on a scale.

You may be tempted to simplify your survey questions to get more answers from your survey participants. However, try and resist the temptation.

Your aim is to get amazing feedback so don’t shy away from asking the survey questions that really interest you. Five good answers are much better than 50 superficial ones you can’t use.

Add subquestions when necessary

Sometimes, you can’t get all the info you need from one answer. If you want to ensure you get all the feedback you need, asking a subquestion makes sense.

For example, you could ask customers about their thoughts on a new feature you launched. A subquestion could be one where you ask the customers what would make them use that feature more.

You can actually ask this question in a matter of seconds by using this survey template:

Your customers are willing to provide feedback to help you out, but you sometimes need to nudge them in the right direction.

Pros and cons of using qualitative questions for surveys

Qualitative survey questions can yield amazing results. However, they have their good and bad sides, and you need to be aware of both before creating your next survey.

Advantages of using qualitative questions in surveys

Let’s start with the good stuff.

They help you get in-depth data

A quantitative question tells you how likely someone is to recommend you on a scale. While a number is a good piece of info, a few sentences describing why and how they would recommend you will provide the context. If you want in-depth data where customers describe how they feel about you in more detail, you need qualitative research questions.

They are more flexible by nature

The typical quantitative question has a standard form. Survey types such as CSAT, NPS, and CES have question formats that don’t vary much. On the other hand, the sky is the limit with qualitative research questions. You can phrase them in any way you want, using specific expressions to narrow down the type of feedback you want to get.

They encourage discussion

There is little that can happen once an NPS survey is complete. You get the results, analyze them (in minutes, thanks to Survicate’s dashboard ), and the conversation is over. Qualitative research questions encourage your customers to speak their minds and share how they feel.

Disadvantages of using qualitative survey questions

There are some downsides to keep in mind with this question type.

The sample size

Qualitative data is amazing when it comes to the insights that you get. But on the flip side, it requires detailed analysis, and you have to manually go through all the survey responses to find the gold nuggets in your feedback. As a result, the sample is usually much smaller than in quantitative surveys, and you have to use focus groups with limited respondent numbers.

Sample bias

With the smaller size sample usually comes the sample bias . This means that you’ll tend to pick customers who are similar in some way, including demographics, use cases, location, and your data might be skewed.

Lack of privacy

Lots of data is always a great thing for businesses, but there may be some concerns from the customers’ end.

If they give you detailed answers, you can accurately pinpoint the identity of the customer who supplied the answer. You can solve a part of the problem by making the survey anonymous , but bear in mind that some customers will be concerned about privacy issues regardless.

Difficulty with statistical analysis

Imagine 500 respondents filled in your NPS survey. You could get your NPS score within seconds using survey software like Survicate. On the other hand, getting qualitative research results from a focus group with 500 people could take weeks. Be prepared to set aside some time to go through the responses to your qualitative surveys manually.

Qualitative question examples

Here are some amazing qualitative question examples to get you inspired. You can adapt these to a specific use case depending on your industry and niche.

Exploratory questions

The most common of the qualitative research questions, the exploratory question aims to just… explore. You ask your survey participants about a particular topic so you can learn more about their thoughts, experiences, and attitudes.

Describe the last interaction you had with our product.
Does our product meet your overall expectations?
What is the most valuable feature in our product?
Why did you choose to use our product compared to the competitors?
What is the one aspect of our product that you never use?
What is your biggest objection to our checkout process and why?

Predictive questions

Predictive survey questions put survey participants in a certain situation. Based on past events, you ask them to predict what would happen in a hypothetical situation. If you phrase the questions correctly, they can provide a wealth of feedback about the respondents’ pain points and your product.

If we added free returns on all orders above $50, would you shop more with us?
If you could add one more feature to our product, what would that feature be and why?
If we had a Zapier integration for our app, how often would you use it?
If you were in charge of our customer support for a day, what would you change and why?
Would you be more likely to buy our product if it was endorsed by a large company such as Microsoft?

Get ready for deep insights with qualitative questions in your surveys

Not everyone is born a great writer or a qualitative research expert. But nowadays, you don’t have to be either of those things to write amazing qualitative questions and have great qualitative surveys.

Survey software has come a long way and nowadays, it does more than just provide a platform for creating and distributing online surveys. Survicate comes with 125+ survey templates out of the box, packed with quantitative and qualitative questions, ready to use.

Kickstart your qualitative research today by choosing the right tool for the job. Try Survicate and see why online surveys are the future of conducting qualitative research.

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Writing Strong Research Questions | Criteria & Examples

Writing Strong Research Questions | Criteria & Examples

Published on October 26, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A research question pinpoints exactly what you want to find out in your work. A good research question is essential to guide your research paper , dissertation , or thesis .

All research questions should be:

Focused on a single problem or issue
Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
Specific enough to answer thoroughly
Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

How to write a research question, what makes a strong research question, using sub-questions to strengthen your main research question, research questions quiz, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research questions.

You can follow these steps to develop a strong research question:

Choose your topic
Do some preliminary reading about the current state of the field
Narrow your focus to a specific niche
Identify the research problem that you will address

The way you frame your question depends on what your research aims to achieve. The table below shows some examples of how you might formulate questions for different purposes.

Using your research problem to develop your research question

Note that while most research questions can be answered with various types of research , the way you frame your question should help determine your choices.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

Academic style
Vague sentences
Style consistency

See an example

Research questions anchor your whole project, so it’s important to spend some time refining them. The criteria below can help you evaluate the strength of your research question.

Focused and researchable

Feasible and specific, complex and arguable, relevant and original.

Chances are that your main research question likely can’t be answered all at once. That’s why sub-questions are important: they allow you to answer your main question in a step-by-step manner.

Good sub-questions should be:

Less complex than the main question
Focused only on 1 type of research
Presented in a logical order

Here are a few examples of descriptive and framing questions:

Descriptive: According to current government arguments, how should a European bank tax be implemented?
Descriptive: Which countries have a bank tax/levy on financial transactions?
Framing: How should a bank tax/levy on financial transactions look at a European level?

Keep in mind that sub-questions are by no means mandatory. They should only be asked if you need the findings to answer your main question. If your main question is simple enough to stand on its own, it’s okay to skip the sub-question part. As a rule of thumb, the more complex your subject, the more sub-questions you’ll need.

Try to limit yourself to 4 or 5 sub-questions, maximum. If you feel you need more than this, it may be indication that your main research question is not sufficiently specific. In this case, it’s is better to revisit your problem statement and try to tighten your main question up.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

Sampling methods
Simple random sampling
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Likert scales
Reproducibility

Statistics

Null hypothesis
Statistical power
Probability distribution
Effect size
Poisson distribution

Research bias

Optimism bias
Cognitive bias
Implicit bias
Hawthorne effect
Anchoring bias
Explicit bias

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

As you cannot possibly read every source related to your topic, it’s important to evaluate sources to assess their relevance. Use preliminary evaluation to determine whether a source is worth examining in more depth.

This involves:

Reading abstracts , prefaces, introductions , and conclusions
Looking at the table of contents to determine the scope of the work
Consulting the index for key terms or the names of important scholars

A research hypothesis is your proposed answer to your research question. The research hypothesis usually includes an explanation (“ x affects y because …”).

A statistical hypothesis, on the other hand, is a mathematical statement about a population parameter. Statistical hypotheses always come in pairs: the null and alternative hypotheses . In a well-designed study , the statistical hypotheses correspond logically to the research hypothesis.

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

Researchability
Feasibility and specificity
Relevance and originality

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McCombes, S. (2023, November 21). Writing Strong Research Questions | Criteria & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/

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How to Write Awesome Qualitative Research Questions: Types & Examples
83 Qualitative Research Questions & Examples
How to Write Awesome Qualitative Research Questions: Types & Examples
Research Question: Definition, Types, Examples, Quick Tips
How to Write Awesome Qualitative Research Questions: Types & Examples
learn and develop good research questions in qualitative research

VIDEO

Asking the Right Questions in the Right Ways: Introduction to Survey Design and Analysis
Top 30 Objective Qualitative Research Question Answers
What is a research Question?
The Art of Asking Questions in Qualitative Interviews
4 Types of Research Questions to Start Your Writing Project Right
What is Research? Qualitative Research

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Qualitative Research Questions: Gain Powerful Insights + 25 Examples
They ask about people's experiences and perceptions, and can be used to explore a wide range of topics. The following article will discuss the basics of qualitative research questions, including their key components, and how to craft them effectively. ... This video offers tips on how to write good qualitative research questions, produced by ...
83 Qualitative Research Questions & Examples
The UK Data Service describes this perfectly, saying, "The value of qualitative research is that it gives a voice to the lived experience .". Read on to see seven use cases and 83 qualitative research questions, with the added bonus of examples that show how to get similar insights faster with Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence.
How to Write Qualitative Research Questions
This is especially important with qualitative questions, where there may be exploratory or inductive methods in use that introduce researchers to new and interesting areas of inquiry. Here are some tips for writing good qualitative research questions. 1. Keep it specific. Broader research questions are difficult to act on.
PDF Asking the Right Question: Qualitative Research Design and Analysis
Limitations of Qualitative Research. Lengthy and complicated designs, which do not draw large samples. Validity of reliability of subjective data. Difficult to replicate study because of central role of the researcher and context. Data analysis and interpretation is time consuming. Subjective - open to misinterpretation.
How to Write Qualitative Research Questions: Types & Examples
1. Begin with Your Research Goals. The first step in formulating qualitative research questions is to have a clear understanding of what you aim to discover or understand through your research. There are two types of qualitative questionnaires or research - Ontological and Epistemological. Finding out the nature of your research influences ...
10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project
The first question asks for a ready-made solution, and is not focused or researchable. The second question is a clearer comparative question, but note that it may not be practically feasible. For a smaller research project or thesis, it could be narrowed down further to focus on the effectiveness of drunk driving laws in just one or two countries.
100 Questions (and Answers) About Qualitative Research
Question #97: Qualitative research reports are published in many formats and styles, ranging from traditional (i.e., with results, discussion and conclusions) to progressive (e.g., narrative short stories, poetry, plays). Which approach should I choose f
Qualitative Research Questions
Qualitative research questions are driven by the need for the study. Ideally, research questions are formulated as a result of the problem and purpose, which leads to the identification of the methodology. When a qualitative methodology is chosen, research questions should be exploratory and focused on the actual phenomenon under study. ...
Becoming a Critical Reader: Questions to Ask About Qualitative Research
Because qualitative research is more interested in depth, the sample sizes tend to be much smaller. Once you've determined that what you have here is an original piece of quantitative research and you've already considered the basic questions here and here, you're ready for the specific questions: 1. Did the researcher have a clear question ...
Research Questions
As such, qualitative research questions tend to ask "what," "why," or "how" types of questions. This contrasts with quantitative research questions that typically aim to verify an existing theory. and tend to ask "when," "how much," and "why" types of questions to nail down causal mechanisms and generalizable findings. ... Writing a good ...
Qualitative Research Questions
Good qualitative research questions that help us to craft an evaluation might include questions around program need, and program conceptualization and design (Rossi, Lipsey, and Freeman, 2004). Depending on the purpose of the evaluation and your evaluation design, you might ask process-focused questions such as who, what, when, where, why, and ...
4.4 Qualitative research questions
The guidelines for research questions previously described in this chapter still apply, but there are some new elements to qualitative research questions that are not present in quantitative questions. First, qualitative research questions often ask about lived experience, personal experience, understanding, meaning, and stories. These keywords ...
Qualitative Research Questions: What it is and how to write it
In qualitative research, open-ended questions should be used to enable participants to offer thorough and in-depth responses. Avoid yes/no questions and queries with a one-word answer. Use words like "how," "what," "why," or "describe" instead to compel people to express their thoughts and experiences. LEARN ABOUT: Qualitative ...
Developing qualitative research questions: a reflective process
Creating discovery‐oriented questions can help a researcher use the process of developing and refining questions as a basis for a more rigorous and reflexive inquiry. With a qualitative study, a researcher is inquiring about such topics as how people are experiencing an event, a series of events, and/or a condition.
The science and art of asking good questions in qualitative research
Conducting better in-depth qualitative research requires the ability to ask good questions and to listen. Without qualitative research, we can't genuinely ascertain what students think and feel about the issues that affect them which can impact how well the support offered by institutions to students meets their needs. Things to consider when ...
Criteria for Good Qualitative Research: A Comprehensive Review
This review aims to synthesize a published set of evaluative criteria for good qualitative research. The aim is to shed light on existing standards for assessing the rigor of qualitative research encompassing a range of epistemological and ontological standpoints. Using a systematic search strategy, published journal articles that deliberate criteria for rigorous research were identified. Then ...
Qualitative Interview Questions: Guidance for Novice Researchers
The Qualitative Report 2020 Volume 25, Number 9, How To Article 1, 3185-3203. Qualitative Interview Questions: Guidance for Novice Researchers. Rosanne E. Roberts. Capella University, Minneapolis ...
What Is Qualitative Research?
Qualitative research methods. Each of the research approaches involve using one or more data collection methods.These are some of the most common qualitative methods: Observations: recording what you have seen, heard, or encountered in detailed field notes. Interviews: personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations. Focus groups: asking questions and generating discussion among ...
Writing Good Qualitative Research Questions
Here are the steps for writing good (mass communication of course) qualitative research questions: Specify the research problem: the practical issue that leads to a need for your study. Complete these sentences: "The topic for this study will be…". "This study needs to be conducted because…". How to write a good qualitative purpose ...
A Step-By-Step Guide on Writing a Good Research Question
5. Review the questions. Evaluate your list of potential questions to determine which seems most effective. Ensure you consider the finer details of every question and possible outcomes. Doing this helps you determine if the questions meet the requirements of a research question. 6.
100 Questions (and Answers) About Qualitative Research
Features. Preview. Exploring 100 key questions (and answers) on the nature and practice of qualitative inquiry, this unique book addresses the practical decisions that researchers must make in their work, from the design of the study, through ethics approval, implementation, and writing. The book's quick-scan, question-and-answer format make ...
10+ Qualitative Survey Questions to Collect Deep Insights
How to write good qualitative survey questions. Qualitative survey questions can unearth impressive data. However, you need to be very careful about how you write them to get the best feedback from your focus groups. Here are some quick tips to get started. Make the qualitative research questions specific. The first rule is very simple.
Writing Strong Research Questions
A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, dissertation, or thesis. All research questions should be: Focused on a single problem or issue. Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources. Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints. Specific enough to answer thoroughly.
Preparing Questions for a Qualitative Research Interview
Once you've chosen the type of interview that suits your research study, the next step is to decide what information you need to collect. Patton's six types of questions offer a framework for shaping your inquiries: Behavior or Experience: Explore participants' actions and experiences. Opinion or Belief: Probe participants' beliefs ...