Descriptive and interpretive approaches to qualitative research

Abstract

This chapter explores descriptive and interpretive approaches to qualitative research. This includes the formulation of the problem, data collection, the specifics of sampling, data analysis in descriptive/interpretive qualitative research, generation of categories, and extracting and interpreting the main findings.

Empowering aspects for healthy food and physical activity habits: adolescents’ experiences of a school-based intervention in a disadvantaged urban community

“…Chen, Shek Daniel, and Bu (2011) argue that it is necessary to understand adolescents’ subjective interpretations of reality to understand the motivations for their behaviours. This study was thus based on a descriptive-interpretative perspective (Elliott & Timulak, 2005; Graneheim, Lindgren, & Lundman, 2017), as we aimed to describe different aspects of how the adolescents experienced participating in the intervention, as well as interpreting the reasons for these experiences.…”

Education Program Delivered to Community Aged Care Employees Based on a Diversity Conceptual Model: A Preliminary Evaluation Using Qualitative Methods

“…Three researchers read the transcripts separately and divided the data into distinctive meaning units 25 .…”

“…The three researchers then met face to face and collectively organised the data into domains, followed by categorising the meaning units within each of the domains into which they had been organised 25 . This involved a constant comparison of meaning to each other and to the emerging categories, until all the data were sorted.…”

“…This involved a constant comparison of meaning to each other and to the emerging categories, until all the data were sorted. The categories were then themselves categorised and relationships between the categories was described 25 . Differences in categorisation, where evident, were resolved by consensus.…”

Defining and Assessing Global Engineering Competency: Methodological Reflections

“…The first project stages were largely exploratory in nature, focused on a mix of what Elliott and Timulak refer to as "definitional" and "descriptive" kinds of research questions. 6 The processes we then used to develop assessment items drew on our initial empirical findings, while also benefitting from a considerable measure of creativity and use of an emerging theoretical framework. The latter stages of the research project are more quantitative in nature, with methods focused on developing scoring keys for the assessment questions and collecting validity evidence.…”