Epidemiological methods
and data collection
(qualitative methods)
Dr. Mohammed Saeed Sanjal
April 2025
objectives
• Identify what is the qualitative research in epidemiology and
why to be use.
• To understand the importance of qualitative data in
epidemiology and it is uses.
• To Recognize Three main methods which used in qualitative
research to collect and manage data
• To recognize the common Samples used in qualitative research
• Understanding the benefit of focus group interview to gather
qualitative data
Terms
• Qualitative: an approach to research that seeks to
understand the complex relationships between personal
and social meanings, individual and cultural practices,
and the material environment or context. Preference is
given to textual or other non- numeric data.
Terms
• Quantitative: An approach to research that seeks to
predict, describe and/or explain observable phenomena
using mathematical and/or statistical techniques.
What is qualitative research?
Qualitative research is a type of scientific research. In general
terms, scientific research consists of an investigation that:
• seeks answers to a question
• systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer
the question
• collects evidence
• produces findings that were not determined in advance
• produces findings that are applicable beyond the immediate
boundaries of the study
Why we use qualitative data in epidemiology
and research
o Why do some programs succeed and other fail?
o Why are screening programs underused? such as screening to
detect breast cancer among women.
o Why does chronic disease go untreated?
o Why are diarrheal diseases, leprosy and tuberculosis are still
the major public health problems until know?
o How does a community mobilize itself to solve a persistent
health problems.
What can we learn from qualitative research?
➢ Provide complex textual descriptions of how people experience a
given research issue.
➢ Provides information about the “human” side of an issue
✓ Behaviors
✓ Beliefs
✓ Opinions
✓ Emotions, and
✓ Relationships of individuals.
➢Identifying intangible factors, such as
✓ Social norms
✓Socioeconomic status
✓Gender roles
✓Ethnicity, and
✓religion,
whose role in the research issue may not be readily apparent. When used
along with quantitative methods,
➢Qualitative research help us to interpret and better understand the reality
of a given situation and the implications of quantitative data
The importance of qualitative data in
epidemiology
It is important to understand not only
Some things are not easily
expressed in numbers WHAT people do, but WHY they
do it
▪Attitudes
▪Feelings ▪Beliefs
▪Emotions ▪Fears
▪Intentions
▪Circumsta ▪Desires
nces Why use qualitative research?
▪Complex
▪Messy
▪Changing
We cannot research public health ▪Ethics
in a laboratory
Differences between qualitative and quantitative research
Role of theory Investigate in a natural setting
▪Normal conditions
▪Seldom a hypothesis
▪Observation
▪Explore a set of issues
▪Getting accounts
▪Local generalisations
▪Sharing stories
Features of qualitative research
▪Face-to-face methods
Researcher involvement ▪neutral
▪Ethical responsibility
Qualitative research is concerned with…
• Why people behave the way they do?
What does health mean to people?
What reasons do they give for their
behaviour?
How do these views compare with
‘professional’ views?
Qualitative research is concerned with…
• How are people’s opinions and attitudes
formed?
Why do people engage in health
damaging behaviours?
What motivates people to change?
Qualitative research is
concerned with…
• How are people are affected by events
and situations?
How does medicine and hospitals affect
our experience of illness?
How responsible are we for our own
lifestyle, given our circumstances?
Qualitative research is concerned with…
• Are there differences between social
groups and cultures
Can we understand different levels of
health promoting behaviour in society?
How do our beliefs influence our care-
seeking behaviour?
Importance of qualitative methods in epidemiology
• Qualitative method is Flexible – seeks an
open ended questions.
• it gives more control to the participant
• Data is rich and explanatory in nature
• Focuses on the ‘human’ side: attitude,
belief, behavior. etc.
Three main methods in qualitative research
There are three most common qualitative methods, Each method is
particularly suited for obtaining a specific type of data.
• Participant observation is appropriate for collecting data on naturally
occurring behaviors in their usual contexts.
• In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’
personal histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when
sensitive topics are being explored.
• Focus groups eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group.
1- Observation/Participant observation
participatory observation is appropriate method to gather data
on natural occurring behavior in their usual context. Such as
prisoners, marginalized people, panhandlers etc.
Good for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviour.
Allows insights into context, relationships and behaviour.
so that, Participant observation is appropriate method for
collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors in their usual
contexts.
2- Interviews
there are a different types of interview the most useful in
qualitative research is in-depth interview.
In-depth interview:
An optimal method for collecting data on individual personal
aspects, it a Good method for to collect data about personal
histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when
sensitive topics are being explored
In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’
personal histories, perspectives,
and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being
explored.
In-depth interview
The in-depth interview is a technique designed to elicit a vivid
picture of the participant’s perspective on the research topic.
During in-depth interviews, the person being interviewed is
considered the expert and the interviewer is considered the
student.
The researcher’s interviewing techniques are motivated by the
desire to learn everything the participant can share about the
research topic.
What is an interview?
An interview is simply a, “conversation with a purpose.”
(Burgess, 1984)
3- Focus groups
an effective method on eliciting data on the cultural norms
of a group of people and in generating broad overview of
issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups
represented, this method is good at discovering the norms
of a group and understanding the broad issues important
to a group. It required 2 person moderator and notetaker
for 8-12 participants.c
Moderator: Person who facilitates a focus group. Also
known as a facilitator
Note-taker: Person responsible for taking notes during a
focus group. Also known as a facilitator.
Sampling in Qualitative Research
Sampling in qualitative research
You cannot talk to everyone!
Sampling is about selecting participants who
can answer your research questions,
rather than statistical probability.
You should have a sampling strategy that is clear,
but not rigid.
Common sampling techniques
• Purposive sampling
• Representative sampling
• Snowball sampling
• Extreme sampling
• Opportunistic sampling
• Quota sampling
Purposive sample
one of the most common sampling strategies
▪ groups participants according to preselected criteria relevant
to a particular research question (for example, HIV-positive
women in Capital City).
▪ Sample sizes, which may or may not be fixed prior to data
collection, depend on the resources and time available, as
well as the study’s objectives.
▪ Purposive sample sizes are often determined on the basis of
theoretical saturation
Purposive sampling
Participants selected because
they will help answer the
research question!
For example:
Student union representatives
• Students who smoke in the
university
• Patient safety Health professionals
Anyone we have missed?
Representative sampling
Sampling that tries to represent the variety in a group.
For example, we may wish to sample for…
• Student’s gender, maturity, or subject studied
• marital status, or education
This sampling method is good for revealing what other
factors in a sample might be important to the research question.
Snowball sampling
Researcher asks participants to suggest
others who can help with the research.
‘Who knows a lot about….’
‘Where can I find good examples of what you’re
talking about?’
This sampling method is good for hard to
reach groups.
Extreme sampling
Select extreme cases in order to highlight
more ordinary situations.
For example examine clinics with low and
high levels of uptake to see what conditions
encourage uptake among CSWs
Opportunistic sampling
You can take advantage of ‘on-the-spot’
Opportunities to broaden your sample, after
fieldwork has begun.
For example, you might discover …
A group of students campaigning for a no-
smoking policy in the university
CSWs who use the HIV clinic and want to help others
Quota sampling
• Quota sampling, is also common sometimes considered a type
of purposive sampling.
• In quota sampling, we decide while designing the study how
many people with which characteristics to include as
participants. Characteristics might include:
• age, place of residence, gender, class, profession, marital
status, use of a particular contraceptive method, HIV status,
etc.
• A process for selecting research participants in which the
criteria and number of people to be included in the study
are predetermined.
• A target number of participants is set, and people who
meet the desired criteria are recruited until the target number
is reached.
the fundamental research ethics principles
Respect for persons requires a commitment to ensuring
the autonomy of research participants
Beneficence requires a commitment to minimizing the risks
associated with research, including psychological and social
risks.
Justice requires a commitment to ensuring a fair
distribution of the risks and benefits resulting from research.