qualitative research in social work has 4 categories

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9.1 Qualitative research: What is it and when should it be used?

Learning objectives.

• Define qualitative research
• Explain the differences between qualitative and quantitative research
• Identify the benefits and challenges of qualitative research

Qualitative versus quantitative research methods refers to data-oriented considerations about the type of data to collected and how they are analyzed. Qualitative research relies mostly on non-numeric data, such as interviews and observations to understand their meaning, in contrast to quantitative research which employs numeric data such as scores and metrics. Hence, qualitative research is not amenable to statistical procedures, but is coded using techniques like content analysis. Sometimes, coded qualitative data are tabulated quantitatively as frequencies of codes, but this data is not statistically analyzed.  Qualitative research has its roots in anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, and semiotics, and has been available since the early 19th century, long before quantitative statistical techniques were employed.

Distinctions from Quantitative Research

In qualitative research, the role of the researcher receives critical attention.  In some methods such as ethnography, action research, and participant observation, the researcher is considered part of the social phenomenon, and her specific role and involvement in the research process must be made clear during data analysis. In other methods, such as case research, the researcher must take a “neutral” or unbiased stance during the data collection and analysis processes, and ensure that her personal biases or preconceptions does not taint the nature of subjective inferences derived from qualitative research.

Analysis in qualitative research is holistic and contextual, rather than being reductionist and isolationist. Qualitative interpretations tend to focus on language, signs, and meanings from the perspective of the participants involved in the social phenomenon, in contrast to statistical techniques that are employed heavily in positivist research. Rigor in qualitative research is viewed in terms of systematic and transparent approaches for data collection and analysis rather than statistical benchmarks for construct validity or significance testing.

Lastly, data collection and analysis can proceed simultaneously and iteratively in qualitative research. For instance, the researcher may conduct an interview and code it before proceeding to the next interview. Simultaneous analysis helps the researcher correct potential flaws in the interview protocol or adjust it to capture the phenomenon of interest better. The researcher may even change her original research question if she realizes that her original research questions are unlikely to generate new or useful insights. This is a valuable but often understated benefit of qualitative research, and is not available in quantitative research, where the research project cannot be modified or changed once the data collection has started without redoing the entire project from the start.

Benefits and Challenges of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research has several unique advantages. First, it is well-suited for exploring hidden reasons behind complex, interrelated, or multifaceted social processes, such as inter-firm relationships or inter-office politics, where quantitative evidence may be biased, inaccurate, or otherwise difficult to obtain. Second, it is often helpful for theory construction in areas with no or insufficient pre-existing theory. Third, qualitative research is also appropriate for studying context-specific, unique, or idiosyncratic events or processes. Fourth, it can help uncover interesting and relevant research questions and issues for follow-up research.

At the same time, qualitative research also has its own set of challenges. First, this type of research tends to be more time and resource intensive than quantitative research in data collection and analytic efforts. Too little data can lead to false or premature assumptions, while too much data may not be effectively processed by the researcher. Second, qualitative research requires well-trained researchers who are capable of seeing and interpreting complex social phenomenon from the perspectives of the embedded participants and reconciling the diverse perspectives of these participants, without injecting their personal biases or preconceptions into their inferences. Third, all participants or data sources may not be equally credible, unbiased, or knowledgeable about the phenomenon of interest, or may have undisclosed political agendas, which may lead to misleading or false impressions. Inadequate trust between participants and researcher may hinder full and honest self-representation by participants, and such trust building takes time. It is the job of the qualitative researcher to “see through the smoke” (hidden or biased agendas) and understand the true nature of the problem. Finally, given the heavily contextualized nature of inferences drawn from qualitative research, such inferences do not lend themselves well to replicability or generalizability.

Key Takeaways

• Qualitative research examines words and other non-numeric media
• Analysis in qualitative research is holistic and contextual
• Qualitative research offers unique benefits, while facing challenges to generalizability and replicability
• Qualitative methods – examine words or other media to understand their meaning

Foundations of Social Work Research Copyright © 2020 by Rebecca L. Mauldin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Subject List
• Take a Tour
• For Authors
• Subscriber Services
• Publications
• African American Studies
• African Studies
• American Literature
• Anthropology
• Architecture Planning and Preservation
• Art History
• Atlantic History
• Biblical Studies
• British and Irish Literature
• Childhood Studies
• Chinese Studies
• Cinema and Media Studies
• Communication
• Criminology
• Environmental Science
• Evolutionary Biology
• International Law
• International Relations
• Islamic Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Latino Studies
• Linguistics
• Literary and Critical Theory
• Medieval Studies
• Military History
• Political Science
• Public Health
• Renaissance and Reformation

Social Work

• Urban Studies
• Victorian Literature
• Browse All Subjects

How to Subscribe

• Free Trials

In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Qualitative Research

Introduction, introductory works.

• Definitions and Descriptions
• Quasi-Statistical Approaches
• Template Analysis
• Editing Approaches
• Immersion or Crystallization Methods
• Participatory Action Research
• Qualitative Inquiry
• Rigor and Standards

Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about

About related articles close popup.

Lorem Ipsum Sit Dolor Amet

Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aliquam ligula odio, euismod ut aliquam et, vestibulum nec risus. Nulla viverra, arcu et iaculis consequat, justo diam ornare tellus, semper ultrices tellus nunc eu tellus.

• Computational Social Welfare: Applying Data Science in Social Work
• Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
• Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice
• Interviewing
• Measurement, Scales, and Indices
• Meta-analysis
• Postmodernism and Social Work
• Practice Research
• Research Ethics
• Social Intervention Research
• Social Work Research Methods
• Systematic Review Methods
• Triangulation

Other Subject Areas

Forthcoming articles expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section.

• Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work
• Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Work
• Social Work Practice with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth
• Find more forthcoming articles...
• Export Citations
• Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Qualitative Research by James Drisko LAST REVIEWED: 25 May 2011 LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0047

“Qualitative research” is a term that encompasses a wide variety of research types and methods. Its great variety makes it difficult to define and describe succinctly. This bibliography will offer a general introduction but will inevitably be incomplete. Qualitative research in the social sciences has deep roots in sociology and anthropology. For example, fieldwork and ethnography continue to be pivotal methods in these and other disciplines. The professions have also drawn extensively on qualitative research, though emphasis on quantitative research in the academy after World War II and the current ideology of evidence-based approaches among academics and service funders devalue it. Qualitative research is widely found and widely taught in nursing and in education. It is quite evident, but less prominent, in social work, in medicine, in psychology, and in occupational therapy.

In social work, Jane Addams’s portrayals of the circumstances of immigrant populations in Chicago ( Addams 1895 ) are public qualitative research works that are still highly valued. Indeed, Addams is sometimes claimed as a role model by scholars outside the profession as well as within social work. Mary Richmond’s 1917 Social Diagnosis ( Richmond 1955 ) details a method for learning the psychosocial needs of clients and families in context, drawing on qualitative interviews, observations, and documents. These social work contributions emerged as sociology began to define its research methods ( Znaniecki 1934 ). The widely used traditional case study is one well-known form of qualitative research ( Gilgun 1994 ), though case study methods, purposes, and reporting vary, as does its quality. Social work education has long included both formal and informal training in qualitative data collection methods, including interviewing and participant observation, described by Zimbalist 1977 . Further, the traditional method of process recording has provided both a technique and active training in recording interview data. Beyond documentation, process recording also provided an introduction to active reflection on the participant and on the self that is a key element of professional practice as well as of qualitative research. Since 1994 qualitative research has been required content in the Council on Social Work Education’s accreditation standards for all bachelor’s and master’s level programs.

Addams, Jane, Agnes Sinclair Holbrook Florence Kelley, Alzina P. Stevens, Isabel Eaton, Charles Zeublin, Josefa Humpal Zeman, Alessandro Mastro-Valerio, Julia C. Lathrop, and Ellen Gates Starr . 1895. Hull House maps and papers . New York: Crowell.

Addams sought to document and publicize the living conditions of immigrant populations in Chicago. Her goal was to raise public awareness and to catalyze social change. Both Addams’s methods, which draw on fieldwork from sociology, and her goals, which affirm social justice, are widely evident in qualitative research across disciplines in the early 21st century. Seminal, groundbreaking work from a social work pioneer.

Gilgun, Jane F. 1994. A case for case studies in social work research. Social Work 39:371–380.

Gilgun argues for the wide applicability of the case study method to social work research and to social work practice. The article offers an overview of the case study method and takes stock of the method’s strengths and limitations. A very widely known, classic article.

Richmond, Mary Ellen. 1955. Social diagnosis . New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

First published in 1917. The originator of the psychosocial perspective, Richmond details a qualitative method of diagnosis that balances attention to macro-level social issues with micro-level family and individual concerns. Several case studies portray people-in-environments in great detail and with broad perspective. An early example of social work case studies based on planned interviews and observations—key tools in qualitative research as well.

Zimbalist, Sidney. 1977. Historic themes and landmarks in social welfare research . New York: Harper & Row.

A unique book on the history of social work research. Chronological in plan, the book shows the development of social work research models in context. Extensive use of qualitative methods is documented, and the forces that have promoted quantitative research as a dichotomous alternative to qualitative research are noted. Lacks contemporary perspective, however, given its publication date.

Znaniecki, Florian. 1934. The method of sociology . New York: Farrar & Rinehart.

In this early, classic work in sociology, Znaniecki details the method of analytic induction. Analytic indication seeks deductively to frame new concepts and preliminary theory while maintaining clear connections to its evidence base. This method is clearly the foundation of grounded theory, which followed it in the 1960s.

back to top

Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login .

Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here .

• About Social Work »
• Meet the Editorial Board »
• Adolescent Depression
• Adolescent Pregnancy
• Adolescents
• Adoption Home Study Assessments
• Adult Protective Services in the United States
• African Americans
• Aging out of foster care
• Aging, Physical Health and
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems
• Alcohol and Drug Problems, Prevention of Adolescent and Yo...
• Alcohol Problems: Practice Interventions
• Alcohol Use Disorder
• Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
• Anti-Oppressive Practice
• Asian Americans
• Asian-American Youth
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Baccalaureate Social Workers
• Behavioral Health
• Behavioral Social Work Practice
• Bereavement Practice
• Bisexuality
• Brief Therapies in Social Work: Task-Centered Model and So...
• Bullying and Social Work Intervention
• Canadian Social Welfare, History of
• Case Management in Mental Health in the United States
• Central American Migration to the United States
• Child Maltreatment Prevention
• Child Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
• Child Poverty
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Child Welfare
• Child Welfare and Child Protection in Europe, History of
• Child Welfare and Parents with Intellectual and/or Develop...
• Child Welfare Effectiveness
• Child Welfare, Immigration and
• Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families
• Children of Incarcerated Parents
• Christianity and Social Work
• Chronic Illness
• Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians
• Clinical Social Work Practice with Males
• Cognitive Behavior Therapies with Diverse and Stressed Pop...
• Cognitive Processing Therapy
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Community Development
• Community Policing
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Community-Needs Assessment
• Comparative Social Work
• Computational Social Welfare: Applying Data Science in Soc...
• Conflict Resolution
• Council on Social Work Education
• Counseling Female Offenders
• Criminal Justice
• Crisis Interventions
• Cultural Competence and Ethnic Sensitive Practice
• Culture, Ethnicity, Substance Use, and Substance Use Disor...
• Dementia Care
• Dementia Care, Ethical Aspects of
• Depression and Cancer
• Development and Infancy (Birth to Age Three)
• Differential Response in Child Welfare
• Digital Storytelling for Social Work Interventions
• Direct Practice in Social Work
• Disabilities
• Disability and Disability Culture
• Domestic Violence Among Immigrants
• Early Pregnancy and Parenthood Among Child Welfare–Involve...
• Eating Disorders
• Ecological Framework
• Economic Evaluation
• Elder Mistreatment
• End-of-Life Decisions
• Epigenetics for Social Workers
• Ethical Issues in Social Work and Technology
• Ethics and Values in Social Work
• European Institutions and Social Work
• European Union, Justice and Home Affairs in the
• Evidence-based Social Work Practice
• Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Finding Evidence
• Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Issues, Controversies...
• Families with Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents
• Family Caregiving
• Family Group Conferencing
• Family Policy
• Family Services
• Family Therapy
• Family Violence
• Fathering Among Families Served By Child Welfare
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
• Field Education
• Financial Literacy and Social Work
• Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
• Forensic Social Work
• Foster Care
• Foster care and siblings
• Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in t...
• Generalist Practice and Advanced Generalist Practice
• Grounded Theory
• Group Work across Populations, Challenges, and Settings
• Group Work, Research, Best Practices, and Evidence-based
• Harm Reduction
• Health Care Reform
• Health Disparities
• Health Social Work
• History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1900–1950
• History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1950-1980
• History of Social Work and Social Welfare, pre-1900
• History of Social Work from 1980-2014
• History of Social Work in China
• History of Social Work in Northern Ireland
• History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
• History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
• HIV/AIDS and Children
• HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescents
• Homelessness
• Homelessness: Ending Homelessness as a Grand Challenge
• Homelessness Outside the United States
• Human Needs
• Human Trafficking, Victims of
• Immigrant Integration in the United States
• Immigrant Policy in the United States
• Immigrants and Refugees
• Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practi...
• Immigration and Health Disparities
• Immigration and Intimate Partner Violence
• Immigration and Poverty
• Immigration and Spirituality
• Immigration and Substance Use
• Immigration and Trauma
• Impaired Professionals
• Implementation Science and Practice
• Indigenous Peoples
• Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employmen...
• In-home Child Welfare Services
• Intergenerational Transmission of Maltreatment
• International Human Trafficking
• International Social Welfare
• International Social Work
• International Social Work and Education
• International Social Work and Social Welfare in Southern A...
• Internet and Video Game Addiction
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Intervention with Traumatized Populations
• Intimate-Partner Violence
• Juvenile Justice
• Kinship Care
• Korean Americans
• Latinos and Latinas
• Law, Social Work and the
• LGBTQ Populations and Social Work
• Mainland European Social Work, History of
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Management and Administration in Social Work
• Maternal Mental Health
• Medical Illness
• Men: Health and Mental Health Care
• Mental Health
• Mental Health Diagnosis and the Addictive Substance Disord...
• Mental Health Needs of Older People, Assessing the
• Mental Health Services from 1990 to 2023
• Mental Illness: Children
• Mental Illness: Elders
• Microskills
• Middle East and North Africa, International Social Work an...
• Military Social Work
• Mixed Methods Research
• Moral distress and injury in social work
• Motivational Interviewing
• Multiculturalism
• Native Americans
• Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
• Neighborhood Social Cohesion
• Neuroscience and Social Work
• Nicotine Dependence
• Occupational Social Work
• Organizational Development and Change
• Pain Management
• Palliative Care
• Palliative Care: Evolution and Scope of Practice
• Pandemics and Social Work
• Parent Training
• Personalization
• Person-in-Environment
• Philosophy of Science and Social Work
• Physical Disabilities
• Podcasts and Social Work
• Police Social Work
• Political Social Work in the United States
• Positive Youth Development
• Postsecondary Education Experiences and Attainment Among Y...
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Practice Interventions and Aging
• Practice Interventions with Adolescents
• Primary Prevention in the 21st Century
• Productive Engagement of Older Adults
• Profession, Social Work
• Program Development and Grant Writing
• Promoting Smart Decarceration as a Grand Challenge
• Psychiatric Rehabilitation
• Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theory
• Psychoeducation
• Psychometrics
• Psychopathology and Social Work Practice
• Psychopharmacology and Social Work Practice
• Psychosocial Framework
• Psychosocial Intervention with Women
• Psychotherapy and Social Work
• Qualitative Research
• Race and Racism
• Readmission Policies in Europe
• Redefining Police Interactions with People Experiencing Me...
• Refugee Children, Unaccompanied Immigrant and
• Rehabilitation
• Religiously Affiliated Agencies
• Reproductive Health
• Restorative Justice
• Risk Assessment in Child Protection Services
• Risk Management in Social Work
• Rural Social Work in China
• Rural Social Work Practice
• School Social Work
• School Violence
• School-Based Delinquency Prevention
• Services and Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
• Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Adults
• Sexual and Gender Minority Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylu...
• Sexual Assault
• Single-System Research Designs
• Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on U...
• Social Development
• Social Insurance and Social Justice
• Social Justice and Social Work
• Social Movements
• Social Planning
• Social Policy
• Social Policy in Denmark
• Social Security in the United States (OASDHI)
• Social Work and Islam
• Social Work and Social Welfare in East, West, and Central ...
• Social Work and Social Welfare in Europe
• Social Work Education and Research
• Social Work Leadership
• Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Cla...
• Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the fou...
• Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Soci...
• Social Work Practice, Rare and Orphan Diseases and
• Social Work Regulation
• Social Work with Interpreters
• Solution-Focused Therapy
• Strategic Planning
• Strengths Perspective
• Strengths-Based Models in Social Work
• Supplemental Security Income
• Survey Research
• Sustainability: Creating Social Responses to a Changing En...
• Syrian Refugees in Turkey
• Task-Centered Practice
• Technology Adoption in Social Work Education
• Technology for Social Work Interventions
• Technology, Human Relationships, and Human Interaction
• Technology in Social Work
• Terminal Illness
• The Impact of Systemic Racism on Latinxs’ Experiences with...
• Transdisciplinary Science
• Translational Science and Social Work
• Transnational Perspectives in Social Work
• Transtheoretical Model of Change
• Trauma-Informed Care
• Tribal child welfare practice in the United States
• United States, History of Social Welfare in the
• Universal Basic Income
• Veteran Services
• Vicarious Trauma and Resilience in Social Work Practice wi...
• Vicarious Trauma Redefining PTSD
• Victim Services
• Virtual Reality and Social Work
• Welfare State Reform in France
• Welfare State Theory
• Women and Macro Social Work Practice
• Women's Health Care
• Work and Family in the German Welfare State
• Workforce Development of Social Workers Pre- and Post-Empl...
• Working with Non-Voluntary and Mandated Clients
• Young and Adolescent Lesbians
• Youth at Risk
• Youth Services
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Legal Notice
• Accessibility

Powered by:

• [185.80.149.115]
• 185.80.149.115

Breadcrumbs Section. Click here to navigate to respective pages.

Qualitative Research Skills for Social Work

DOI link for Qualitative Research Skills for Social Work

Get Citation

Malcolm Carey provides social work students, academics and practitioners with a practical guide to completion of a small-scale qualitative research project or dissertation. This clear text takes the reader through the process of beginning and developing a research problem or question, defining their objectives and undertaking empirical or literature-based research that involves data collection, analysis, writing up and dissemination. The book also highlights and details potential obstacles, essential techniques and methods, types of theory and methodology used, and presents case studies and ongoing debates involved in qualitative social work research. It suggests ways by which sometimes difficult processes (such as the literature review, interviews with practitioners, etc.) can be made easier to complete and explores traditional methods such as the focus group or interview alongside less conventional methodologies such as participative, narrative, discourse or ICT-related approaches. Recent investigation has highlighted the lack of research skills held by many social workers in practice. This book overcomes these problems by providing an essential and easily accessible guidebook to qualitative research methods for social work students and practitioners as well as being of interest to tutors who teach research methods to social work students or supervise dissertations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part | 2  pages, part 1: foundations of qualitative social work research, chapter 1 | 14  pages, introducing qualitative social work research, chapter 2 | 14  pages, the research process, chapter 3 | 14  pages, core social work research concepts, chapter 4 | 12  pages, the literature review, chapter 5 | 12  pages, literature-based research and methodologies, chapter 6 | 14  pages, theoretical and philosophical perspectives, chapter 7 | 14  pages, methodology, chapter 8 | 10  pages, research ethics, part 2: qualitative methodology and methods, chapter 9 | 18  pages, interviews and questionnaires, chapter 10 | 8  pages, focus groups, chapter 11 | 12  pages, grounded theory and case studies, chapter 12 | 16  pages, ethnography, chapter 13 | 10  pages, life histories and biographical research, chapter 14 | 12  pages, narrative and discourse analysis, chapter 15 | 12  pages, participative research, chapter 16 | 18  pages, internet research, part 3: analysis, writing and dissemination, chapter 17 | 16  pages, chapter 18 | 12  pages, writing up and dissemination.

• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Taylor & Francis Online
• Taylor & Francis Group
• Students/Researchers
• Librarians/Institutions

Connect with us

Registered in England & Wales No. 3099067 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG © 2024 Informa UK Limited

Qualitative Research in Social Work

• January 2003
• Publisher: Chûô Hôki
• Editors: N. Hisada

• Sophia University
• This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.

Discover the world's research

• 25+ million members
• 160+ million publication pages
• 2.3+ billion citations

• Patricia Evans

• Caitlin A Nunn

• Annelize Daniels

• Cherylene De Jager
• Anton Muller
• Paul Atkinson
• Michael Bloor
• Susan White
• Herbert J. Gans
• Y.S. Lincoln
• H.S. Becker
• REV HIGH EDUC
• Yvonna S. Lincoln
• Egon G. Guba

• Grant David McCracken
• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

36 9.4 Types of qualitative research designs

Learning objectives.

• Define focus groups and outline how they differ from one-on-one interviews
• Describe how to determine the best size for focus groups
• Identify the important considerations in focus group composition
• Discuss how to moderate focus groups
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of focus group methodology
• Describe case study research, ethnography, and phenomenology.

There are various types of approaches to qualitative research.  This chapter presents information about focus groups, which are often used in social work research.  It also introduces case studies, ethnography, and phenomenology.

Focus Groups

Focus groups resemble qualitative interviews in that a researcher may prepare a guide in advance and interact with participants by asking them questions. But anyone who has conducted both one-on-one interviews and focus groups knows that each is unique. In an interview, usually one member (the research participant) is most active while the other (the researcher) plays the role of listener, conversation guider, and question-asker. Focus groups , on the other hand, are planned discussions designed to elicit group interaction and “obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, nonthreatening environment” (Krueger & Casey, 2000, p. 5).  In focus groups, the researcher play a different role than in a one-on-one interview. The researcher’s aim is to get participants talking to each other,  to observe interactions among participants, and moderate the discussion.

There are numerous examples of focus group research. In their 2008 study, for example, Amy Slater and Marika Tiggemann (2010) conducted six focus groups with 49 adolescent girls between the ages of 13 and 15 to learn more about girls’ attitudes towards’ participation in sports. In order to get focus group participants to speak with one another rather than with the group facilitator, the focus group interview guide contained just two questions: “Can you tell me some of the reasons that girls stop playing sports or other physical activities?” and “Why do you think girls don’t play as much sport/physical activity as boys?” In another focus group study, Virpi Ylanne and Angie Williams (2009) held nine focus group sessions with adults of different ages to gauge their perceptions of how older characters are represented in television commercials. Among other considerations, the researchers were interested in discovering how focus group participants position themselves and others in terms of age stereotypes and identities during the group discussion. In both examples, the researchers’ core interest in group interaction could not have been assessed had interviews been conducted on a one-on-one basis, making the focus group method an ideal choice.

Who should be in your focus group?

In some ways, focus groups require more planning than other qualitative methods of data collection, such as one-on-one interviews in which a researcher may be better able to the dialogue. Researchers must take care to form focus groups with members who will want to interact with one another and to control the timing of the event so that participants are not asked nor expected to stay for a longer time than they’ve agreed to participate. The researcher should also be prepared to inform focus group participants of their responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of what is said in the group. But while the researcher can and should encourage all focus group members to maintain confidentiality, she should also clarify to participants that the unique nature of the group setting prevents her from being able to promise that confidentiality will be maintained by other participants. Once focus group members leave the research setting, researchers cannot control what they say to other people.

Group size should be determined in part by the topic of the interview and your sense of the likelihood that participants will have much to say without much prompting. If the topic is one about which you think participants feel passionately and will have much to say, a group of 3–5 could make sense. Groups larger than that, especially for heated topics, can easily become unmanageable. Some researchers say that a group of about 6–10 participants is the ideal size for focus group research (Morgan, 1997); others recommend that groups should include 3–12 participants (Adler & Clark, 2008).  The size of the focus group is ultimately the decision of the researcher. When forming groups and deciding how large or small to make them, take into consideration what you know about the topic and participants’ potential interest in, passion for, and feelings about the topic. Also consider your comfort level and experience in conducting focus groups. These factors will help you decide which size is right in your particular case.

It may seem counterintuitive, but in general, it is better to form focus groups consisting of participants who do not know one another than to create groups consisting of friends, relatives, or acquaintances (Agar & MacDonald, 1995).  The reason is that group members who know each other may not share some taken-for-granted knowledge or assumptions. In research, it is precisely the  taken-for-granted knowledge that is often of interest; thus, the focus group researcher should avoid setting up interactions where participants may be discouraged to question or raise issues that they take for granted. However, group members should not be so different from one another that participants will be unlikely to feel comfortable talking with one another.

Focus group researchers must carefully consider the composition of the groups they put together. In his text on conducting focus groups, Morgan (1997) suggests that “homogeneity in background and not homogeneity in attitudes” (p. 36) should be the goal, since participants must feel comfortable speaking up but must also have enough differences to facilitate a productive discussion.  Whatever composition a researcher designs for her focus groups, the important point to keep in mind is that focus group dynamics are shaped by multiple social contexts (Hollander, 2004). Participants’ silences as well as their speech may be shaped by gender, race, class, sexuality, age, or other background characteristics or social dynamics—all of which might be suppressed or exacerbated depending on the composition of the group. Hollander (2004) suggests that researchers must pay careful attention to group composition, must be attentive to group dynamics during the focus group discussion, and should use multiple methods of data collection in order to “untangle participants’ responses and their relationship to the social contexts of the focus group” (p. 632).

The role of the moderator

In addition to the importance of group composition, focus groups also require skillful moderation. A moderator is the researcher tasked with facilitating the conversation in the focus group. Participants may ask each other follow-up questions, agree or disagree with one another, display body language that tells us something about their feelings about the conversation, or even come up with questions not previously conceived of by the researcher. It is just these sorts of interactions and displays that are of interest to the researcher. A researcher conducting focus groups collects data on more than people’s direct responses to her question, as in interviews.

The moderator’s job is not to ask questions to each person individually, but to stimulate conversation between participants. It is important to set ground rules for focus groups at the outset of the discussion. Remind participants you’ve invited them to participate because you want to hear from all of them. Therefore, the group should aim to let just one person speak at a time and avoid letting just a couple of participants dominate the conversation. One way to do this is to begin the discussion by asking participants to briefly introduce themselves or to provide a brief response to an opening question. This will help set the tone of having all group members participate. Also, ask participants to avoid having side conversations; thoughts or reactions to what is said in the group are important and should be shared with everyone.

As the focus group gets rolling, the moderator will play a less active role as participants talk to one another. There may be times when the conversation stagnates or when you, as moderator, wish to guide the conversation in another direction. In these instances, it is important to demonstrate that you’ve been paying attention to what participants have said. Being prepared to interject statements or questions such as “I’d really like to hear more about what Sunil and Joe think about what Dominick and Jae have been saying” or “Several of you have mentioned X. What do others think about this?” will be important for keeping the conversation going. It can also help redirect the conversation, shift the focus to participants who have been less active in the group, and serve as a cue to those who may be dominating the conversation that it is time to allow others to speak. Researchers may choose to use multiple moderators to make managing these various tasks easier.

Moderators are often too busy working with participants to take diligent notes during a focus group. It is helpful to have a note-taker who can record participants’ responses (Liamputtong, 2011). The note-taker creates, in essence, the first draft of interpretation for the data in the study. They note themes in responses, nonverbal cues, and other information to be included in the analysis later on. Focus groups are analyzed in a similar way as interviews; however, the interactive dimension between participants adds another element to the analytical process. Researchers must attend to the group dynamics of each focus group, as “verbal and nonverbal expressions, the tactical use of humour, interruptions in interaction, and disagreement between participants” are all data that are vital to include in analysis (Liamputtong, 2011, p. 175). Note-takers record these elements in field notes, which allows moderators to focus on the conversation.

Strengths and weaknesses of focus groups

Focus groups share many of the strengths and weaknesses of one-on-one qualitative interviews. Both methods can yield very detailed, in-depth information; are excellent for studying social processes; and provide researchers with an opportunity not only to hear what participants say but also to observe what they do in terms of their body language. Focus groups offer the added benefit of giving researchers a chance to collect data on human interaction by observing how group participants respond and react to one another. Like one-on-one qualitative interviews, focus groups can also be quite expensive and time-consuming. However, there may be some savings with focus groups as it takes fewer group events than one-on-one interviews to gather data from the same number of people. Another potential drawback of focus groups, which is not a concern for one-on-one interviews, is that one or two participants might dominate the group, silencing other participants. Careful planning and skillful moderation on the part of the researcher are crucial for avoiding, or at least dealing with, such possibilities. The various strengths and weaknesses of focus group research are summarized in Table 91.

Grounded Theory

Grounded theory has been widely used since its development in the late 1960s (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Largely derived from schools of sociology, grounded theory involves emersion of the researcher in the field and in the data. Researchers follow a systematic set of procedures and a simultaneous approach to data collection and analysis. Grounded theory is most often used to generate rich explanations of complex actions, processes, and transitions. The primary mode of data collection is one-on-one participant interviews. Sample sizes tend to range from 20 to 30 individuals, sampled purposively (Padgett, 2016). However, sample sizes can be larger or smaller, depending on data saturation. Data saturation is the point in the qualitative research data collection process when no new information is being discovered. Researchers use a constant comparative approach in which previously collected data are analyzed during the same time frame as new data are being collected.  This allows the researchers to determine when new information is no longer being gleaned from data collection and analysis — that data saturation has been reached — in order to conclude the data collection phase.

Rather than apply or test existing grand theories, or “Big T” theories, grounded theory focuses on “small t” theories (Padgett, 2016). Grand theories, or “Big T” theories, are systems of principles, ideas, and concepts used to predict phenomena. These theories are backed up by facts and tested hypotheses. “Small t” theories are speculative and contingent upon specific contexts. In grounded theory, these “small t” theories are grounded in events and experiences and emerge from the analysis of the data collected.

One notable application of grounded theory produced a “small t” theory of acceptance following cancer diagnoses (Jakobsson, Horvath, & Ahlberg, 2005). Using grounded theory, the researchers interviewed nine patients in western Sweden. Data collection and analysis stopped when saturation was reached. The researchers found that action and knowledge, given with respect and continuity led to confidence which led to acceptance. This “small t” theory continues to be applied and further explored in other contexts.

Case study research

Case study research is an intensive longitudinal study of a phenomenon at one or more research sites for the purpose of deriving detailed, contextualized inferences and understanding the dynamic process underlying a phenomenon of interest. Case research is a unique research design in that it can be used in an interpretive manner to build theories or in a positivist manner to test theories. The previous chapter on case research discusses both techniques in depth and provides illustrative exemplars. Furthermore, the case researcher is a neutral observer (direct observation) in the social setting rather than an active participant (participant observation). As with any other interpretive approach, drawing meaningful inferences from case research depends heavily on the observational skills and integrative abilities of the researcher.

Ethnography

The ethnographic research method, derived largely from the field of anthropology, emphasizes studying a phenomenon within the context of its culture. The researcher must be deeply immersed in the social culture over an extended period of time (usually 8 months to 2 years) and should engage, observe, and record the daily life of the studied culture and its social participants within their natural setting. The primary mode of data collection is participant observation, and data analysis involves a “sense-making” approach. In addition, the researcher must take extensive field notes, and narrate her experience in descriptive detail so that readers may experience the same culture as the researcher. In this method, the researcher has two roles: rely on her unique knowledge and engagement to generate insights (theory), and convince the scientific community of the trans-situational nature of the studied phenomenon.

The classic example of ethnographic research is Jane Goodall’s study of primate behaviors, where she lived with chimpanzees in their natural habitat at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, observed their behaviors, interacted with them, and shared their lives. During that process, she learnt and chronicled how chimpanzees seek food and shelter, how they socialize with each other, their communication patterns, their mating behaviors, and so forth. A more contemporary example of ethnographic research is Myra Bluebond-Langer’s (1996)14 study of decision making in families with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses, and the physical, psychological, environmental, ethical, legal, and cultural issues that influence such decision-making. The researcher followed the experiences of approximately 80 children with incurable illnesses and their families for a period of over two years. Data collection involved participant observation and formal/informal conversations with children, their parents and relatives, and health care providers to document their lived experience.

Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a research method that emphasizes the study of conscious experiences as a way of understanding the reality around us. Phenomenology is concerned with the systematic reflection and analysis of phenomena associated with conscious experiences, such as human judgment, perceptions, and actions, with the goal of (1) appreciating and describing social reality from the diverse subjective perspectives of the participants involved, and (2) understanding the symbolic meanings (“deep structure”) underlying these subjective experiences. Phenomenological inquiry requires that researchers eliminate any prior assumptions and personal biases, empathize with the participant’s situation, and tune into existential dimensions of that situation, so that they can fully understand the deep structures that drives the conscious thinking, feeling, and behavior of the studied participants.

Some researchers view phenomenology as a philosophy rather than as a research method. In response to this criticism, Giorgi and Giorgi (2003) developed an existential phenomenological research method to guide studies in this area. This method can be grouped into data collection and data analysis phases. In the data collection phase, participants embedded in a social phenomenon are interviewed to capture their subjective experiences and perspectives regarding the phenomenon under investigation. Examples of questions that may be asked include “can you describe a typical day” or “can you describe that particular incident in more detail?” These interviews are recorded and transcribed for further analysis. During data analysis, the researcher reads the transcripts to: (1) get a sense of the whole, and (2) establish “units of significance” that can faithfully represent participants’ subjective experiences. Examples of such units of significance are concepts such as “felt space” and “felt time,” which are then used to document participants’ psychological experiences. For instance, did participants feel safe, free, trapped, or joyous when experiencing a phenomenon (“felt-space”)? Did they feel that their experience was pressured, slow, or discontinuous (“felt-time”)? Phenomenological analysis should take into account the participants’ temporal landscape (i.e., their sense of past, present, and future), and the researcher must transpose herself in an imaginary sense in the participant’s situation (i.e., temporarily live the participant’s life). The participants’ lived experience is described in form of a narrative or using emergent themes. The analysis then delves into these themes to identify multiple layers of meaning while retaining the fragility and ambiguity of subjects’ lived experiences.

Key Takeaways

• In terms of focus group composition, homogeneity of background among participants is recommended while diverse attitudes within the group are ideal.
• The goal of a focus group is to get participants to talk with one another rather than the researcher.
• Like one-on-one qualitative interviews, focus groups can yield very detailed information, are excellent for studying social processes, and provide researchers with an opportunity to observe participants’ body language; they also allow researchers to observe social interaction.
• Focus groups can be expensive and time-consuming, as are one-on-one interviews; there is also the possibility that a few participants will dominate the group and silence others in the group.
• Other types of qualitative research include case studies, ethnography, and phenomenology.
• Data saturation – the point in the qualitative research data collection process when no new information is being discovered
• Focus groups- planned discussions designed to elicit group interaction and “obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, nonthreatening environment” (Krueger & Casey, 2000, p. 5)
• Moderator- the researcher tasked with facilitating the conversation in the focus group

Image attributions

target group by geralt CC-0

workplace team by Free-Photos CC-0

Foundations of Social Work Research Copyright © 2020 by Rebecca L. Mauldin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Privacy Policy

Home » Qualitative Research – Methods, Analysis Types and Guide

Qualitative Research – Methods, Analysis Types and Guide

Table of Contents

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a type of research methodology that focuses on exploring and understanding people’s beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and experiences through the collection and analysis of non-numerical data. It seeks to answer research questions through the examination of subjective data, such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and textual analysis.

Qualitative research aims to uncover the meaning and significance of social phenomena, and it typically involves a more flexible and iterative approach to data collection and analysis compared to quantitative research. Qualitative research is often used in fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, and education.

Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative Research Methods are as follows:

One-to-One Interview

This method involves conducting an interview with a single participant to gain a detailed understanding of their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. One-to-one interviews can be conducted in-person, over the phone, or through video conferencing. The interviewer typically uses open-ended questions to encourage the participant to share their thoughts and feelings. One-to-one interviews are useful for gaining detailed insights into individual experiences.

Focus Groups

This method involves bringing together a group of people to discuss a specific topic in a structured setting. The focus group is led by a moderator who guides the discussion and encourages participants to share their thoughts and opinions. Focus groups are useful for generating ideas and insights, exploring social norms and attitudes, and understanding group dynamics.

Ethnographic Studies

This method involves immersing oneself in a culture or community to gain a deep understanding of its norms, beliefs, and practices. Ethnographic studies typically involve long-term fieldwork and observation, as well as interviews and document analysis. Ethnographic studies are useful for understanding the cultural context of social phenomena and for gaining a holistic understanding of complex social processes.

Text Analysis

This method involves analyzing written or spoken language to identify patterns and themes. Text analysis can be quantitative or qualitative. Qualitative text analysis involves close reading and interpretation of texts to identify recurring themes, concepts, and patterns. Text analysis is useful for understanding media messages, public discourse, and cultural trends.

This method involves an in-depth examination of a single person, group, or event to gain an understanding of complex phenomena. Case studies typically involve a combination of data collection methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the case. Case studies are useful for exploring unique or rare cases, and for generating hypotheses for further research.

Process of Observation

This method involves systematically observing and recording behaviors and interactions in natural settings. The observer may take notes, use audio or video recordings, or use other methods to document what they see. Process of observation is useful for understanding social interactions, cultural practices, and the context in which behaviors occur.

Record Keeping

This method involves keeping detailed records of observations, interviews, and other data collected during the research process. Record keeping is essential for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data, and for providing a basis for analysis and interpretation.

This method involves collecting data from a large sample of participants through a structured questionnaire. Surveys can be conducted in person, over the phone, through mail, or online. Surveys are useful for collecting data on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and for identifying patterns and trends in a population.

Qualitative data analysis is a process of turning unstructured data into meaningful insights. It involves extracting and organizing information from sources like interviews, focus groups, and surveys. The goal is to understand people’s attitudes, behaviors, and motivations

Qualitative Research Analysis Methods

Qualitative Research analysis methods involve a systematic approach to interpreting and making sense of the data collected in qualitative research. Here are some common qualitative data analysis methods:

Thematic Analysis

This method involves identifying patterns or themes in the data that are relevant to the research question. The researcher reviews the data, identifies keywords or phrases, and groups them into categories or themes. Thematic analysis is useful for identifying patterns across multiple data sources and for generating new insights into the research topic.

Content Analysis

This method involves analyzing the content of written or spoken language to identify key themes or concepts. Content analysis can be quantitative or qualitative. Qualitative content analysis involves close reading and interpretation of texts to identify recurring themes, concepts, and patterns. Content analysis is useful for identifying patterns in media messages, public discourse, and cultural trends.

Discourse Analysis

This method involves analyzing language to understand how it constructs meaning and shapes social interactions. Discourse analysis can involve a variety of methods, such as conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, and narrative analysis. Discourse analysis is useful for understanding how language shapes social interactions, cultural norms, and power relationships.

Grounded Theory Analysis

This method involves developing a theory or explanation based on the data collected. Grounded theory analysis starts with the data and uses an iterative process of coding and analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data. The theory or explanation that emerges is grounded in the data, rather than preconceived hypotheses. Grounded theory analysis is useful for understanding complex social phenomena and for generating new theoretical insights.

Narrative Analysis

This method involves analyzing the stories or narratives that participants share to gain insights into their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. Narrative analysis can involve a variety of methods, such as structural analysis, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis. Narrative analysis is useful for understanding how individuals construct their identities, make sense of their experiences, and communicate their values and beliefs.

Phenomenological Analysis

This method involves analyzing how individuals make sense of their experiences and the meanings they attach to them. Phenomenological analysis typically involves in-depth interviews with participants to explore their experiences in detail. Phenomenological analysis is useful for understanding subjective experiences and for developing a rich understanding of human consciousness.

Comparative Analysis

This method involves comparing and contrasting data across different cases or groups to identify similarities and differences. Comparative analysis can be used to identify patterns or themes that are common across multiple cases, as well as to identify unique or distinctive features of individual cases. Comparative analysis is useful for understanding how social phenomena vary across different contexts and groups.

Applications of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research has many applications across different fields and industries. Here are some examples of how qualitative research is used:

• Market Research: Qualitative research is often used in market research to understand consumer attitudes, behaviors, and preferences. Researchers conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews with consumers to gather insights into their experiences and perceptions of products and services.
• Health Care: Qualitative research is used in health care to explore patient experiences and perspectives on health and illness. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews with patients and their families to gather information on their experiences with different health care providers and treatments.
• Education: Qualitative research is used in education to understand student experiences and to develop effective teaching strategies. Researchers conduct classroom observations and interviews with students and teachers to gather insights into classroom dynamics and instructional practices.
• Social Work : Qualitative research is used in social work to explore social problems and to develop interventions to address them. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews with individuals and families to understand their experiences with poverty, discrimination, and other social problems.
• Anthropology : Qualitative research is used in anthropology to understand different cultures and societies. Researchers conduct ethnographic studies and observe and interview members of different cultural groups to gain insights into their beliefs, practices, and social structures.
• Psychology : Qualitative research is used in psychology to understand human behavior and mental processes. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews with individuals to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
• Public Policy : Qualitative research is used in public policy to explore public attitudes and to inform policy decisions. Researchers conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews with members of the public to gather insights into their perspectives on different policy issues.

How to Conduct Qualitative Research

Here are some general steps for conducting qualitative research:

• Identify your research question: Qualitative research starts with a research question or set of questions that you want to explore. This question should be focused and specific, but also broad enough to allow for exploration and discovery.
• Select your research design: There are different types of qualitative research designs, including ethnography, case study, grounded theory, and phenomenology. You should select a design that aligns with your research question and that will allow you to gather the data you need to answer your research question.
• Recruit participants: Once you have your research question and design, you need to recruit participants. The number of participants you need will depend on your research design and the scope of your research. You can recruit participants through advertisements, social media, or through personal networks.
• Collect data: There are different methods for collecting qualitative data, including interviews, focus groups, observation, and document analysis. You should select the method or methods that align with your research design and that will allow you to gather the data you need to answer your research question.
• Analyze data: Once you have collected your data, you need to analyze it. This involves reviewing your data, identifying patterns and themes, and developing codes to organize your data. You can use different software programs to help you analyze your data, or you can do it manually.
• Interpret data: Once you have analyzed your data, you need to interpret it. This involves making sense of the patterns and themes you have identified, and developing insights and conclusions that answer your research question. You should be guided by your research question and use your data to support your conclusions.
• Communicate results: Once you have interpreted your data, you need to communicate your results. This can be done through academic papers, presentations, or reports. You should be clear and concise in your communication, and use examples and quotes from your data to support your findings.

Examples of Qualitative Research

Here are some real-time examples of qualitative research:

• Customer Feedback: A company may conduct qualitative research to understand the feedback and experiences of its customers. This may involve conducting focus groups or one-on-one interviews with customers to gather insights into their attitudes, behaviors, and preferences.
• Healthcare : A healthcare provider may conduct qualitative research to explore patient experiences and perspectives on health and illness. This may involve conducting in-depth interviews with patients and their families to gather information on their experiences with different health care providers and treatments.
• Education : An educational institution may conduct qualitative research to understand student experiences and to develop effective teaching strategies. This may involve conducting classroom observations and interviews with students and teachers to gather insights into classroom dynamics and instructional practices.
• Social Work: A social worker may conduct qualitative research to explore social problems and to develop interventions to address them. This may involve conducting in-depth interviews with individuals and families to understand their experiences with poverty, discrimination, and other social problems.
• Anthropology : An anthropologist may conduct qualitative research to understand different cultures and societies. This may involve conducting ethnographic studies and observing and interviewing members of different cultural groups to gain insights into their beliefs, practices, and social structures.
• Psychology : A psychologist may conduct qualitative research to understand human behavior and mental processes. This may involve conducting in-depth interviews with individuals to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
• Public Policy: A government agency or non-profit organization may conduct qualitative research to explore public attitudes and to inform policy decisions. This may involve conducting focus groups and one-on-one interviews with members of the public to gather insights into their perspectives on different policy issues.

Purpose of Qualitative Research

The purpose of qualitative research is to explore and understand the subjective experiences, behaviors, and perspectives of individuals or groups in a particular context. Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on numerical data and statistical analysis, qualitative research aims to provide in-depth, descriptive information that can help researchers develop insights and theories about complex social phenomena.

Qualitative research can serve multiple purposes, including:

• Exploring new or emerging phenomena : Qualitative research can be useful for exploring new or emerging phenomena, such as new technologies or social trends. This type of research can help researchers develop a deeper understanding of these phenomena and identify potential areas for further study.
• Understanding complex social phenomena : Qualitative research can be useful for exploring complex social phenomena, such as cultural beliefs, social norms, or political processes. This type of research can help researchers develop a more nuanced understanding of these phenomena and identify factors that may influence them.
• Generating new theories or hypotheses: Qualitative research can be useful for generating new theories or hypotheses about social phenomena. By gathering rich, detailed data about individuals’ experiences and perspectives, researchers can develop insights that may challenge existing theories or lead to new lines of inquiry.
• Providing context for quantitative data: Qualitative research can be useful for providing context for quantitative data. By gathering qualitative data alongside quantitative data, researchers can develop a more complete understanding of complex social phenomena and identify potential explanations for quantitative findings.

When to use Qualitative Research

Here are some situations where qualitative research may be appropriate:

• Exploring a new area: If little is known about a particular topic, qualitative research can help to identify key issues, generate hypotheses, and develop new theories.
• Understanding complex phenomena: Qualitative research can be used to investigate complex social, cultural, or organizational phenomena that are difficult to measure quantitatively.
• Investigating subjective experiences: Qualitative research is particularly useful for investigating the subjective experiences of individuals or groups, such as their attitudes, beliefs, values, or emotions.
• Conducting formative research: Qualitative research can be used in the early stages of a research project to develop research questions, identify potential research participants, and refine research methods.
• Evaluating interventions or programs: Qualitative research can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions or programs by collecting data on participants’ experiences, attitudes, and behaviors.

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is characterized by several key features, including:

• Focus on subjective experience: Qualitative research is concerned with understanding the subjective experiences, beliefs, and perspectives of individuals or groups in a particular context. Researchers aim to explore the meanings that people attach to their experiences and to understand the social and cultural factors that shape these meanings.
• Use of open-ended questions: Qualitative research relies on open-ended questions that allow participants to provide detailed, in-depth responses. Researchers seek to elicit rich, descriptive data that can provide insights into participants’ experiences and perspectives.
• Sampling-based on purpose and diversity: Qualitative research often involves purposive sampling, in which participants are selected based on specific criteria related to the research question. Researchers may also seek to include participants with diverse experiences and perspectives to capture a range of viewpoints.
• Data collection through multiple methods: Qualitative research typically involves the use of multiple data collection methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and observation. This allows researchers to gather rich, detailed data from multiple sources, which can provide a more complete picture of participants’ experiences and perspectives.
• Inductive data analysis: Qualitative research relies on inductive data analysis, in which researchers develop theories and insights based on the data rather than testing pre-existing hypotheses. Researchers use coding and thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data and to develop theories and explanations based on these patterns.
• Emphasis on researcher reflexivity: Qualitative research recognizes the importance of the researcher’s role in shaping the research process and outcomes. Researchers are encouraged to reflect on their own biases and assumptions and to be transparent about their role in the research process.

Advantages of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research offers several advantages over other research methods, including:

• Depth and detail: Qualitative research allows researchers to gather rich, detailed data that provides a deeper understanding of complex social phenomena. Through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and observation, researchers can gather detailed information about participants’ experiences and perspectives that may be missed by other research methods.
• Flexibility : Qualitative research is a flexible approach that allows researchers to adapt their methods to the research question and context. Researchers can adjust their research methods in real-time to gather more information or explore unexpected findings.
• Contextual understanding: Qualitative research is well-suited to exploring the social and cultural context in which individuals or groups are situated. Researchers can gather information about cultural norms, social structures, and historical events that may influence participants’ experiences and perspectives.
• Participant perspective : Qualitative research prioritizes the perspective of participants, allowing researchers to explore subjective experiences and understand the meanings that participants attach to their experiences.
• Theory development: Qualitative research can contribute to the development of new theories and insights about complex social phenomena. By gathering rich, detailed data and using inductive data analysis, researchers can develop new theories and explanations that may challenge existing understandings.
• Validity : Qualitative research can offer high validity by using multiple data collection methods, purposive and diverse sampling, and researcher reflexivity. This can help ensure that findings are credible and trustworthy.

Limitations of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research also has some limitations, including:

• Subjectivity : Qualitative research relies on the subjective interpretation of researchers, which can introduce bias into the research process. The researcher’s perspective, beliefs, and experiences can influence the way data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted.
• Limited generalizability: Qualitative research typically involves small, purposive samples that may not be representative of larger populations. This limits the generalizability of findings to other contexts or populations.
• Time-consuming: Qualitative research can be a time-consuming process, requiring significant resources for data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Resource-intensive: Qualitative research may require more resources than other research methods, including specialized training for researchers, specialized software for data analysis, and transcription services.
• Limited reliability: Qualitative research may be less reliable than quantitative research, as it relies on the subjective interpretation of researchers. This can make it difficult to replicate findings or compare results across different studies.
• Ethics and confidentiality: Qualitative research involves collecting sensitive information from participants, which raises ethical concerns about confidentiality and informed consent. Researchers must take care to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants and obtain informed consent.

Also see Research Methods

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Descriptive Research Design – Types, Methods and...

Quantitative Research – Methods, Types and...

Correlational Research – Methods, Types and...

Triangulation in Research – Types, Methods and...

Basic Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Social Work Research Methods That Drive the Practice

Social workers advocate for the well-being of individuals, families and communities. But how do social workers know what interventions are needed to help an individual? How do they assess whether a treatment plan is working? What do social workers use to write evidence-based policy?

Social work involves research-informed practice and practice-informed research. At every level, social workers need to know objective facts about the populations they serve, the efficacy of their interventions and the likelihood that their policies will improve lives. A variety of social work research methods make that possible.

Data-Driven Work

Data is a collection of facts used for reference and analysis. In a field as broad as social work, data comes in many forms.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

As with any research, social work research involves both quantitative and qualitative studies.

Quantitative Research

Answers to questions like these can help social workers know about the populations they serve — or hope to serve in the future.

• How many students currently receive reduced-price school lunches in the local school district?
• How many hours per week does a specific individual consume digital media?
• How frequently did community members access a specific medical service last year?

Quantitative data — facts that can be measured and expressed numerically — are crucial for social work.

Quantitative research has advantages for social scientists. Such research can be more generalizable to large populations, as it uses specific sampling methods and lends itself to large datasets. It can provide important descriptive statistics about a specific population. Furthermore, by operationalizing variables, it can help social workers easily compare similar datasets with one another.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative data — facts that cannot be measured or expressed in terms of mere numbers or counts — offer rich insights into individuals, groups and societies. It can be collected via interviews and observations.

• What attitudes do students have toward the reduced-price school lunch program?
• What strategies do individuals use to moderate their weekly digital media consumption?
• What factors made community members more or less likely to access a specific medical service last year?

Qualitative research can thereby provide a textured view of social contexts and systems that may not have been possible with quantitative methods. Plus, it may even suggest new lines of inquiry for social work research.

Mixed Methods Research

Combining quantitative and qualitative methods into a single study is known as mixed methods research. This form of research has gained popularity in the study of social sciences, according to a 2019 report in the academic journal Theory and Society. Since quantitative and qualitative methods answer different questions, merging them into a single study can balance the limitations of each and potentially produce more in-depth findings.

However, mixed methods research is not without its drawbacks. Combining research methods increases the complexity of a study and generally requires a higher level of expertise to collect, analyze and interpret the data. It also requires a greater level of effort, time and often money.

The Importance of Research Design

Data-driven practice plays an essential role in social work. Unlike philanthropists and altruistic volunteers, social workers are obligated to operate from a scientific knowledge base.

To know whether their programs are effective, social workers must conduct research to determine results, aggregate those results into comprehensible data, analyze and interpret their findings, and use evidence to justify next steps.

Employing the proper design ensures that any evidence obtained during research enables social workers to reliably answer their research questions.

Research Methods in Social Work

The various social work research methods have specific benefits and limitations determined by context. Common research methods include surveys, program evaluations, needs assessments, randomized controlled trials, descriptive studies and single-system designs.

Surveys involve a hypothesis and a series of questions in order to test that hypothesis. Social work researchers will send out a survey, receive responses, aggregate the results, analyze the data, and form conclusions based on trends.

Surveys are one of the most common research methods social workers use — and for good reason. They tend to be relatively simple and are usually affordable. However, surveys generally require large participant groups, and self-reports from survey respondents are not always reliable.

Program Evaluations

Social workers ally with all sorts of programs: after-school programs, government initiatives, nonprofit projects and private programs, for example.

Crucially, social workers must evaluate a program’s effectiveness in order to determine whether the program is meeting its goals and what improvements can be made to better serve the program’s target population.

Evidence-based programming helps everyone save money and time, and comparing programs with one another can help social workers make decisions about how to structure new initiatives. Evaluating programs becomes complicated, however, when programs have multiple goal metrics, some of which may be vague or difficult to assess (e.g., “we aim to promote the well-being of our community”).

Needs Assessments

Social workers use needs assessments to identify services and necessities that a population lacks access to.

Common social work populations that researchers may perform needs assessments on include:

• People in a specific income group
• Everyone in a specific geographic region
• A specific ethnic group
• People in a specific age group

In the field, a social worker may use a combination of methods (e.g., surveys and descriptive studies) to learn more about a specific population or program. Social workers look for gaps between the actual context and a population’s or individual’s “wants” or desires.

For example, a social worker could conduct a needs assessment with an individual with cancer trying to navigate the complex medical-industrial system. The social worker may ask the client questions about the number of hours they spend scheduling doctor’s appointments, commuting and managing their many medications. After learning more about the specific client needs, the social worker can identify opportunities for improvements in an updated care plan.

In policy and program development, social workers conduct needs assessments to determine where and how to effect change on a much larger scale. Integral to social work at all levels, needs assessments reveal crucial information about a population’s needs to researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders. Needs assessments may fall short, however, in revealing the root causes of those needs (e.g., structural racism).

Randomized Controlled Trials

Randomized controlled trials are studies in which a randomly selected group is subjected to a variable (e.g., a specific stimulus or treatment) and a control group is not. Social workers then measure and compare the results of the randomized group with the control group in order to glean insights about the effectiveness of a particular intervention or treatment.

Randomized controlled trials are easily reproducible and highly measurable. They’re useful when results are easily quantifiable. However, this method is less helpful when results are not easily quantifiable (i.e., when rich data such as narratives and on-the-ground observations are needed).

Descriptive Studies

Descriptive studies immerse the researcher in another context or culture to study specific participant practices or ways of living. Descriptive studies, including descriptive ethnographic studies, may overlap with and include other research methods:

• Informant interviews
• Census data
• Observation

By using descriptive studies, researchers may glean a richer, deeper understanding of a nuanced culture or group on-site. The main limitations of this research method are that it tends to be time-consuming and expensive.

Single-System Designs

Unlike most medical studies, which involve testing a drug or treatment on two groups — an experimental group that receives the drug/treatment and a control group that does not — single-system designs allow researchers to study just one group (e.g., an individual or family).

Single-system designs typically entail studying a single group over a long period of time and may involve assessing the group’s response to multiple variables.

For example, consider a study on how media consumption affects a person’s mood. One way to test a hypothesis that consuming media correlates with low mood would be to observe two groups: a control group (no media) and an experimental group (two hours of media per day). When employing a single-system design, however, researchers would observe a single participant as they watch two hours of media per day for one week and then four hours per day of media the next week.

These designs allow researchers to test multiple variables over a longer period of time. However, similar to descriptive studies, single-system designs can be fairly time-consuming and costly.

Learn More About Social Work Research Methods

Social workers have the opportunity to improve the social environment by advocating for the vulnerable — including children, older adults and people with disabilities — and facilitating and developing resources and programs.

Learn more about how you can earn your  Master of Social Work online at Virginia Commonwealth University . The highest-ranking school of social work in Virginia, VCU has a wide range of courses online. That means students can earn their degrees with the flexibility of learning at home. Learn more about how you can take your career in social work further with VCU.

From M.S.W. to LCSW: Understanding Your Career Path as a Social Worker

How Palliative Care Social Workers Support Patients With Terminal Illnesses

How to Become a Social Worker in Health Care

Gov.uk, Mixed Methods Study

MVS Open Press, Foundations of Social Work Research

Open Social Work Education, Scientific Inquiry in Social Work

Open Social Work, Graduate Research Methods in Social Work: A Project-Based Approach

Routledge, Research for Social Workers: An Introduction to Methods

SAGE Publications, Research Methods for Social Work: A Problem-Based Approach

Theory and Society, Mixed Methods Research: What It Is and What It Could Be

READY TO GET STARTED WITH OUR ONLINE M.S.W. PROGRAM FORMAT?

Bachelor’s degree is required.

VCU Program Helper

This AI chatbot provides automated responses, which may not always be accurate. By continuing with this conversation, you agree that the contents of this chat session may be transcribed and retained. You also consent that this chat session and your interactions, including cookie usage, are subject to our privacy policy .

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

The PMC website is updating on October 15, 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Can J Hosp Pharm
• v.67(6); Nov-Dec 2014

Qualitative Research: Getting Started

Introduction.

As scientifically trained clinicians, pharmacists may be more familiar and comfortable with the concept of quantitative rather than qualitative research. Quantitative research can be defined as “the means for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables which in turn can be measured so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procedures”. 1 Pharmacists may have used such methods to carry out audits or surveys within their own practice settings; if so, they may have had a sense of “something missing” from their data. What is missing from quantitative research methods is the voice of the participant. In a quantitative study, large amounts of data can be collected about the number of people who hold certain attitudes toward their health and health care, but what qualitative study tells us is why people have thoughts and feelings that might affect the way they respond to that care and how it is given (in this way, qualitative and quantitative data are frequently complementary). Possibly the most important point about qualitative research is that its practitioners do not seek to generalize their findings to a wider population. Rather, they attempt to find examples of behaviour, to clarify the thoughts and feelings of study participants, and to interpret participants’ experiences of the phenomena of interest, in order to find explanations for human behaviour in a given context.

WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

Much of the work of clinicians (including pharmacists) takes place within a social, clinical, or interpersonal context where statistical procedures and numeric data may be insufficient to capture how patients and health care professionals feel about patients’ care. Qualitative research involves asking participants about their experiences of things that happen in their lives. It enables researchers to obtain insights into what it feels like to be another person and to understand the world as another experiences it.

Qualitative research was historically employed in fields such as sociology, history, and anthropology. 2 Miles and Huberman 2 said that qualitative data “are a source of well-grounded, rich descriptions and explanations of processes in identifiable local contexts. With qualitative data one can preserve chronological flow, see precisely which events lead to which consequences, and derive fruitful explanations.” Qualitative methods are concerned with how human behaviour can be explained, within the framework of the social structures in which that behaviour takes place. 3 So, in the context of health care, and hospital pharmacy in particular, researchers can, for example, explore how patients feel about their care, about their medicines, or indeed about “being a patient”.

THE IMPORTANCE OF METHODOLOGY

Smith 4 has described methodology as the “explanation of the approach, methods and procedures with some justification for their selection.” It is essential that researchers have robust theories that underpin the way they conduct their research—this is called “methodology”. It is also important for researchers to have a thorough understanding of various methodologies, to ensure alignment between their own positionality (i.e., bias or stance), research questions, and objectives. Clinicians may express reservations about the value or impact of qualitative research, given their perceptions that it is inherently subjective or biased, that it does not seek to be reproducible across different contexts, and that it does not produce generalizable findings. Other clinicians may express nervousness or hesitation about using qualitative methods, claiming that their previous “scientific” training and experience have not prepared them for the ambiguity and interpretative nature of qualitative data analysis. In both cases, these clinicians are depriving themselves of opportunities to understand complex or ambiguous situations, phenomena, or processes in a different way.

Qualitative researchers generally begin their work by recognizing that the position (or world view) of the researcher exerts an enormous influence on the entire research enterprise. Whether explicitly understood and acknowledged or not, this world view shapes the way in which research questions are raised and framed, methods selected, data collected and analyzed, and results reported. 5 A broad range of different methods and methodologies are available within the qualitative tradition, and no single review paper can adequately capture the depth and nuance of these diverse options. Here, given space constraints, we highlight certain options for illustrative purposes only, emphasizing that they are only a sample of what may be available to you as a prospective qualitative researcher. We encourage you to continue your own study of this area to identify methods and methodologies suitable to your questions and needs, beyond those highlighted here.

The following are some of the methodologies commonly used in qualitative research:

• Ethnography generally involves researchers directly observing participants in their natural environments over time. A key feature of ethnography is the fact that natural settings, unadapted for the researchers’ interests, are used. In ethnography, the natural setting or environment is as important as the participants, and such methods have the advantage of explicitly acknowledging that, in the real world, environmental constraints and context influence behaviours and outcomes. 6 An example of ethnographic research in pharmacy might involve observations to determine how pharmacists integrate into family health teams. Such a study would also include collection of documents about participants’ lives from the participants themselves and field notes from the researcher. 7
• Grounded theory, first described by Glaser and Strauss in 1967, 8 is a framework for qualitative research that suggests that theory must derive from data, unlike other forms of research, which suggest that data should be used to test theory. Grounded theory may be particularly valuable when little or nothing is known or understood about a problem, situation, or context, and any attempt to start with a hypothesis or theory would be conjecture at best. 9 An example of the use of grounded theory in hospital pharmacy might be to determine potential roles for pharmacists in a new or underserviced clinical area. As with other qualitative methodologies, grounded theory provides researchers with a process that can be followed to facilitate the conduct of such research. As an example, Thurston and others 10 used constructivist grounded theory to explore the availability of arthritis care among indigenous people of Canada and were able to identify a number of influences on health care for this population.
• Phenomenology attempts to understand problems, ideas, and situations from the perspective of common understanding and experience rather than differences. 10 Phenomenology is about understanding how human beings experience their world. It gives researchers a powerful tool with which to understand subjective experience. In other words, 2 people may have the same diagnosis, with the same treatment prescribed, but the ways in which they experience that diagnosis and treatment will be different, even though they may have some experiences in common. Phenomenology helps researchers to explore those experiences, thoughts, and feelings and helps to elicit the meaning underlying how people behave. As an example, Hancock and others 11 used a phenomenological approach to explore health care professionals’ views of the diagnosis and management of heart failure since publication of an earlier study in 2003. Their findings revealed that barriers to effective treatment for heart failure had not changed in 10 years and provided a new understanding of why this was the case.

ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER

For any researcher, the starting point for research must be articulation of his or her research world view. This core feature of qualitative work is increasingly seen in quantitative research too: the explicit acknowledgement of one’s position, biases, and assumptions, so that readers can better understand the particular researcher. Reflexivity describes the processes whereby the act of engaging in research actually affects the process being studied, calling into question the notion of “detached objectivity”. Here, the researcher’s own subjectivity is as critical to the research process and output as any other variable. Applications of reflexivity may include participant-observer research, where the researcher is actually one of the participants in the process or situation being researched and must then examine it from these divergent perspectives. 12 Some researchers believe that objectivity is a myth and that attempts at impartiality will fail because human beings who happen to be researchers cannot isolate their own backgrounds and interests from the conduct of a study. 5 Rather than aspire to an unachievable goal of “objectivity”, it is better to simply be honest and transparent about one’s own subjectivities, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions about the interpretations that are presented through the research itself. For new (and experienced) qualitative researchers, an important first step is to step back and articulate your own underlying biases and assumptions. The following questions can help to begin this reflection process:

• Why am I interested in this topic? To answer this question, try to identify what is driving your enthusiasm, energy, and interest in researching this subject.
• What do I really think the answer is? Asking this question helps to identify any biases you may have through honest reflection on what you expect to find. You can then “bracket” those assumptions to enable the participants’ voices to be heard.
• What am I getting out of this? In many cases, pressures to publish or “do” research make research nothing more than an employment requirement. How does this affect your interest in the question or its outcomes, or the depth to which you are willing to go to find information?
• What do others in my professional community think of this work—and of me? As a researcher, you will not be operating in a vacuum; you will be part of a complex social and interpersonal world. These external influences will shape your views and expectations of yourself and your work. Acknowledging this influence and its potential effects on personal behaviour will facilitate greater self-scrutiny throughout the research process.

FROM FRAMEWORKS TO METHODS

Qualitative research methodology is not a single method, but instead offers a variety of different choices to researchers, according to specific parameters of topic, research question, participants, and settings. The method is the way you carry out your research within the paradigm of quantitative or qualitative research.

Qualitative research is concerned with participants’ own experiences of a life event, and the aim is to interpret what participants have said in order to explain why they have said it. Thus, methods should be chosen that enable participants to express themselves openly and without constraint. The framework selected by the researcher to conduct the research may direct the project toward specific methods. From among the numerous methods used by qualitative researchers, we outline below the three most frequently encountered.

DATA COLLECTION

Patton 12 has described an interview as “open-ended questions and probes yielding in-depth responses about people’s experiences, perceptions, opinions, feelings, and knowledge. Data consists of verbatim quotations and sufficient content/context to be interpretable”. Researchers may use a structured or unstructured interview approach. Structured interviews rely upon a predetermined list of questions framed algorithmically to guide the interviewer. This approach resists improvisation and following up on hunches, but has the advantage of facilitating consistency between participants. In contrast, unstructured or semistructured interviews may begin with some defined questions, but the interviewer has considerable latitude to adapt questions to the specific direction of responses, in an effort to allow for more intuitive and natural conversations between researchers and participants. Generally, you should continue to interview additional participants until you have saturated your field of interest, i.e., until you are not hearing anything new. The number of participants is therefore dependent on the richness of the data, though Miles and Huberman 2 suggested that more than 15 cases can make analysis complicated and “unwieldy”.

Focus Groups

Patton 12 has described the focus group as a primary means of collecting qualitative data. In essence, focus groups are unstructured interviews with multiple participants, which allow participants and a facilitator to interact freely with one another and to build on ideas and conversation. This method allows for the collection of group-generated data, which can be a challenging experience.

Observations

Patton 12 described observation as a useful tool in both quantitative and qualitative research: “[it involves] descriptions of activities, behaviours, actions, conversations, interpersonal interactions, organization or community processes or any other aspect of observable human experience”. Observation is critical in both interviews and focus groups, as nonalignment between verbal and nonverbal data frequently can be the result of sarcasm, irony, or other conversational techniques that may be confusing or open to interpretation. Observation can also be used as a stand-alone tool for exploring participants’ experiences, whether or not the researcher is a participant in the process.

Selecting the most appropriate and practical method is an important decision and must be taken carefully. Those unfamiliar with qualitative research may assume that “anyone” can interview, observe, or facilitate a focus group; however, it is important to recognize that the quality of data collected through qualitative methods is a direct reflection of the skills and competencies of the researcher. 13 The hardest thing to do during an interview is to sit back and listen to participants. They should be doing most of the talking—it is their perception of their own life-world that the researcher is trying to understand. Sophisticated interpersonal skills are required, in particular the ability to accurately interpret and respond to the nuanced behaviour of participants in various settings. More information about the collection of qualitative data may be found in the “Further Reading” section of this paper.

It is essential that data gathered during interviews, focus groups, and observation sessions are stored in a retrievable format. The most accurate way to do this is by audio-recording (with the participants’ permission). Video-recording may be a useful tool for focus groups, because the body language of group members and how they interact can be missed with audio-recording alone. Recordings should be transcribed verbatim and checked for accuracy against the audio- or video-recording, and all personally identifiable information should be removed from the transcript. You are then ready to start your analysis.

DATA ANALYSIS

Regardless of the research method used, the researcher must try to analyze or make sense of the participants’ narratives. This analysis can be done by coding sections of text, by writing down your thoughts in the margins of transcripts, or by making separate notes about the data collection. Coding is the process by which raw data (e.g., transcripts from interviews and focus groups or field notes from observations) are gradually converted into usable data through the identification of themes, concepts, or ideas that have some connection with each other. It may be that certain words or phrases are used by different participants, and these can be drawn together to allow the researcher an opportunity to focus findings in a more meaningful manner. The researcher will then give the words, phrases, or pieces of text meaningful names that exemplify what the participants are saying. This process is referred to as “theming”. Generating themes in an orderly fashion out of the chaos of transcripts or field notes can be a daunting task, particularly since it may involve many pages of raw data. Fortunately, sophisticated software programs such as NVivo (QSR International Pty Ltd) now exist to support researchers in converting data into themes; familiarization with such software supports is of considerable benefit to researchers and is strongly recommended. Manual coding is possible with small and straightforward data sets, but the management of qualitative data is a complexity unto itself, one that is best addressed through technological and software support.

There is both an art and a science to coding, and the second checking of themes from data is well advised (where feasible) to enhance the face validity of the work and to demonstrate reliability. Further reliability-enhancing mechanisms include “member checking”, where participants are given an opportunity to actually learn about and respond to the researchers’ preliminary analysis and coding of data. Careful documentation of various iterations of “coding trees” is important. These structures allow readers to understand how and why raw data were converted into a theme and what rules the researcher is using to govern inclusion or exclusion of specific data within or from a theme. Coding trees may be produced iteratively: after each interview, the researcher may immediately code and categorize data into themes to facilitate subsequent interviews and allow for probing with subsequent participants as necessary. At the end of the theming process, you will be in a position to tell the participants’ stories illustrated by quotations from your transcripts. For more information on different ways to manage qualitative data, see the “Further Reading” section at the end of this paper.

ETHICAL ISSUES

In most circumstances, qualitative research involves human beings or the things that human beings produce (documents, notes, etc.). As a result, it is essential that such research be undertaken in a manner that places the safety, security, and needs of participants at the forefront. Although interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires may seem innocuous and “less dangerous” than taking blood samples, it is important to recognize that the way participants are represented in research can be significantly damaging. Try to put yourself in the shoes of the potential participants when designing your research and ask yourself these questions:

• Are the requests you are making of potential participants reasonable?
• Are you putting them at unnecessary risk or inconvenience?
• Have you identified and addressed the specific needs of particular groups?

Where possible, attempting anonymization of data is strongly recommended, bearing in mind that true anonymization may be difficult, as participants can sometimes be recognized from their stories. Balancing the responsibility to report findings accurately and honestly with the potential harm to the participants involved can be challenging. Advice on the ethical considerations of research is generally available from research ethics boards and should be actively sought in these challenging situations.

GETTING STARTED

Pharmacists may be hesitant to embark on research involving qualitative methods because of a perceived lack of skills or confidence. Overcoming this barrier is the most important first step, as pharmacists can benefit from inclusion of qualitative methods in their research repertoire. Partnering with others who are more experienced and who can provide mentorship can be a valuable strategy. Reading reports of research studies that have utilized qualitative methods can provide insights and ideas for personal use; such papers are routinely included in traditional databases accessed by pharmacists. Engaging in dialogue with members of a research ethics board who have qualitative expertise can also provide useful assistance, as well as saving time during the ethics review process itself. The references at the end of this paper may provide some additional support to allow you to begin incorporating qualitative methods into your research.

CONCLUSIONS

Qualitative research offers unique opportunities for understanding complex, nuanced situations where interpersonal ambiguity and multiple interpretations exist. Qualitative research may not provide definitive answers to such complex questions, but it can yield a better understanding and a springboard for further focused work. There are multiple frameworks, methods, and considerations involved in shaping effective qualitative research. In most cases, these begin with self-reflection and articulation of positionality by the researcher. For some, qualitative research may appear commonsensical and easy; for others, it may appear daunting, given its high reliance on direct participant– researcher interactions. For yet others, qualitative research may appear subjective, unscientific, and consequently unreliable. All these perspectives reflect a lack of understanding of how effective qualitative research actually occurs. When undertaken in a rigorous manner, qualitative research provides unique opportunities for expanding our understanding of the social and clinical world that we inhabit.

Further Reading

• Breakwell GM, Hammond S, Fife-Schaw C, editors. Research methods in psychology. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications Ltd; 1995. [ Google Scholar ]
• Strauss A, Corbin J. Basics of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications Ltd; 1998. [ Google Scholar ]
• Willig C. Introducing qualitative research in psychology. Buckingham (UK): Open University Press; 2001. [ Google Scholar ]
• Guest G, Namey EE, Mitchel ML. Collecting qualitative data: a field manual for applied research. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications Ltd; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ogden R. Bias. In: Given LM, editor. The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications Inc; 2008. pp. 61–2. [ Google Scholar ]

This article is the seventh in the CJHP Research Primer Series, an initiative of the CJHP Editorial Board and the CSHP Research Committee. The planned 2-year series is intended to appeal to relatively inexperienced researchers, with the goal of building research capacity among practising pharmacists. The articles, presenting simple but rigorous guidance to encourage and support novice researchers, are being solicited from authors with appropriate expertise.

Previous article in this series:

Bond CM. The research jigsaw: how to get started. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(1):28–30.

Tully MP. Research: articulating questions, generating hypotheses, and choosing study designs. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(1):31–4.

Loewen P. Ethical issues in pharmacy practice research: an introductory guide. Can J Hosp Pharm. 2014;67(2):133–7.

Tsuyuki RT. Designing pharmacy practice research trials. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(3):226–9.

Bresee LC. An introduction to developing surveys for pharmacy practice research. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(4):286–91.

Gamble JM. An introduction to the fundamentals of cohort and case–control studies. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(5):366–72.

Competing interests: None declared.

Proposal for a social certification model for agriculture in Latin America aligned with the sustainable development goals

• Published: 17 September 2024

Cite this article

• Javier Eugenio García de Alba Verduzco 1 ,
• Samuel Borges Barbosa 2 ,
• Blanca Catalina Ramírez Hernández 3 ,
• Leila Dal Moro 4 ,
• Luis Enrique Lomelí Rodríguez 5 ,
• Luciana Londero Brandli 4 ,
• André Borchardt Deggau 6 ,
• Maria Gabriela Mendonça Peixoto 7 ,
• Angélica Isabel García Navarro 5 ,
• Simone Sehnem 6 ,
• Viviane dos Guimarães Alvim Nunes 2 &
• José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6709-406X 8 , 9  

Considering the certifications for family farming, several types of certification are used in Latin America, focusing on social and environmental issues. This study seeks to analyze the social, environmental, and health certifications in Mexico and Brazil. The study contemplates a qualitative approach, using as a technique a systematic literature review on the effectiveness of agricultural private certification in developing countries (Brazil and Mexico) published between 1990 and 2016. The research intended to survey existing certifications considering categories that had not been addressed in the literature. Responsible production, and social justice factors were taken into account and it was important to have as a parameter the main certifications already existing in the Latin American context. This survey also assessed the certifications concerning their alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). As a result of the research, it was possible to evaluate the social and environmental certifications for agriculture applied in Brazil and Mexico. After assessing the certifications, a framework of guidelines for certification for family farming in Latin America was structured, supported by the UN SDGs, and managed by universities. This proposal assists in achieving the SDGs proposed by the UN, mainly contemplating SDG 2 “Sustainable Agriculture” and SDG 12 “Responsible Production and Consumption”, and will also allow certifying products in a cheaper way for farmers. As future implications, the study assists in mapping existing certifications that serve as a guide for the use of producers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

Ababaya. (2020). Como funcionam os selos e certificações de alimentos no Brasil? Entenda o que cada um deles significa. Available at: https://caldobom.com.br/blog/como-funcionam-os-selos-e-certificacoes-de-alimentos-no-brasil.html . (Accessed June 14, 2020).

ABIO. (2017). Organização de controle social (OCS). Available at: https://abiorj.org/ocs-organizacao-de-controle-social/ . (Accessed June 13, 2020).

AENOR. (2020). Verificación voluntaria Inventario de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) según ISO 14064. Available at: https://www.aenor.com/certificacion/medio-ambiente/huella-carbono-organizaciones (Accessed June 14, 2020).

Apriani, E., Kim, Y.-S., Fisher, L. A., & Baral, H. (2020). Non-state certification of smallholders for sustainable palm oil in Sumatra. Indonesia. Land Use Policy, 99 , 105112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105112

Article   Google Scholar  

Arechavala Vargas, R. (2011). Las universidades y el desarrollo de la investigación científica y tecnológica en México: Una agenda de investigación. Revista de la educación superior, 40(158), 41–57. Recuperado en 25 de junio de 2020, de http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0185-27602011000200003&lng=es&tlng=es .

Benitez-Amado, J., Llorens-Montes, F. J., & Fernandez-Perez, V. (2015). IT impact on talent management and operational environmental sustainability. Information Technology and Management, 16 , 207–220.

Beuchelt, T. D., & Zeller, M. (2011). Profits and poverty: Certification’s troubled link for Nicaragua’s organic and fairtrade coffee producers. Ecological Economics, 70 (7), 1316–1324.

Boer, J. (2015). The sustainable development fight will be won or lost in our cities. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/the-fight-for-sustainable-development-will-be-won-or-lost-in-our-cities/ (Accessed June 25, 2020).

Boessio, A. T., Doula, S. M., Barasuol, A. (2018). Cooperatives and successor processes: a case study in Minas Gerais. Revista de Gestão e Organizações Cooperativas, 87–98.

Borsari, B., & Kunnas, J., et al. (2019). Agriculture production and consumption. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), Responsible consumption and production. Encyclopedia of the un sustainable development goals. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71062-4_78-1

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Brasil. (2008). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Produtos orgânicos : sistemas participativos de garantia/Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Agropecuário e Cooperativismo. Brasília: Mapa/ACS. 44 p.

Brasil. (2019). The national seal of family agriculture. Available at: https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/assuntos/agricultura-familiar/selo-nacional-da-agricultura-familiar . (Accessed June 14, 2020).

British Standard Institution. (2020). Neutralidad en emisiones de carbono PAS 2060. Available at: https://www.bsigroup.com/es-ES/Neutralidad-en-Emisiones-de-carbono-PAS-2060/ (Accessed June 15, 2020).

Brown, S., & Getz, C. (2008). Privatizing farm worker justice: Regulating labor through voluntary certification and labeling. Geoforum, 39 (3), 1184–1196.

Buchs, A., & Blanchard, O. (2011). Exploring the concept of sustainable development through role-playing. The Journal of Economic Education, 42 (4), 388–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2011.606089

Burton, R. J. F., & Fischer, H. (2015). The succession crisis in Europe agriculture. Sociologia Ruralis, 55 (2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.1208

Cajaiba-Santana, G. (2014). Social innovation: Moving the field forward. A conceptual framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 82 , 42–51.

Castañuela Sánchez, B. G. (2017). La universidad y su función social. cienciacierta. 48; ISSN: 2683–1848 Disponible en: http://www.cienciacierta.uadec.mx/2016/12/14/la-universidad-y-su-funcion-social/#:~:text=La%20funci%C3%B3n%20social%20de%20la,%C3%A9tica%2C%20compromiso%20social%20y%20pol%C3%ADtico . (Accessed June 25, 2020).

Castro-Arce, K., & Vanclay, F. (2020). Transformative social innovation for sustainable rural development: An analytical framework to assist community-based initiatives. Journal of Rural Studies, 74 , 45–54.

Cerda, J. P. (2018). Cabilfrut se prepara para entregar sus primeros aguacates con certificación rainforest alliance a Europa. Disponible en: https://www.freshplaza.es/article/3112481/cabilfrut-se-prepara-para-entregar-sus-primeros-aguacates-con-certificacion-rainforest-alliance-a-europa/ (Accessed June 25, 2020).

Chkanikova, O., & Sroufe, R. (2020). Third-party sustainability certifications in food retailing: Certification design from a sustainable supply chain management perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124344

Clark, P., & Martínez, L. (2016). Local alternatives to private agricultural certification in Ecuador: Broadening access to ‘new markets’? Journal of Rural Studies, 45 , 292–302.

COFEPRIS, 2016. Preguntas frecuentes sobre la certificación de alimentos. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/cofepris/acciones-y-programas/preguntas-frecuentes-sobre-la-certificacion-de-alimentos (Accessed June 15, 2020).

Control Union Certifications, 2020. FSA–farm sustainability assessment. Available at: https://certifications.controlunion.com/es/certification-programs/certification-programs/fsa-farm-sustainability-assessment (Accessed June 13, 2020).

Cremer, H., Roeder, K. (2017). Social insurance with competitive insurance markets and risk misperception. Journal of Public Economics, 146 , 138–147.

Danwatch, 2017. Avocados and stolen water. Disponible en: https://old.danwatch.dk/en/undersogelse/avocados-and-stolen-water/ (Accessed June 25, 2020).

de Sousa Jabbour, A. B. L., Jabbour, C. J. C., Foropon, C., & Godinho Filho, M. (2018). When titans meet–can industry 4.0 revolutionise the environmentally-sustainable manufacturing wave? The role of critical success factors. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 132 , 18–25.

DeFries, R. S., Fanzo, J., Mondal, P., Remans, R., & Wood, S. A. (2017). Is voluntary certification of tropical agricultural commodities achieving sustainability goals for small-scale producers? A review of the evidence. Environmental Research Letters, 12 , 033001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa625e

Del Giudice, V., De Paola, P., & Forte, F. (2018). Housing rental prices: Data from a central urban area of Naples (Italy). Data in Brief, 18 , 983–987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.03.121

Dennis, M., Armitage, R. P., & James, P. (2016). Appraisal of social-ecological innovation as an adaptive response by stakeholders to local conditions: Mapping stakeholder involvement in horticulture orientated green space management. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 181 , 86–94.

Dorsa, A. C. (2019). Repensando o papel das universidades caminhos iniciais. Interações Revista Internacional De Desenvolvimento Local Campo Grande, 20 (2), 341–343. https://doi.org/10.20435/inter.v20i2.2505

Du, M., Zhao, M., & Fu, Y. (2020). Revisiting urban sustainability from access to jobs: Assessment of economic gain versus loss of social equity. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 85 , 106456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2020.106456

Duff, A., Padilla, A. (2015). Latin America: Agricultural perspectives. Rabobank, Utrecht, Netherlands. Available at: https://economics.rabobank.com/publications/2015/september/latin-america-agricultural-perspectives/ .

Edwards-Schachter, M., & Wallace, M. L. (2017). ‘Shaken, but not stirred’: Sixty years of defining social innovation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 119 , 64–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.03.012

Elder, S. D., Zerriffi, H., & Billion, P. L. (2013). Is fairtrade certification greening agricultural practices? An analysis of fairtrade environmental standards in Rwanda. Journal of Rural Studies, 32 , 264–274.

FAO. (2019). SAFA para la evaluación de la sostenibilidad. Disponible en: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/SAFA_Factsheet_Spanish.pdf (Accessed June 25, 2020).

Fernandez-Ruiz, J. (2010). La descentralización política y las universidades públicas de los estados. En Astudillo, C. y Casarín León, M.F. DERECHO CONSTITUCIONAL ESTATAL. Memoria del VIII congreso nacional de derecho constitucional de los estados. México, Pp. 253–275, UNAM.

Food Safety Brazil, 2019. BRC: como impulsionar o crescimento da certificação? Available at: https://foodsafetybrazil.org/ferramentas-tecnologicas-da-ifs-com-software-integrado/ . (Accessed June 22, 2020).

Foroudi, P., Akarsu, T.N., Marvi, R., Balakrishnan, J. (2020). Intellectual evolution of social innovation: A bibliometric analysis and avenues for future research trends. Industrial Marketing Management. In press, corrected proof. Available online on April 7, 2020.

Futemma, C., De Castro, F., & Brondizio, E. S. (2020). Farmers and social innovations in rural development: collaborative arrangements in eastern Brazilian Amazon. Land Use Policy, 99 , 104999.

Garcia, D. J., & You, F. (2018). Addressing global environmental impacts including land use change in life cycle optimization: Studies on biofuels. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182 , 313–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.012

Getz, C., & Shreck, A. (2006). What organic and Fair Trade labels do not tell us: Towards a place-based understanding of certification. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 30 (5), 490–501.

Ghosh, M. K., et al. (2019). Farmers attitude towards organic farming: A case study in Chapainawabganj District. Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research . https://doi.org/10.9734/ajaar/2019/v10i230026

Giessen, L., Burns, S., Sahide, M. A. K., & Wibowo, A. (2016). From governance to government: The strengthened role of state bureaucracies in forest and agricultural certification. Policy and Society, 35 (1), 71–89.

Certified Humane. (2020). Regras de uso do selo certified humane. Available at: https://certifiedhumanebrasil.org/quem-pode-usar-a-marca-de-certificacao-de-bem-estar-animal-certified-humane/ . (Accessed June 16, 2020).

Ibanez, M., & Blackman, A. (2016). Is eco-certification a win-win for developing country agriculture? Organic coffee certification in colombia. World Development, 82 , 14–27.

IBD, 2018. Fair trade IBD certification program. Available at: https://www.ibd.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/8_1_3_IBD_Diretriz_FairTrade_16a_Ed_19102018.pdf . (Accessed June 22, 2020).

James, M., & Card, K. (2012). Factors contributing to institutions achieving environmental sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 13 (2), 166–176.

Javaid, M., Haleem, A., Singh, R. P., Suman, R., & Gonzalez, E. S. (2022). Understanding the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies in improving environmental sustainability. Sustainable Operations and Computers, 3 , 203–217.

Joosse, S., & Grubbström, A. (2017). Continuity in farming–not just family business. Journal of Rural Studies, 50 , 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.11.018

Kalkanc, B., Rahmani, M., & Toktay, L. B. (2019). The role of inclusive innovation in promoting social sustainability. Production and Operations Management . https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13112

Klooster, D. (2005). Environmental certification of forests: The evolution of environmental governance in a commodity network. Journal of Rural Studies, 21 , 403–417.

Labruto, N. (2014). Experimental biofuel governance: Historicizing social certification in Brazilian ethanol production. Geoforum, 54 , 272–281.

Lawrence, L. (1997). Lead auditor course—ISO 14000. Environmental management systems, Quality Management Institute, Canada.

Leal Filho, W., et al. (2017). Reinvigorating the sustainable development research agenda: The role of the sustainable development goals (SDG). International Journal of Sustainable Development e World Ecology, Reino Unido. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2017.1342103

Lessa, B. S., Souza, A. C. A. A., & Silva-Filho, J. S. L. (2016). Education in cooperative cells as a social innovation: A case study in the Brazilian semiarid. RAI Revista De Administração e Inovação, 13 (3), 166–175.

Ludvig, A., Weiss, G., Nijnik, M., & Živojinović, I. (2018). Mapping European and forest related policies supporting social innovation for rural settings. Forest Policy and Economics, 97 , 146–152.

Maguire-Rajpaul, V. A., Rajpaul, V. M., McDermott, C. L., & Pinto, L. F. G. (2020). Coffee certification in Brazil: Compliance with social standards and its implications for social equity. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22 , 2015–2044. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-0275-z

Marques, A. C., Fuinhas, J. A., & Pais, D. F. (2018). Economic growth, sustainable development and food consumption: Evidence across different income groups of countries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 196 , 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.011

McDermott, C. L. (2013). Certification and equity: Applying an ‘“equity framework”’ to compare certification schemes across product sectors and scales. Environmental Science & Policy, 33 , 428–437.

McEwan, C., & Bek, D. (2009). The political economy of alternative trade: Social and environmental certification in the South African wine industry. Journal of Rural Studies, 25 (3), 255–266.

McGowan, K., & Westley, F. (2015). At the root of change: The history of social innovation. In A. Nicholls, J. Simon, M. Gabriel, & C. Whelan (Eds.), New frontiers in social innovation research (pp. 52–68). Palgrave Macmillan.

McKean, J. R., & Johnson, D. M. (2019). Difficulties for cost-benefit analysis in the 2020 environmental impact statement to recover the endangered wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. Journal of Environmental Management, 246 , 434–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.05.099

Moraga-Vazquez, E. (2018). Petorca se reinventa luego de la crisis paltera. el mercurio. Revista del campo. p. 6–8. Available at: http://portal.nexnews.cl/showN?valor=MzE1MTZVNzY1RTE2MDM1MjQyMDcyNTEwMTI0ODE5MjUzOTUxMzY0NzE2OTUwMTcyNTAxNjA2MjE3MjM1MjAwMTMxMzY0NFY1NTU1NTU1NTU1NTU1 (Accessed June 25, 2020).

Murray, R., Caulier-Grice, J., Mulgan, G. (2010). The open book of social innovation. London, UK: The Young Foundation. Retrieved from https:// youngfoundation.org/publications/the-open-book-of-social-innovation/.

Nicholls, A., Dees, J. G. (2015). Social Innovation. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition) Encyclopedia. p.355–361.

Nijnik, M., Secco, L., Miller, D., Melnykovych, M. (2019). Can social innovation make a difference to forest-dependent communities?. Forest Policy and Economics, 100 , 207–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2019.01.001

Nomitek. (2020). Distintivo ESR. Available at: https://www.nomitek.com.mx/distintivo-esr/ (Accessed June 14, 2020).

Oskarsson, P., & Bedi, H. P. (2018). Extracting environmental justice: Countering technical renditions of pollution in India’s coal industry. The Extractive Industries and Society, 5 (3), 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2018.05.003

Owen Smith, J., Riccaboni, M., Pammolli, F., & Powell, W. W. (2002). A comparison of U.S. and European University-industry relations in the life sciences. Management Science . https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.48.1.24.14275

Oya, C., Schaefer, F., & Skalidou, D. (2018). The effectiveness of agricultural certification in developing countries: A systematic review. World Development, 112 , 282–312.

Pierri, N., (2001).El proceso histórico y teórico que conduce a la propuesta del desarrollo sustentable. Capítulo II de Pierri, Naína y Foladori, Guillermo (2001) ¿Sustentabilidad? Desacuerdos sobre el desarrollo sustentable. Uruguay: Trabajo y Capital.

Pinto, L. F. G., Gardner, T., McDermott, C. L., & Ayub, K. O. L. (2014). Group certification supports an increase in the diversity of sustainable agriculture network–rainforest alliance certified coffee producers in Brazil. Ecological Economics, 107 , 59–64.

PNC. (2020). El premio. Available at: https://www.pnc.org.mx/el-premio/ (Accessed June 15, 2020).

Pol, E., & Ville, S. (2009). Social innovation: Buzzword or enduring term? The Journal of Socio-Economics, 38 (6), 878–885.

Ponte, S. (2006). Ecolabels and fish trade: marine stewardship council (MSC) certification and the South African hake industry. Tralac research paper. Trade law centre for Southern Africa, Stellenbosch

Ponte, S., & Gibbon, P. (2005). Quality standards, conventions and the governance of global value chains. Economy and Society, 34 (1), 1–31.

PROFEPA. (2019). Programa nacional de auditoría ambiental. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/459960/BROCHURE_2019.pdf (Accessed June 15, 2020).

Ralph, M., & Stubbs, W. (2014). Integrating environmental sustainability into universities. Higher Education, 67 , 71–90.

Rainforest Alliance. (2020). Como obter a certificação rainforest alliance: um guia para agricultores. 2020. Available at: https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/sustainable-farming/farm-certification/how-to-get-rainforest-alliance-certified-a-guide-for-farmers/ . (Accessed June 11, 2020) .

Renard, M.-C. (2005). Quality certification, regulation and power in fair trade. Journal of Rural Studies, 21 , 419–431.

RINA, 2016. Certification HACCP. Available at: http://www.rinabrasil.com.br/nossosservi%C3%A7os/certifica%C3%A7%C3%A3o/alimentos/seguran%C3%A7a/haccp . (Accessed June 13, 2020).

Saadun, N., Lim, E. A. L., Esa, S. M., Ngu, F., Awang, F., Gimin, A., Johari, I. H., Firdaus, M. A., Wagimin, N. I., & Azhar, B. (2018). Socio-ecological perspectives of engaging smallholders in environmental-friendly palm oil certification schemes. Land Use Policy, 72 , 333–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.12.057

SADER. (2016b). Qué es el sello orgánico sagarpa méxico y cómo obtenerlo. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/agricultura/es/articulos/certificacion-de-productos-organicos#:~:text=En%20M%C3%A9xico%2C%20para%20poder%20comercializarlos,calidad%2C%20sanidad%20y%20seguridad%20alimentaria%20 (Accessed June 15, 2020).

SADER (2016a). México calidad suprema, el sello de los mexicanos. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/agricultura/es/articulos/mexico-calidad-suprema-el-sello-de-los-mexicanos (Accessed June 15, 2020).

San. (2011). Sustainable agriculture standard–July 2011 . SAN.

Google Scholar  

San. (2013). Farm and group administrator certification policy . SAN.

Sarkis, J., & Zhu, Q. (2018). Environmental sustainability and production: Taking the road less traveled. International Journal of Production Research, 56 (1–2), 743–759.

Schaffel, S., Herrera, S., Obermaier, M., & La Rovere, E. L. (2012). Can family farmers benefit from biofuel sustainability standards? Evidence from the Brazilian social fuel certificate. Biofuels, 3 (6), 725–736. https://doi.org/10.4155/bfs.12.67

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Schleifer, P. (2020). Reviewing the impact of sustainability certification on food security in developing countries. Global Food Security . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.100337

Schoneveld, G. C., Haar, S. V. D., Ekowati, D., Andrianto, A., Komarudin, H., Okarda, B., Jelsma, I., & Pacheco, P. (2019). Certification, good agricultural practice and smallholder heterogeneity: Differentiated pathways for resolving compliance gaps in the Indonesian oil palm sector. Global Environmental Change, 57 , 101933.

SEAGRI. (2017). Secretaria de estado da agricultura, abastecimento e desenvolvimento rural. Available at: http://www.agricultura.df.gov.br/selo-de-boas-praticas-agropecuarias-bpa/ . (Accessed June 14, 2020).

SECTUR. (2015b). Sello de calidad punto limpio. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/sectur/acciones-y-programas/sello-de-calidad-punto-limpio (accessed June 15, 2020)

SECTUR, 2015a. Programa manejo higiénico de los alimentos, distintivo H. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/sectur/acciones-y-programas/programa-manejo-higienico-de-los-alimentos-distintivo-h (Accessed June 13, 2020)

SENASICA, 2016. Sistema de reducción de riesgos de contaminación ¡conócelo! available at: sistema de reducción de riesgos de contaminación ¡conócelo! (Accessed June 14, 2020).

SimFruit, 2017. Paltas chilenas confirman su compromiso con la sustentabilidad y salen con destino a Europa con certificación Rainforest Alliance. Available at: https://portaldelcampo.cl/Noticias/64741_paltas-chilenas-confirman-su-compromiso-con-la-sustentabilidad-y-salen-con-destino-a-europa-con-certificacion-rainforest-alliance.html (Accessed June 25, 2020).

Snider, A., Kraus, E., Sibelet, N., Bosselmann, A. S., & Faure, G. (2016). Influence of voluntary coffee certifications on cooperatives’ advisory services and agricultural practices of smallholder farmers in Costa Rica. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension . https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2016.1227418

STPS. (2019). Distintivo empresa agrícola libre de trabajo infantil. Available at: https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/476208/GUIA_DEALTI-11_JULIO_FINAL.pdf (Accessed June 15, 2020).

Tafuro, A., De Matteis, F., Preite, D., Costa, A., Mariella, L., & Treviso, G. (2019). Social sustainability and local authorities: What is the relationship between spending commitments and social issues? Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 67 , 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2018.10.006

Tang, C. S., & Zhou, S. (2012). Research advances in environmentally and socially sustainable operations. European Journal of Operational Research, 223 (3), 585–594.

Tayleur, C., Balmford, A., Buchanan, G. M., Butchart, S. H. M., Corlet Walker, C., Ducharme, H., Green, R. E., Milder, J. C., Sanderson, F. J., Thomas, D. H. L., Tracewski, L., Vickery, J., & Phalan, B. (2018). Where are commodity crops certified, and what does it mean for conservation and poverty alleviation? Biological Conservation, 217 , 36–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.09.024

Tovar, L. G., Martin, L., Cruz, M. A. G., & Mutersbaugh, T. (2005). Certified organic agriculture in Mexico: Market connections and certification practices in large and small producers. Journal of Rural Studies, 21 (4), 461–474.

Uchiyama, Y., Tanaka, Y., Matsuoka, H., & Kohsaka, R. (2017). Expectations of residents and tourists of agriculture-related certification systems: Analysis of public perceptions. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 4 (2), 110–117.

Ullwer, J., Campos, J. K., & Straube, F. (2016). Waste and pollution management practices by German companies. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 49 (2), 102–107.

UN. (2015). United Nations. Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly. (accessed 25.08.2020).

UNAM. (2020). Bat friendly. Available at: https://www.batfriendly.org/index.php/ (Accessed June 22, 2020).

UTZ. (2020). UTZ certified coffee. Available at: https://utz.org/what-we-offer/certification/products-we-certify/coffee/ . (Accessed June 22, 2020).

Van Der Have, R. P., & Rubalcaba, L. (2016). Social innovation research: An emerging area of innovation studies? Research Policy, 45 (9), 1923–1935.

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted by University of Guadalajara (UDG), University of Passo Fundo (UPF), Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) and the Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens), from the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul) and Ânima Institute ‐ AI, in the context of the project BRIDGE—Building Resilience in a Dynamic Global Economy: Complexity across scales in the Brazilian Food-Water-Energy Nexus; funded by the Newton Fund, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível superior (CAPES), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Division of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, University of Guadalajara, Av. Rafael Casillas Aceves No. 1200, Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco, México

Javier Eugenio García de Alba Verduzco

Production Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa/UFV, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, Minas Gerais,, CEP 36570-900, Brazil

Samuel Borges Barbosa & Viviane dos Guimarães Alvim Nunes

Department of Livestock and Agricultural Sciences, University of Guadalajara, Av. Rafael Casillas Aceves No. 1200, Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco, México

Blanca Catalina Ramírez Hernández

Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Passo Fundo (UPF), BR 285, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil

Leila Dal Moro & Luciana Londero Brandli

Department of Ecology, University of Guadalajara, Camino Ramón Padilla Sánchez #2100 Nextipac, Zapopan, Jalisco, México

Luis Enrique Lomelí Rodríguez & Angélica Isabel García Navarro

University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul), R. Antônio Dib Mussi, 366 - Centro, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, CEP 88015-110, Brazil

André Borchardt Deggau & Simone Sehnem

Production Engineering, University of Brasília/UnB, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, Distrito Federal, CEP 70910-900, Brazil

Maria Gabriela Mendonça Peixoto

Centre for Sustainable Development (GREENS), University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, CEP 88015-110, Brazil

José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra

Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance, (CEENRG), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN, UK

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra .

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

de Alba Verduzco, J.E.G., Barbosa, S.B., Hernández, B.C.R. et al. Proposal for a social certification model for agriculture in Latin America aligned with the sustainable development goals. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-05343-5

Download citation

Received : 18 October 2021

Accepted : 18 August 2024

Published : 17 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-05343-5

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Sustainable agriculture
• Certifications
• Sustainable development
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research