Exploring the advantages and disadvantages of Qualitative Data Collection Methods

Abstract

Qualitative Research methods have been an integral part of many academic disciplines to gather a thorough insight into several issues of interest. The aim of this paper is to present the pros and cons of the most prominent Qualitative research methods available, that are Grounded Theory, Qualitative Interviewing, Participant Observation and finally Case Study Method. Here the theory emergence power of Grounded Theory has been balanced with its time-consuming feature. The capability of Qualitative Interviewing to unearth the understanding of the respondent has been discussed along with the effect of the biasness of the Interviewer. The same follows for Participant Observation, which gives us a contextual connotation of events. A little exploration of the triangulation principle of the Case Study Method and its effectiveness ends this paper.