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Qualitative Methods

Design Your Study

Step Two: Identify Your Sample (or setting)

Now that you know what you want to learn about or research, the next step is to identify the setting or sample most appropriate for your interests.

How to choose a setting or a sample for qualitative research

Think about where you are most likely to observe your research focus? Think about where you might find people engaged in the activities you are interested in.

If you are interested in learning about "late onset motherhood" (woman who are over age 35 when they become mothers) as Elizabeth Gregory (Director of UH Women's Studies) is you might look for places that such women might be found--certain women's business or social groups, fertility clinics, support groups, etc as a setting for your research.

If you want to study reading in woman's everyday life as Elizabeth Long (Chair of Sociology, Rice University) has, you might look for women's book clubs as she did.

Book Clubs

What constitutes a setting?

Settings can be simple--a bus stop--or complex--a courthouse with several mini-settings (court rooms, judges chambers, administrative offices, etc.). For the beginning researcher, it is best to start with a clearly defined space or group, such as one book club, one support group, or one aspect of a larger setting--one computer lab on campus (rather than the entire library).

[Watch Video, "Best Advice I've Received" Professor Alice Cepeda]

What constitutes a sample?

In qualitative research, samples are selected strategically for their likelihood to yield rich, thickly descriptive data. That is, unlike quantitative research where you must be concerned with issues of generalizability, qualitative researchers are concerned with collecting in-depth, richly detailed observations. The sample for your study will be the individuals you observe or interview, the documents you include, or the images created or analyzed.

What needs to be considered in choosing a setting or sample?

There are a variety of logistical and ethical concerns a researcher must address in choosing an appropriate site (setting or sample) for data collection. We will explore these further under data collection.