CHRIST UNIVERSITY

QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
METHODS
CIA 1

SINDURA
SADANANDAN
1MPCL- 1357357

Q1. How do you think qualitative research would help you in the process of becoming a
clinical psychologist/ therapist?

Answer:
As the name suggests qualitative research mainly deals with qualities of something i.e. it aims
to understand the characteristics of something- a population, a phenomenon etc. Being a
psychologist it is of utmost importance to understand things from a qualitative point of view
because psychology is all about the study of human behaviour and human mind. And both the
mind and behaviour of a person is as diverse as it can be and cannot possibly be quantified.
Emotions, feelings, behaviours, reactions, personality, needs and desires are things that
cannot actually be expressed in numbers. For this we use qualitative research methods which
helps look at things in a broader way and from a wider perspective and by employing various
interconnected processes. It provides sufficient space for dynamism and heated discussions of
reality.

At the core of psychological research is the aim to understand human behaviour, attitude and
related aspects such as decision making, problem solving, copin abilities etc. Qualitative
research provides a framework where in researchers are able to observe people in their
naturalistic environment and further by probing relevant questions. The questions are usually
open ended which means the participants can feel free to speak their minds in their own
words which in turn provides a clinician with a better understanding of the situation from the
client himself. This is an advantage over quantitative methods in the sense that, it is not
limited to statistical analysis which is merely confined to numerical conclusions. It also
overlooks the context in which a particular behaviour might have occurred. Also with
qualitative research, there are no strict definable variables. This provides the researcher with a
greater degree of flexibility. Further, a good psychologist must also possess the ability to see
things from the view point of another person. Qualitative research method certainly can be
helpful in this aspect because it sheds light on the respondents point of view and is not
merely limited to strict numerological norms.

Since a psychologists job had a lot to do with human interactions, qualitative research
definitely will come handy because it requires you to do a lot of background research and
demands that one spends quality time with his/her study group or community. This enables
the psychologist to gain deeper knowledge of the on-going social processes. A qualitative
researcher very often is found trying to learn the language of a community or getting in close
associations with a particular community in order to better understand their living conditions
and necessary aspects of life.

Methods used in the qualitative research such as semi structured interviews, narrative
interviews etc. gives the client opportunity to describe his feelings and experiences in great
detail which in turn helps the clinician to gain a deep knowledge of the problem as the client
sees it. And this will definitely help the clinical psychologist make accurate judgements and
diagnosis and provide the client with appropriate explanations and solutions for his problem.

Q2.) Identify a research question that you can explore using qualitative research method.
State how qualitative research method would help in the research. Also give research
evidence to substantiate.
Answer:
The Research question: Illness experience in cancer patients

Cancer is one disease that has a huge a significant impact not only on the physical health but
also far reaching consequences on the patients emotional well-being. The treatment
procedures such as radiation, chemotherapy etc. exhausts the patient and leaves him drained
off any energy. This can be extremely devastating for the patient. Many studies provide
evidence for the fact that cancer patients experience various adverse psychological
consequences like distress, depression, anxiety etc which in turn affect their psychological
emotional and cognitive processing. Nevertheless, only little qualitative research has been
conducted in the field of psycho-oncology. Most research was aimed at quantifying the
experiences of cancer patients and study their coping mechanisms using questionnaires and
surveys.

Use of qualitative research in this particular field has many added benefits. Using qualitative
research design, one can explore in depth about the subjective experience of illness of
patients and also about the various coping strategies they choose and most importantly WHY
he/she chooses them. Qualitative research throws light on the reasons and processes behind
this choice. Here, the persons personal account of the situation and experiences of illness is
given top priority.

Of the very little qualitative research that has been done in this field, one significant study
conducted was that by Henderson et al who explored the coping mechanism in African
American women with breast cancer. The authors stressed that using the method of semi
structured interviews most women felt relieved about sharing and contrasting their

experiences with other patients and that it brought to them a feeling of normalcy in their
lives. Another study was conducted by Link et al to study the coping strategies of cancer
patients using Ethnograph v5 computer program. Besides identifying the coping styles the
authors also identified various influencing factors behind their selection of coping strategy.

These studies are enough proof to establish the importance of qualitative research in the field
of psycho-oncology. The data collection methods such as case studies, comparative studies
and longitudinal studies help to study individual differences in coping styles and to study the
experience of illness along a trajectory. Besides qualitative research can also be used to
discard inappropriate assumptions and socio cultural factors that influence illness experience
of patients. Since it employs inductive and descriptive techniques it helps the clinician to
understand the feelings as felt by the patient. Use of semi structured and narrative interviews
with open ended question gives the patient ample freedom to talk, be descriptive about their
situation and express their true feelings. These techniques also help to reduce experimenter
bias and rationalisation on the part of the researcher.

Reference
1. Henderson,P D. Gore,S V. Davis,B L. African American women coping with breast
cancer. A qualitative analysis. Oncol Nurs Forum.2003; 30: 64 1-7
2. Lazarus,R S. Folkman, S. Psychological stress and coping process. New York:
Appleton-Century- Crofts; 1984.
3. Link, L B. Robbin. L, How do cancer patients choose their coping strategies ? A
qualitative study. Patient Education Couns. 2005; 58: 96-103
4. C, Mahati . Understanding coping with cancer. How can qualitative research help ?
Journal of cancer research and therapeutics, Vol.10, No.1, Jan-March, 2014, pp.6-10.
Doi: 10.4103/0973-1482. 131328.