1. Presenting it in an organised, meaningful manner.

2. Presenting the material in an unbiased way.

• • You may be aware of how newspapers often quote out of context to portray an interviewee in a particular light or to produce a good headline. This should be avoided in psychological research.

Qualitative Data in Interviews

There are a number of ways these potential pitfalls can be avoided:

1. Ask the interviewee how they would like the information to be presented. This can help ensure that the information is presented in a way that it is consistent with the views of the interviewee.

1. Decide beforehand what type of information is going to be presented and how. E.g., Are sections of the interview going to be transcribed, or will the information be paraphrased and explained.

1. Another method is to group information regarding particular issues together. E.g., Quotations from interviewees answers to a particular question could be listed after that question, followed by a summary.

The advantage of using qualitative data is that it has a richness that quantitative data does not.

• “80% of sixth-formers believe that the canteen is very good.”

• “I think the canteen is very good, but it could be improved if there was music and if the food was less expensive”.

Although the quantitative data is valuable in gauging general opinion, the qualitative data is more useful in many respects.

Qualitative Data in Case Studies

Case Studies can be a very useful method of obtaining rich qualitative data about a particular individual, and can lead to the generation of new hypothesis which can be tested using empirical studies (e.g., experiments, correlations or quasi-experiments).

Case studies usually include vast amounts of different types of information, some of which may be quantitative. Other types of data may be:

• Descriptions of observed behaviour, including the context of the behaviour.

• The participants own interpretation of the behaviour.

• Or participants descriptions of behaviour that was not observed (e.g., behaviour that took place before the study).

• Reports by the participant of cognitions (thoughts), attitudes and emotions which cannot be observed by the researcher.

• The researchers own interpretations.

  • It should be made explicit that these are interpretations and are thus biased by the researcher’s perspective.

• Implications for current theories.

To avoid bias, distinctions should be made between:

• Descriptions of actual events.

• Interpretations made by the participant.

  • For example, their thoughts and justifications for their behaviour.

• Interpretations made by the researcher.

Due to the nature of case studies there is a high potential for bias. Empirical research produces hard quantitative data, whereas qualitative research consists of a great deal of speculation and interpretation, and is less objective. It is, however, valuable because of the rich information it produces.