Qualitative Research Approaches and Data Collection Methods: Understanding Meaning and Experience

Qualitative research aims to explore and understand how individuals make sense of their experiences and the social world around them. Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on measurement and generalisation, qualitative inquiry values depth, context, and human meaning (Creswell and Poth, 2018). This paper outlines the primary approaches and data collection methods employed in qualitative research, illustrating how philosophical assumptions influence the design of inquiry. It discusses key qualitative approaches, including phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, narrative inquiry, case study, and participatory action research, each offering a distinct way to study human experience. The article also examines the most common data collection methods, interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis, and visual or digital tools, highlighting their role in generating rich and authentic data. Finally, it argues that qualitative research is guided by interpretivist and constructivist paradigms, where knowledge is co-created through a process of reflection and interpretation between the researcher and the participant (Schwandt, 2015; Denzin and Lincoln, 2018). This discussion lays the groundwork for the subsequent section, which examines the philosophical foundations and methodological principles of qualitative inquiry.