Qualitative data provides a rich, detailed picture to be built up about why people act in certain ways, and their feelings about these actions. However, it is important to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative data analysis as this may influence your choice of data collection.

Advantages

•    Provides depth and detail: looks deeper than analyzing ranks and counts by recording attitudes, feelings and behaviors

•    Creates openness: encouraging people to expand on their responses can open up new topic areas not initially considered

•    Simulates people's individual experiences: a detailed picture can be built up about why people act in certain ways and their feelings about these actions

Attempts to avoid pre-judgments: if used alongside quantitative data collection, it can explain why a particular response was given

Disadvantages

•    Usually fewer people studied: collection of qualitative data is generally more time consuming that quantitative data collection and therefore unless time, staff and budget allows it is generally necessary to include a smaller sample size.

•    Less easy to generalize: because fewer people are generally studied it is not possible to generalize results to that of the population. Usually exact numbers are reported rather than percentages.

•    Difficult to make systematic comparisons: for example, if people give widely differing responses that are highly subjective.

Dependent on skills of the researcher: particularly in the case of conducting interviews, focus groups and observation.

Strengths and weaknesses of ethnomethodology

Strengths	Weaknesses
+ ability to examine complex cultural phenomena + orientation towards holistic perspective and tendency to identify diverse aspects of culture	- ethnomethodology’s status as a science. - whether to focus universal knowledge or specific knowledge - validity of the reports - needs skillful researcher and lot of time in the field

Different case selection criteria

Strategy	Purpose
Random sample	To avoid biases in the sample. The sample size is important for generalization.
Stratified sample	T o generalize for sub-groups within the population
Extreme/deviant cases	To obtain information about unusual cases
Maximum variation cases	To obtain information from cases that differ from each other
Critical cases	To achieve information about a case that has a strategic importance to the problem. The case of falsification.
Paradigmatic cases	To develop a metaphor for the domain that the case concerns

Strengths and weaknesses of case studies

Strengths	Weaknesses
+ results are easy to disseminate to a	- generalizations cannot be made easily
non-technical audience + o+ comparison between similar cases and situations observation of the effect of a “real context” easily. - cannot be reproduced easily (or even verified) - there may be observer bias.	- cannot be reproduced easily (or even verified) - there may be observer bias.

Strengths and weaknesses of grounded theory

Strengths	Weaknesses
+ identifies the situated nature a knowledge, as well as the contingent nature of practice + produces a 'rich' or 'thick' description that properly acknowledges areas of conflict and contradiction. + more likely to determine what actually happens	- overwhelming amount of data => difficult to manage - investigator needs to be well skilled with the method (Randolph, 2007) - no standard rules to follow ·       identification of categories ·       saturation of data

Strengths and weaknesses of grounded theory

Strengths	Weaknesses
+ identifies the situated nature a knowledge, as well as the contingent nature of practice + produces a 'rich' or 'thick' description that properly acknowledges areas of conflict and contradiction. + more likely to determine what actually happens	- overwhelming amount of data => difficult to manage - investigator needs to be well skilled with the method (Randolph, 2007) - no standard rules to follow ·       identification of categories ·       saturation of data