The information in this guide has been adapted from Rhetoric of Inquiry, 5th Edition, edited by Kirsten F. Benson, Jeff Ringer, Paige Walker, and Daniel Wallace, pp. 254-255 (Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Qualitative Research”).
What does a Qualitative Research Project look like?
If you’re working on a qualitative research project for the first time, it can be hard to picture what the finished product, or your final draft, is supposed to look like (to help with this, you may view several samples in Rhetoric of Inquiry, 5th edition, pp. 421-469). Most qualitative research projects fit into a specific type of structure that includes an introduction, followed by methods, results, and discussion sections (this is commonly referred to as an IMRaD structure).
As you work on writing the first/rough draft of your qualitative research project, read through the following guide on each of the most commonly included sections in a qualitative research project (making sure to follow/prioritize your instructor’s guidelines for your assignment). And if you’d find a visual guide helpful, take a look at this qualitative research paper sample template.
Introduction:
Begin your paper by introducing the purpose of your study. Try to answer the following questions:
- What research question are you asking?
- Is your research question based on statistics? Observations? Current scholarly debates?
- Why is your question important? How does your study enter the conversations that are already present in the secondary source literature on your topic?
Make sure you cite other sources as you describe the scholarly foundation for your study.
Methods:
In the second section of your paper, describe the procedures you used to collect data for your project. Did you use a survey? Did you conduct an observation? Conduct interviews?
Participants:
Describe the groups of people who participated in the study and how they were invited or recruited to take part.
Data Analysis:
Data analysis is the process of arriving at the findings or answers to your overall research question(s). Describe how you coded your information in order to organize it into categories and themes.
Findings:
This section is where you report what you have found as a result of your study. Refrain from adding any personal comments, instead, think of it as a factual report of what you’ve found to be important as a result of your data analysis.
For example, from Kutner et al.: “Content analysis of the data revealed four primary areas of parental concern: (a) the balance boys struck between video game play and other activities, (b) the restrictions on video game use imposed by each household, (c) the content of video games, and (d) the influence video games could have on boys” (83, 84). Then Kutner et al. provide specific examples and quotations from the participants to prove the above statements.
Discussion:
In this section, tell readers what’s significant about your findings. Here, you can present some sort of stance based on the results of your study–your perspective on what the results mean. Return to the research question you introduced at the beginning of your paper (in your introduction): based on what you’ve found, have you answered the research question? If so, how? If not, why not?
Future Work:
In this section (if your instructor requires it), discuss how future scholars, including yourself, might further investigate what you’ve found to be important in your study. What additional research needs to be done? Could any groups of people find your results helpful now?
References:
On a separate page, cite all references in alphabetical order, following the documentation style your instructor specifies (i.e. APA, MLA, or Chicago).
Appendices:
If your instructor requires this section (many do), you’ll want to include the materials they specify, which usually include documents you used to help conduct your research, including:
- Your recruitment script, or the document you sent participants asking them to participate in your study.
- Your informed consent form, or the form you had participants sign or verbally respond to (usually while recorded), acknowledging their agreement to participate in your study.
- Your research protocol, where you described the details of your plan for conducting research.
- Both your interview questions and transcripts (the written version of your interviews) if you conducted interviews.
- Your survey questions (if you conducted surveys).
- Any important notes from your observations (if you conducted observations).
- Your codebook, or the document that shows your process for coding your findings for patterns and themes.
Putting it all together:
As you assemble the different components of your qualitative research paper, make sure you follow your instructor’s guidelines for your assignment.
You can also make an appointment with a writing consultant from the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center for feedback as you draft your paper.
References
Benson, K. F., Ringer, J., Walker, P., & Wallace, D. (Eds.). (2020). Rhetoric of Inquiry, 5th ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Kutner, L. A., Olson, C. K., Warner, D. E., & Hertzog, S. M. (2008). Parents’ and sons’ perspectives on video game play: A qualitative study. Journal of Adolescent Research, 23(1), 76-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558407310721
Return to the “Qualitative Research Using Interviews” Planner