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Section 4 Techniques and Tools

4D Qualitative methods

Qualitative methods include diverse approaches that seek to develop description, understanding and analysis of situations as experienced by those who are the focus of the research. Qualitative research enables both meaning and measurement to be developed. This guidance includes a number of approaches that can be used on their own or in combination with other qualitative or quantitative methods. Most participatory methods also use qualitative data.

Qualitative methods are less widely used and understood by social landlords than quantitative methods. Yet, they can provide important and useful forms of information about service quality. They are sometimes incorrectly dismissed as anecdotal, ‘soft’ or subjective, but arguably they deal with the ‘hard’ questions about what is significant to service users. The validity of qualitative approaches is discussed more fully in the section on representativeness.

Practice Point

• There is scope for social landlords to make fuller use of a range of qualitative methods to gather views on service quality and provide a more in-depth and nuanced understanding of the experience of service users.

4.11 Qualitative in-depth interviews

4.12 Group Interviews and focus groups

4.13 Using stories

4.14 Participant observation

4.15 Significant event analysis

4.16 Using comments, compliments and complaints as feedback

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