Qualitative research design

NatCen Learning

This two day intermediate level course is designed to equip participants with a clear understanding of the principles and practice of high quality, rigorous research design for qualitative studies.


Course outline
Course content covers:

  • designing effective research questions
  • choosing your methodology
    • types of data
    • choosing your data unit
    • deciding the time frame
    • choosing between different methods of data collection
  • sampling in qualitative research
  • ethics in research design
  • combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches
  • establishing quality in research design.


Who is it aimed at?
This is an intermediate level course. A general familiarity with qualitative research methods is assumed, but it is not necessary to have experience of using these methods.

You will find the course useful if:

  • you are new to qualitative research
  • you are intending to begin designing qualitative research studies for the first time
  • you commission or manage qualitative research in central or local government, health or other applied policy sectors.


Learning outcomes
By the end of the module participants will be able to:

  • identify and describe different stages in the qualitative research process
  • construct meaningful and appropriate research questions for qualitative studies
  • describe a range of qualitative research methods (relating to sampling approaches and data collection tools)
  • be able to recognise the advantages and disadvantages associated with different approaches to qualitative research
  • make informed choices about qualitative research design
  • recognise the factors which influence the type of research which can be done
  • better appraise the quality and feasibility of research designs, and (where appropriate) write higher quality research specifications for qualitative studies
  • demonstrate an awareness of the implications of design choices for timetables and the resources required for qualitative research studies.


Cost and booking
The full price of this course is £650.

We offer discounts to students, academics and those working in the voluntary sector.