Designing successful, high impact interventions that achieve desired outcomes requires a comprehensive understanding of the goals of the people involved. What are their motives? How do they feel about the topic of interest? What words are they using to talk about it? What social, cultural, or contextual forces shape their decisions?

Qualitative research helps answer these questions. By uncovering insights into behaviors, values, motivations, attitudes, and lived experiences, it provides depth and nuance that quantitative data alone cannot offer. This article draws from my work and experience in global research studies to highlight the use of qualitative research methods to inform effective intervention design.

How to select the right qualitative approach

The appropriate tool depends on your research objective, nature of your questions, and the time you have available. For instance, you can zoom out and include dissimilar study subjects to get multi-faceted insights on the same topic. Or you can ask similar people questions to get their personal life stories and perspectives. You can either conduct qualitative research individually, with a group of people, or even just observe subjects in their natural setting to learn about a topic.

Based on your area of research, both qualitative and quantitative methods may be relevant. We often conduct qualitative research at the beginning of a study to help scope the relevant dimensions of the study and to understand best practices to engage the actors. Qualitative research also adds depth to our understanding of the literature as it applies to the study population. These insights can inform how to ask specific questions and which sections to include in a large-scale survey. You might review your qualitative findings to see if they align with your survey or quantitative research.

It is crucial you spend time setting up your research objectives. They should include your target behavior (if applicable), the target audience, and context. These will influence the logistics of conducting research.

In-depth Interviews: Exploring Individual Perspectives

In-depth interviews are structured or semi-structured conversations designed to elicit open-ended, detailed information about a topic from relevant participants. The interviewer can probe ‘in-depth’ by asking the respondent questions like:

  • Do you have an example of this?
  • Could you clarify what you mean when you say that?
  • What challenges do you face when doing that?
  • What advice would you have for this?

This technique is best used to ask about personal thoughts, experiences, and beliefs. Depending on the topic, you might need a private space to have a confidential or sensitive conversation. You should develop an interview or a moderator guide which entails the flow of the conversation, uses open-ended questions, and prompts for deeper questions that delve into specific areas of interest. As an interviewer, you will have the flexibility to adjust the interview style in response to the needs of the participant. 

Effective interviewers are flexible, attentive listeners who adapt to participants’ needs while remaining neutral and patient. Consider taking a few minutes in the beginning to use ice-breaker questions and build rapport with the participant so that they feel comfortable sharing details with you. Be aware of your facial expressions and body language to avoid leading the participant in any particular direction. Always end with an invitation to share anything that was not covered in the conversation and leave your contact information for them to reach you later if needed.

While it depends on the topic, it is common to reach ‘saturation’, or a level where you do not uncover new information from additional interviews. If you are hearing similar things in your interviews, consider broadening your sample to include those who might have divergent views to understand the factors underlying the difference.

What You’ll Need to Conduct Interviews:

  • A semi-structured interview guide.
  • 40-60 minutes per interview.
  • A trained interviewer who can navigate the conversation.
  • An audio recording device.
  • A notepad to take notes.
  • Access to a private setting.

An Example of an Interview

Our team wanted to understand the barriers faced by married women when making household financial decisions in rural communities in Bihar, India. Acknowledging the sensitive nature and underlying gender norms guiding the behavior, we conducted one-on-one interviews with the women (18-45 years) in several villages. 

We obtained consent from the participants and relevant family members, including their husband or in-laws, in line with practices in the state. We elaborated that the conversation would be confidential, anonymized, and not shared outside of the research team.

The interviews were conducted in a private room by a female researcher fluent in the local language. The interviews revealed key sociocultural influences, including educational attainment (both the women’s and their spouses’), age at marriage, and strong gender norms that limited women’s control over household finances.

Strengthening Interview Analysis

Consider including multiple interviewers on your team. During the analysis phase, it is helpful to get everyone who conducted the interviews together for a discussion of key findings and insights. This potentially surfaces differences based on the participant, potential methodological variations, or even the setting in which data was collected. The team can then analyze whether the findings align or meaningfully diverge, regardless of who conducted the interview.

Focus Group Discussions: Capturing Group Dynamics and Consensus

A focus group is a moderated small group discussion among participants with similar backgrounds or experiences. The aim of focus groups is to surface and explore individual and group level experiences, attitudes, beliefs, or opinions within a shared context, that people can reach consensus on. Because the discussion takes place in a group setting, sensitive or personal topics should be limited or framed carefully to ensure participants feel comfortable sharing their view.

Focus groups are a valuable tool for gathering feedback on a specific topic, particularly when the aim is to understand the underlying “why” and “how” behind certain components. You want to allow for participants to differ in their feedback and generate a breadth of knowledge. If relevant, you can ask participants to vote on or rank emerging themes to decide next steps. It’s common to find focus groups used in user experience (UX) research that aims to learn what users of a platform or product want to achieve.

Focus groups are useful if you want to:

  • Define a problem.
  • Pre-test and refine research questions.
  • Identify program strengths and weaknesses.
  • Generate new ideas.
  • Interpret quantitative findings in mixed method studies.

It is crucial to engage skilled facilitators. Group dynamics may overpower opinions of subdued participants. Setting group rules and giving everyone an opportunity to speak up allows varying opinions to emerge. A good facilitator aims to appear neutral and be aware of biases they might introduce, which can drastically influence the trajectory of discussions.

What You’ll Need to Conduct Focus Groups:

  • A semi-structured discussion guide.
  • 60-90 minutes of time.
  • A trained interviewer who can navigate the discussion.
  • An audio recording device.
  • A notetaker to take notes.
  • At least 8-10 participants.

An Example of a Focus Group

To understand perception of social distancing and usage of public toilet facilities in Tamil Nadu, India, we conducted focus group discussions among men and women in urban cities. We included same-sex and similar aged participants in group discussions to better understand concerns of using shared facilities during high perceived risk of COVID-19. Insights included concerns about hygiene, risk of transmission, and fear of spreading disease to older family members. In ranking exercise, we found that fear of spreading diseases to other family members restricted their overall use of enclosed public toilets.

Observational Research: Understanding Real-World Behavior

There are insights that are subject to biases such as social desirability bias, where respondents answer with what they believe is the socially “right” answer instead of responding truthfully. For example, if you ask teenagers if they smoke, they might under-report their behavior. Or if you ask people if they take their medicine as prescribed, they might misreport their actual behavior. In settings like these where self-reported metrics are unreliable, observations are available as a qualitative tool. Researchers can observe and collect data in a semi-structured or even unstructured manner, depending on the research topic.

Observation allows researchers to develop an unbiased understanding of a phenomenon or behavior as it occurs in its naturalistic setting. This “real life” setting allows study participants to behave and react as they would outside of formal research settings. You can use these at the initial phase of research, where you generate exploratory insights by observing relevant actors, relevant factors, works, expressions, and situations. You can think of using this tool when studying undesirable behaviors.

While observational methods can be cost-effective, they require careful training to reduce bias and ensure systematic data collection. It is also time consuming and difficult to obtain an accurate understanding of a balanced demographic sample. However, observation allows researchers to gather relevant data to inform other research methods used later.

Managing Bias in Qualitative Research

The most important source of bias in qualitative research comes from the researcher themselves. We all have different socio-cultural backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives. Research participants may often hold beliefs and attitudes that differ significantly from those of the researchers collecting the data. Since data collection relies on interpersonal interaction, researchers must ensure that they remain neutral in their conduct.

Critically examine your own role in the research setting and the potential biases you might hold by doing the following:

  • Reflect on how biases might affect the sample selection, location, study procedures, and even data interpretation.
  • Consider drawing from aspects related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
  • When collecting data, reflect on and understand your identity and position within the context.
  • Respect local customs and culture, as acknowledging them can enhance trust and facilitate open conversation and knowledge sharing among participants.
  • If possible, ask local stakeholders to provide input on your research approach and tools. This can address implicit assumptions and create space for additional dimensions of inquiry.

It is also important to cultivate empathy and be curious when probing for further details. When conducting qualitative research, you’ll find the need to be flexible and creative, especially when conversations diverge into different paths. Work with co-workers who can give you feedback and reflect on questions where you might have led or prompted the participant’s responses in a certain direction.

Make Time to Test Your Tools: Why Piloting Matters

Although tools and guides are often developed in the office, they frequently require adaptation during field implementation. Allow time to pilot or test your tools with test subjects who are similar to your study population before taking them to the field. Usability testing is a humbling exercise where you can improve the flow of components and address key issues before you expose larger audiences to them. Consider drawing on the expertise of your field research assistants to improve your tools, because qualitative tools are strengthened by contextualizing them to the target population.

Integrating Qualitative Research into Human Centric Design

Human centric design is an approach that uses an iterative pathway to design programs, applications, services, or interventions. The technique is used across multiple disciplines, including technology and the social sciences. It optimizes benefits to the user or human being interaction by including their perspectives and experiences early in the developmental stage. 

This user-oriented approach uses qualitative methods, especially in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, to uncover insights when using a product or interacting with an intervention. The researcher invites the respondent to be as honest and transparent as possible in their feedback to improve the product across dimensions, such as ease of use, acceptability of content, and feasibility of delivery.

Researchers also use non-verbal data collection methods, such as observing users interacting with a product to record their behaviors, points of friction, and responses to the content. In my global health work, qualitative approaches were used to study how young mothers used micronutrient packets to supplement their children’s complementary food. Many mothers were sharing individual-use packets with older children, which interfered with the intended dosage for adequate supplementation. These insights led us to redesign the sachet, adjust usage frequency, and incorporate behavioral prompts to prevent unintended consumption by older children. The result was a contextually appropriate nutrition intervention that optimized both the mother’s and the child’s feeding experience. Keep the qualitative tools in mind while designing your intervention!

Conclusion & Key Points

In this article, we have introduced some key tools you can use to conduct qualitative research. Qualitative research provides the interpretive lens necessary to design interventions that resonate with people in real-world contexts. Whether through interviews, focus groups, or observation, these methods uncover the motivations, constraints, and social dynamics that shape behavior.

Increasingly, rigorous research integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches in iterative cycles, using qualitative insights to inform measurement, refine interventions, and interpret outcomes. When thoughtfully applied, qualitative tools can transform technically sound programs into contextually effective ones.

As you design your next intervention, begin with curiosity. The depth of insight gathered early may determine the ultimate impact of your work.