Researchers may wish to conduct qualitative research to investigate a specifc phenomenon when few or no
qualitative studies are published on the matter. Imagine you are a member of a research team debating
whether to conduct a qualitative or quantitative study on the health care needs of the community you serve
with residual grant funding. As the qualitative specialist, how would you convince the quantitative research
specialists in your team that qualitative research is justifed? Simply noting there is a dearth of qualitative
research on the problem or that other researchers have recommended qualitative research on the problem is
not a strong enough argument. How would you justify the need to do qualitative research based on its merits
for understanding the phenomenon? Explain.
