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The Most Interesting ABM Research Topics For Students

ABM is an acronym for Accounting, Business, and Management. This strand is one of the academic tracks in the K-12 program, which aims to teach vital concepts and skills related to business and finance. This strand provides future leaders and entrepreneurs with an opportunity to learn essential career skills. For instance, they learn how to interact with clients and strategize money-making moves. Like most courses, ABM students must write research and dissertation papers. The topic you choose for your paper will determine your success and how smoothly your research goes. So, are you looking for a research topic related to the ABM strand?

What Is the Best Research Title for ABM Students?

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We have prepared some great research topics for ABM students below, including ABM strand quantitative research topics for ABM students and ABM strand ABM research topics. Hopefully, this article will help you find a suitable research title for ABM students.

Research about ABM can be interesting because you have so many examples of quantitative research titles about the ABM strands to choose from. Some of the ABM strand research topics you can never go wrong with include:

Career paths in business management and accountancy
The fundamentals of Accountancy, Business, and Management strand
Essential skills you develop when working with a mentor in business management and accountancy
Expanding a business: Guidelines for choosing the ideal market
The role of globalization on consumer behavior
The correlation between globalization and business behavior
What is the future of globalization? Will it continue to grow or wear off in the future?
What are big-box stores, and how can they move toward success in the current business sector?
The concept of competitive intelligence and its role in business environment success
The best ways to gather and analyze data about your business environment
Corporate lobbyists: Their role in America’s future
Business Vs. General Ethics: the difference and laws
A guide for defining and attracting a target audience
Crisis management: a guide for businesses
How do monopolies impact the corporate sector?

The AMB strand is vast because it involves three subjects, each with several sub-classes. Therefore, choosing a research title for the ABM strand can be challenging as numerous options exist. While many opt for a quantitative research topic about ABM strand pdf, we prepared the following more examples of topics you can use:

The advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for a business
Is outsourcing an ethical business practice?
A comprehensive guide for negotiation tactics
Insider trading: what is it, and why is it an offense
The nature of insider trading and punishments for it
What would be the ideal punishment for severe corporate crimes?
Wages and employee productivity: What are the correlations?
Guidelines for managing employee retention
The role of staff motivation in employee productivity and retention
The impact of a low-cost economy on companies and their employees
The benefits and drawbacks of a low-cost economy on companies
How to navigate the startup world
Teenage businesses: a booming phenomenon
Are small businesses the basics of economics?
How do third-world countries navigate the business world?

Quantitative research focuses on collecting numerical data and examining stats. Quantitative research for ABM students includes methods like target group surveys. Choosing a quantitative research title for the ABM strand requires keenness. Here are a few quantitative research title examples for ABM students:

How social media and the internet have changed the corporate world
Evolutionary aspects of corporate crisis management
What are the most and least popular services in the corporate world
Business strategies in the banking sector
Negotiation and diplomacy: a guide for business owners
Creating a balanced ecology for increasing production
Branding: The concept and its place in the modern market
What challenges do small enterprises face in corporate America?
Is internet advertisement taking over the world of advertising?
The psychology behind consumer decision making
How has feminism influenced the way women consume products and services
Is advertising in schools an ethical practice?
Do companies need to offer psychologists for their employees?
How can companies incorporate and encourage eco-friendly policies and practices in their organizations?
Should minimum wage be canceled?

Choosing an ABM research title can be hard. However, with some inspiration, you will find a place to start. This section will help you select a research topic about the ABM strand. So here is our collection of ABM strand research topics.

The rise, fall, and policies of Eastman Kodak
Do ethics and morality exist in the current business-oriented world?
The contributors to the high mobile phone sale rates in recent years
The Apple Company: How has the company maintained its position in the device market?
Corporate rituals: what are they, examples of the oldest and most rigid ones still in practice
The role of brainstorming in idea production and business solutions
The role of a franchise agreement for franchise and franchise holders
Elements to consider when selecting a sector to expand your business
Alcohol companies should be obliged to donate to alcohol recovery centers: An explanation
Brad awareness: How to create a globally recognizable brand
The financial crisis: what should global and local businesses expect?
What is the future of commerce and retail in the current digital era?
Are bank mergers a wise strategy or a recipe for failure?
Does bankruptcy mean the end of a business?
Should banks consider bank mergers? If so, when would be the right time?

An ABM research title with the author feels should be well thought out. Here are a few more creative ABM research topics for your consideration:

Effective competing strategies for local businesses
How are local businesses influencing the global economy?
What is the role of employee unions in the United States?
Should companies encourage their employees to join employee unions?
How can large businesses help local companies break through the global market without fear of competition?
Global businesses: how is the internet promoting globalization?
Does organizational environmental pollution affect consumer trust levels?
How can businesses incorporate their consumers into eco-friendly practices?
What are the consequences of overworking employees in the workplace?
How can you transform your leadership to create a successful business?

Qualitative research answers the whys and hows of a topic. It tests people’s reactions to products and studies client or consumer behaviors. Qualitative research also employs case studies, interviews, and focus groups to gather information on qualitative research topics .

How can you make a museum exhibition marketable?
Tobacco companies: Should they be mandated to donate to cancer treatment avenues?
What are the advantages of owning a recognizable and respectable brand?
How can you package your brand, so people receive it positively and widely?
Company image: How does it affect consumer behavior and modern corporate culture?
Why do certain niche companies gravitate towards hiring youths?
Why do certain companies prefer female employees to men and the contrary?
How has the Chinese market benefit from globalization?
How do business clusters move globalization?
Should alcohol companies pay higher taxes?

Are you wondering about the ABM research title about accounting to choose? Your choice of a qualitative research topic about the ABM strand will determine the course your research takes. Find a qualitative and quantitative research title about the ABM strand in accounting in the following list.

Blockchain: How will this improve the future of accounting?
The impact of COVID-19 on global accountancy firms
Cryptocurrency: Is this the solution to all current financial issues in the consumerist society?
Discretionary accruals: Meaning and important ethical considerations
The role of interest rates on the success of accounting firms
What would accounting firms look like if interest rates did not exist?
Do global companies have better accountancy workforces than local ones?
Should local vendors adopt similar accountancy practices as global companies?
The role of an efficient accountancy workforce in a company’s success
Should more global companies jump on the cryptocurrency trend?

Another core subject in the ABM strand is business. It is arguably one of the easiest of the three elements in the ABM strand. However, students still struggle to find a good ABM research topic for business. So, we prepared this research title about business section for you to find a business research title example (research title about business quantitative and quantitative). Find an example of a business research title from the list below:

Are businesses that were formed during the COVID-19 pandemic still thriving?
How was launching a business during the pandemic different from any other year?
AI business models: are they the most integrated business approach model currently?
How important is language in communicating business goals and reaching your target audience?
Business ethic theories: do modern businesses follow them as rigorously as conventional ones?
How do internet-related businesses like Amazon affect other businesses and the general public?
How to build consumer loyalty in a competitive sector
Consumer crisis: What is it and how to manage it
What are the best ways to minimize the risks of low-quality products or ones that do not meet industry standards?
The value of determining your target market at the conception of a business

Most students panic whenever they choose an ABM research title about management because they lack options. That should not be an issue again because we are here to help. Find an excellent qualitative or quantitative management and advertising research title for ABM students in the section below:

Career and talent management: Differences and correlations
Critical elements that affect business management, process planning, and project management
The role of organizational leadership in small company management
Construction management: How is it useful and how to do it effectively
Brand management: What would happen if businesses did not practice effective brand management?
The best customer risk management practices and why should always have a plan set in place
An explanation of the concept of consumer management in the current business sector
How effective management impacts the concept of perfect competition.
The impact of business management on worker loyalty and productivity rates
Critical factors to consider when choosing the right management team for a business
What is subliminal advertising, and what should you know about it?
How does subliminal advertising work?
Is product placement a good advertising strategy?
What is the future of telemarketing in the current corporate world?
Is telemarketing a thing of the past or a relevant form of advertising?

From ABM research topics quantitative to overall topics related to ABM, there are many approaches you can take for your research. The good thing is you will always benefit from an example of a research title about the ABM strand. Below are a few examples.

Why do copycat products enter the market so easily?
How can companies fight for their copyright and prevent copycat products from entering the market?
Can companies redeem themselves after a corporate crime crisis?
The role of corporate social responsibility in making a company more socially accountable
An explanation of the concept of corporate social responsibility
Corporate crime: What to know about this and how to come back from such a challenge
The idea of data security in the current business world
How to protect your data from data corruption, unauthorized access, and other data security issues
Employee coaching Vs. Employee management: What is the difference and how to organize each practice
Do businesses still adhere to this ethical principle?

An example of a research title about the business will help you get started. However, you must be keen on the research title about ABM that you select. Find a suitable business research topic for ABM students here:

Disruptive innovation in business: What are it and essential things you should understand
Is intellectual capital the key to unlocking your potential?
The basic components of intellectual capital
What is the most effective way to match a person to a role in a company?
Is job sculpting the key to unlocking people’s potential in the workplace?
Moral principles and regulations that govern business operations in your country
A guide to the various types of mergers
Key reasons that motivate companies to turn to merge
The Starbucks effect in the real estate sector?
Do people consider the presence of a Starbucks in their environment when making real estate decisions?
The value of strategic planning when establishing the direction of a small business before its launch
Labor strikes: What companies do they affect, and what are their consequences?
The value of company ethics and how companies should establish them
A guide for setting company ethics for a startup
The consequences of labor strikes in the general corporate economy

Most ABM students are usually in the 12 th grade. At this academic level, students have the cognitive ability to grasp ABM strand concepts. An ABM research project is a stepping stone for 12 th -grade students to move toward the next level of studies. Therefore, choosing a good topic is mandatory.

A good topic will help you find your ground and write a research paper that stands out. Creativity is an essential quality when picking research topics. However, if you do not trust your creativity, you need not worry. Here are some ABM-related research topics for 12 th -grade students:

Do undocumented workers have rights?
Ware the risks of employing undocumented workers in your business?
What belief system is work ethic, and does it have disadvantages?
The element of work ethic when selecting employees for your startup
How to encourage and maintain work-life balance for your employees
Can a work-life balance help promote productivity in your workplace?
Is business leadership a learned skill or an in-born talent?
How much power should stakeholders have in your business?
How do stakeholders affect the success of a business?
Why should the corporate sector educate the public on international investment?
Global competition: is this a successful strategy for local companies or a recipe for success?
International unemployment is a global phenomenon
How can local companies help resolve the issue of global unemployment?
How can large and successful companies create more employment opportunities?
Forms of ethical conflicts in the business world and how to avoid them

Let’s Help You with ABM Research Topics Selection and Writing

Whether you want to choose an ABM research title about accounting, advertising, management, or other focus areas, you can always depend on us for help. In addition to that, our team is ready to create satisfactory content on any ABM research topic you have. Let’s do this!

200 Research Topics For ABM Students (Updated 2024)

Welcome to a big collection of research topics designed just for you—ABM (Accounting, Business, Management) students! In this updated list for 2024, you’ll find 200 research topics for ABM students to kickstart your research journey. These topics cover various aspects of business, offering a wide collection of options to explore. Whether you’re interested in finance, marketing, or entrepreneurship, you’re bound to discover a topic that sparks your curiosity.

From understanding economic trends to analyzing marketing strategies, each topic is crafted to be approachable and interesting. You don’t need to be an expert, just an awesome learner ready to explore the world of business management through research. So, grab your curiosity, dive into these research topics, and start on an adventure of learning and discovery in the domain of ABM! The possibilities are vast, and your research adventure begins right here, right now.

What is ABM?

Table of Contents

ABM stands for Accounting, Business, and Management . It’s a school track where students learn about money, running businesses, and how to manage things. ABM helps students get ready for jobs in accounting, business, or managing companies.

They study subjects like finance, marketing, and economics to understand how businesses work. It’s like a learning path to prepare for jobs where you handle money, make business decisions, and manage different aspects of a company.

200 Research Topics For ABM Students

For Your ease and convenience we have made separate headings for research topics for ABM school students and college students. Each category includes 100 unique and creative research topics.

100 Research Topics For ABM Students (School Students)

In this section we will see top 10 categories for Research topics for ABM school students. Here is a complete list just crafted for you:

100 Research Topics For ABM Students (College Students)

In this section we will see top 10 categories for Research topics for ABM College students. Here is a complete list just crafted for you:

How To Select Research Topics For ABM Students?

Choosing a research topic is like picking your favorite adventure. For ABM students, here are some simple tips:

Interest: Choose a research topic that sparks your curiosity and enthusiasm. When you’re interested, learning becomes exciting, and exploring the subject feels like going on a fascinating adventure tailored just for you.
Relevance: Ensure your research topic relates directly to Accounting, Business, or Management subjects that align with your studies in ABM. A relevant topic makes your exploration meaningful and connects to what you’re learning in your academic journey.
Real-Life Connection: Select a research topic that you can relate to real-life situations or businesses. Making a real-life connection adds depth to your exploration, helping you understand how your studies in ABM apply to the world around you.
Curiosity: Follow your curiosity when choosing a research topic. Opt for something that makes you eager to learn more. A curious mindset turns your research into an exciting adventure, making the entire process enjoyable and fulfilling.
Resources: Ensure there are enough books, articles, or information available on your chosen research topic. Having accessible resources makes your journey smoother, allowing you to dive deep into the subject and gather valuable insights for your ABM studies.
Ask for Advice: Don’t hesitate to seek advice from teachers or classmates when selecting a research topic. Others might offer valuable perspectives or suggest interesting areas to explore, making your decision-making process more informed and collaborative.
Manageable Scope: Select a research topic with a manageable scope. Avoid overly broad subjects and narrow it down to something specific. This way, you can dive deep into the details and thoroughly explore the chosen area within the boundaries of your time and resources.

Remember, it’s your adventure, so enjoy the journey of exploring and learning

Congratulations, explorers of knowledge! You’ve just unlocked a treasure of 200 research topics for ABM students. As you go on this learning journey, remember, each topic is a door to new insights and exciting discoveries in the world of Accounting, Business, and Management. From understanding money matters to solving the secrets of successful entrepreneurship, the possibilities are endless.

Feel the thrill of picking a topic that sparks your curiosity, like choosing an adventure in a book. Dive into the list, ask questions, and let your imagination fly. The world of ABM awaits your exploration! So, gear up, take the step, and enjoy the ride as you reveal the fascinating sides of business and management. Happy researching, future leaders!

Online gambling is becoming popular with college students.

Best Ever Topic for Accounting Research Paper

Notes and Tips
_Handy Notes
_Guiding Gems
_Core Insights
_Visual Digests
_Free Materials
Research Titles
_Literary Analysis

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Topics for ABM Student

You are probably a student who has taken the ABM strand and you came here because you want to know how to develop a suitable research topic, right?

Here's the good catch: I listed down some research ideas I thought of before, and don't worry because they are relevant to your strand.

Also Read: The Rules of Debit and Credit in Accounting

Sample Research Topics and Titles for ABM Strand

Under the ABM strand, topics such as business, finance, and the like always come to mind first. To make these broad topics more specific, sample research topics and titles, including a sample approach to what you will do in such topics, are presented as follows.

Research Topic:

E-commerce and its impact on small business growth

Research Title:

Empowering Small Businesses:

A Quantitative Study on the Growth of E-commerce Around Manila

You're going to combine a literature review to support the data you will gather from small business owners through questionnaires. You will analyze the effect of e-commerce on growth by utilizing quantitative analysis of financial data for unbiased and comprehensive discernment.

Strategies for Thriving in Business

Sustainable Success:

Thriving Strategies in Business

One approach will be examining successful companies. It is not necessarily a big one. You will analyze their sustainable practices and their impact on sustainability initiatives.

You will study the influence of social media marketing on consumer behavior. It can be in the form of an analysis of consumer responses as well as marketing campaigns.

You may assess financial literacy and spending habits among the ABM students through questionnaires and then make an output-based plan that will address what you will discover.

How I Survived ABM with Flying Colors

Additional Topics and Titles

What can you expect from such topics.

Those topics will bring you an idea of what they are all about, including what you can do if you have chosen to go further with those topics. If you want to make them a basis for the research topic you have in mind, you can do that.

Take note that while it's true that they are appropriate and have the potential to make an actual contribution to resolving real-world scenarios, put in mind that such topics are just mere guides on how you can come up with your topic.

How to choose an ABM Qualitative or Quantitative Research Topic?

When starting your research paper related to the ABM Strand, the first step is choosing the right topic. Given the extensive collection of ABM topic ideas available online, it might sound easy, but that's different from how it does.

It is more complex than just picking one topic from the internet randomly. It would be best if you also balanced factors like relevance, practicality, and interest in a particular research topic.

There are two subjects related to research in Senior High School (SHS). The first is Practical Research 1 (PR1), which focuses on qualitative research. The other is Practical Research 2 (PR2), which concentrates on quantitative research.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research for ABM students dives into the "why" and "how" of a specific topic.

For example, it's the method you want to choose to understand customer reactions to new products or explore consumer behaviors. It uncovers more profound insights and involves techniques like case studies, interviews, and focus groups to gather rich, descriptive data.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research for ABM students includes numerical data. Quantitative analysis collects numerical data and analyzes statistics.

It can be done through survey questionnaires that will be answered by specific target groups and analyzed afterward to draw broader conclusions.

Essential Things to Take Note

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417 Business Topics & Research Titles about Business

The corporate world is the world of the future – there’s no doubt about that. And education in ABM will help you conquer it!

What is ABM strand, exactly?

ABM stands for Accountancy, Business, and Management. Future leaders and entrepreneurs pursue education in this field to learn the skills essential for their careers. They study how to run a business. How to talk to clients. And, of course, how to come up with strategies to earn money.

Looking for exciting business topics to write about in a paper or dissertation? Here you’ll find a list of research titles about business, as well as ABM qualitative and quantitative research ideas collected by Custom-writing.org experts. We hope that these business and management research topics will inspire you for your own project or for a heated discussion.

❣️ Choosing an ABM Qualitative or Quantitative Research Topic

👔 business topics to write about, 💸 business topics on marketing, 📈 accounting research titles about business, 💫 business management research topics, 👷 business topics on hr, 🤔 abm strand research faq, 🔍 references.

The key part of acquiring any education is writing a research paper . Why do it? First, it’s a test of a student’s analytical, writing, and research skills. Second, being able to conduct business research is paramount to its success.

It helps you communicate with customers.
It helps you scan the marketplace for threats and opportunities.
It helps you understand how to minimize risks.
It helps you plan your investments effectively.
It helps you keep your hand on the pulse of the current trends in the market.

The obtained skills will guide you through the entirety of your professional career. It’s an experience that can’t be skipped. We’ve hand-picked 417 research topics related to the ABM strand, just for you. Here, you will find the best ideas for your future ABM research paper masterpiece.

The first step in writing an ABM research paper is choosing a topic. With the abundance of ABM research topics ideas on the Internet, it’s not an easy task. Simply picking one won’t do the trick. You will need to juggle relevance, applicability, and your own personal interest in the subject.

There are two main types of AMB research methods: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative research answers the why and the how questions. It tests customers’ reaction to new products and studies consumer behaviors. Case studies, interviews, and focus groups are the common methods of collecting such data.
Quantitative research collects numerical data and analyzes stats. The common methods include various surveys in target groups.

What ABM fields to explore are out there?

Financial accounting (aka accountancy) is creating financial statements to be distributed within and outside of a company.
Management accounting is creating operational reports to be distributed only within a company.
Banking and finance are all about financial services provided to customers, and the laws of investment.
Business administration is supervising and overseeing various business operations.
Marketing is all about the promotion of buying and selling services and products.
Entrepreneurship is all about the process of coming up with, starting and managing a new business.
Human resource development management is all about reaching the top potential of the employees.
Hospitality management is overseeing and supervising various administrative tasks of a resort or hotel.
Tourism is all about attracting, housing, and entertaining tourists, and organizing tours for them.

Getting lost in this embarrassment of riches? Let’s single out the five of the trendiest areas of ABM research. They are: business, marketing, accounting, project management, and human resources. Want to see more examples of research titles about ABM strand? More on them down below!

Decided to go with a business-related topic for your ABM research paper?

We have you covered!

Here are some of the freshest ideas for a relevant business research paper. Enjoy our selection of business research topics and research titles for ABM students. Choose one and prove that your finger is on the pulse of the modern market world!

Is poverty a concern of a corporation? How can corporations contribute to social development? Should they concern themselves with it in the first place, and to what degree? How can corporate social responsibility result in the betterment of the market? How can a corporation’s perceived awareness produce a positive image for the customers?
Labor relations : the latest tendencies and the predictions for the future. Analyze the contemporary trends in the labor-corporate relationship. What issues are likely to emerge in 2025-2030? Back up your conclusion with real-life examples.
Diversity as a contemporary working reality. Due to globalization, people of various backgrounds tend to work together, more and more so. Does it influence the working process at all? Does the difference between genders, ages, and ethnicities hinder or facilitate business? Should the companies ensure that there’s diversity among their employees, and why? How should the work environments be organized to maximize efficiency?
Personal networking : labor-corporate communication tool. How does the number of people you know correlate with the chances of finding the best partners, workers, and customers? Is it an exponential or a sine curve? Produce real-life examples.
E-business: the world-wide globalization process. Some of the most successful modern businesses operate almost exclusively online. What are the examples? Assess the role of integration in their workflow. What are the overall perspectives of SCM (supply-chain management) in the realities of e-business?
Leadership and business in the modern world. Is there a significant difference in the styles and strategies implemented by the leaders in the 21 century as compared to the earlier eras? How do modern leaders adjust to contemporary business realia? What are the challenges and opportunities? What are the global trends? Produce real-life examples.
Copyright law: is it on the side of the artist or the company representing them? How has copyright law evolved through the times? What drove it so? To what extent does it protect modern artists? How can a copyright corporation exploit it, and to what degree? Produce real-life examples. Are there any court precedents?
Advertisement and consumer behavior . What types of advertisements prove to be the most effective? Back up your data with research results. What are the latest trends in the world of advertisement? What are the advantages and disadvantages of online and offline advertising? What mistakes can be made by a brand that is trying to produce a positive image through advertisement?
Apple : how to turn your brand into a religion. What are the factors behind the success of the Apple corporation? Is it just clever advertising, or is there something more to that? How does Apple build a following of brand loyalists? Does Apple face any difficulties in the realities of the modern harsh brand competition? What are your predictions for the nearest future of Apple corporation?
Word of mouth: a fossil or a gem? Who usually relies on this form of advertisement the most? How can an already well-established corporation benefit from it? How does word of mouth differ from other types of advertisement? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Produce real-life examples of a brand’s or organization’s success due to word of mouth.
Facebook and business . How can Facebook be used as a modern platform for conducting business? Does it have any advantages as compared to other online platforms? What are the disadvantages? What successful companies use Facebook as a business platform?

Pay for performance: a source of loyalty or displeasure ? What’s the best strategy for an employer to link pay and performance? Should pay increases be dependent on just the performance of an employee, or should other factors also be considered? Back up your reasoning with research results.
Local customization vs. global standardization. What are the pros and cons of each of the approaches? What companies are known to implement both strategies successfully? Give examples.
External recruiting vs. Internal promotions . What are the pros and cons of each of the approaches? How can a company implement both strategies successfully? Which is a more cost-effective approach? Why is it impossible to stick to just one of the strategies?
Does a multinational corporation have a motherland? Is it obligatory for a multinational corporation to have a strong presence in its home country? What are the economic benefits or downsides of it? Produce real-life examples.
Management by walking around (MBWA). What is the reasoning behind it, and how is it implemented? Is it a boost for productivity or a stress for employees? Who needs it more – the employees or the manager? Is it effective? Illustrate your point with research results.
The AIDA formula in advertising. What exactly is the AIDA formula? Why is it popular nowadays, and how does it compare to the other formulas for creating advertisements? Is it the key to a successful message broadcasting or a hindrance to creativity?
Free market: an achievable goal or a utopia? What exactly is the concept of a free market? What are the advantages of such a system? What are the disadvantages? Are there any real-life examples, and what can be learned from them?
Family business : pros and cons. Are there any modern examples of a successful family business? What might be the downsides of such a business model? What are the advantages? What can be learned from the examples of exercising interpersonal relations in business?
Franchises vs. “from scratch” businesses. Why having a franchise is a go-to option for a lot of corporations? What benefits does it produce? Are there any downsides? Which business model is easier to maintain? Which business model is more cost-effective?
Marijuana business in the US: state law vs. federal law. What is the current stand of federal law on the issue? What about state law? What is your prediction for the marijuana-based businesses for the nearest future?
Governments vs. private businesses. How does the government manage private businesses in your country? What is the best strategy for a government-private business relationship? How does this relationship reflect on the economy of the country?
The Internet and consumer behavior . How does the Internet shape consumer behavior in modern days? Are there any drastic changes in consumer behavior as compared to ten years ago? Is the Internet just a new platform for advertising, or is there more to that? Produce real-life examples.
The culture of consumerism. What exactly is this phenomenon? Is it really a thing or just a popular penny dreadful? Is it a natural occurrence or an artificial design created by the major companies for increasing profit? What proofs of the latter can be produced?
The best countries to invest into in 2020. How can a country be invested into? Why would some corporations choose to do it? What are the criteria? Is it cost-effective? What are the real-life examples?

Here are some more business research topics to explore:

Outsourcing: its advantages and disadvantages for a business. Is it ethical?
Authors and copyright: which works better, legal names or nom de plumes?
Negotiation tactics : understanding authority.
Oil prices impacts on consumer behavior in Turkey .
Corruption cases: do state officials have a higher chance of succeeding with a request for dismissal?
Juicy Fruit: business strategies and product promotion .
Insider trading : how the nature of the offence and the punishment for it has changed through the decades.
American Airlines: the secret of success .
Alcohol: the advantages of the sale and consumption laws for the society’s well-being.
Organizational change capacity concept .
Death penalty: should it apply for the most severe corporate crimes?
The correlation between wages and employee productivity.
The correlation between strategic management and employee productivity .
The impact of staff motivation on employee productivity.
Managing employee retention .
Low-cost economy: companies benefits and drawbacks .
Sales letter vs. waste bin: how to avoid spam folder?
Startups: how to.
L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble: financial analysis .
Teenagers vs. business: the phenomenon of teenage business.
Logistical system: private and public warehouses combining .
Small business : the basis of economics.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo: Comparative Analysis .
Third-world countries: how is business done there?
Taxes: types and uses.
The role of corporate lobbyists in American future .
Business ethics: is there a difference from general ethics? What are the laws?
What are the cultural differences of doing business in different countries?
Roadrunner Sport: social and digital media strategies .
The target audience: how to define it and how to attract it?
Crisis management in business.
Call centers outside the US: pros & cons .
Risks: how to calculate them in your business endeavor.
Monopolies : how do they impact the market?
Business dynasties: how does family business operate?
Copyright law : how does it operate?
A gaming lounge: business plan .
Services: what are the most and least popular in the market?
Dell Company: global strategies .
Charity: is it a good advertisement strategy for a business?
How to balance ecology and increasing production.
SunTrust: business strategies in banking industry .
Corporate culture : what company rituals are common in business?
Negotiation and diplomacy in business.
TransGlobal Airlines as a monopoly .
A healthy working environment and its importance in business
Google’s success: a case study .
Brands: what’s their place in the modern market?
American Airlines’ and US Airways merger .
Military crisis: a hindrance or a boost for business?
Small enterprises: what are the challenges?
British Petroleum: the corruption case .
Internet advertisement: is it overtaking the world of advertising?

The psychology behind people’s decision to buy a more expensive product or a higher quantity of it.
Feminism: how does it influence the way women consume?
Hilton’s investments into the Italian tourism sector: causes and effects .
Teenagers and brands: what brands are the most popular among modern teenagers?
Mandatory recycling: how would it affect the prices? Would it be cost-effective in the long term?
Advertising in schools: is it acceptable?
Social media: what marketing strategies are used there? Does it influence offline advertisement?
Tariffs on car imports in Ukraine.
Employee stress : does every company need to offer services of a psychologist?
Sports and art: do corporate extracurricular classes enhance employees’ creativity and result in a healthy work environment?
Walmart company: environmental sustainability .
Eco-friendliness: how can more eco-friendly policies be encouraged in companies and businesses?
The concept of perfect competition .
Personal guns: does the successful handgun production industry depend on their free distribution?
BMW group sustainability plan .
Minimum wage: should it be canceled? Why?
Starbucks, Toyota and Google: missions comparison .
Commerce and retail: what is the future? Will shopping activity move completely to the Internet?
Toyota and Plexus: pricing strategies .
Internet advertising: is it more effective than other types of advertisement?
Tobacco production: should higher taxes apply to the tobacco companies? Should they be obliged to donate to cancer treatment centers?
Alcohol production: should higher taxes apply to alcohol companies? Should they be obliged to donate to alcohol treatment centers?
Xerox: company profile and overview .
Business ethics: how does it influence important decisions made by a company?
Ethics and morality in a business-oriented world.
The rise and fall of Eastman Kodak .
A museum exhibition: how can it be made marketable?
The business guide to sustainability.
Mobile phones: what has facilitated their high sales rates in recent years?
Under Armour: company analysis and strategic alternatives .
International human resources : what are the major challenges and pitfalls?
Corporate rituals: what are the oldest and most rigid ones that are still practiced in companies?
Brainstorming: how effective is it in producing ideas and business solutions?
Healthy work environment: what does it look like, and how can it be created?
Financial crisis: how does it affect business in the US and worldwide?
Famous brands: what are the associated advantages of owning a product of a recognizable and respectable brand? Why are consumers often willing to pay for it more than for a less well-known alternative?
Image: how does it affect the modern business culture and consumer behavior?
Gender: does it influence the ability to manage small and large teams?
Hiring youth: why certain niche companies prefer to employ young people? What are the examples?
Differences in ethnic cultures: how do they influence team-building?
Differences in ages: do they create difficulties in departmental cross-functional cooperation?
Gender: why certain companies prefer to employ more women than men and vice versa? Are efficiency stereotypes empirically and numerically confirmed?
Fitness franchises: why are they more and more popular?
Franchise models: what types are out there? Which would you choose for a coffee house? Other examples are welcome.
Franchise promotion: is it the responsibility of the franchisee or of the franchise holder?
Franchise agreement: which items should be included to save from excessive spending with no reward?
What factors must be considered when choosing the market for business expansion?
Globalization and consumer behavior: how does one affect the other?
Chinese market: how does it benefit from globalization?
Globalization: will it continue to spread, or will it cease to decrease?
Business clusters: how do they move globalization?
Bank mergers : a wise strategy or a result of failure? When should a bank consider this move?
Bankruptcy : what are the most common reasons for it? Does it necessarily spell the end for a business?
Big-box stores : how to ensure the success of a big-box retailer?
Brand awareness: how to make people remember and recognize your brand?
Competitive intelligence: what are the best ways to gather and analyze information about the business environment?
Consumer loyalty: how to make a consumer develop a behavioral tendency of favoring one brand’s products over the other?
Consumer risk management: what are the best ways to minimize the potential risk of a product not meeting quality standards entering the marketplace? How to make it cost-effective?
Copycat products: why do they enter the market so easily, and what are the ways for a brand to fight for its copyright?
Corporate crime : how is it best for a company to redeem its reputation after being compromised?
Corporate social responsibility : how does this business model help make a company be socially accountable?
People Water: corporate social responsibility .
Customer competencies: how to enable your customers to learn and engage in an active dialogue?
Data security : how to protect data from unauthorized access and data corruption?
Downtown revitalization: how can it be beneficial for a business?
Ruth’s Chris restaurants: SWOT analysis .
Employee coaching: how is it different from managing? How is it best to organize employee coaching in a big/small company?
The “Do no harm” ethical principle in business.
Green products: are they good for a business? How can a company use less packaging, and reduce the amount of disposed toxics?
Industry disruptor: what is a disruptive innovation in business?
Intellectual capital: what are the components and what is the best way to unlock their potential?
Job sculpting: what is the best way to match a person to a job that unlocks their potential to the fullest degree?
Marketing ethics : what are the moral principles behind the regulation and operation of marketing in your country?
Mergers : what are the types, and why do businesses do it?
Organigraphs: how to graphically represent a company’s structure and processes? How are organigraphs different from a traditional organizational chart?
Philanthropy: what are the competitive advantages of corporate philanthropy?
Quality circles: how does it influence business positively?
Regional planning: how to place infrastructure across a large area of land efficiently?
Customer service initiatives: how to learn what your customers dislike, tolerate, and actively appreciate?
Bagel Store vs. Subway: comparative analysis .
Shared services model: why are they cost-efficient?
Short-term financing: in what types of businesses does it apply best?
Starbucks Effect: how does a Starbucks store affect home and property values?
Groupon: daily deal or lasting success ?
Strategic planning : how to establish the direction of a small business?
IBM Corporation: business strategies .
Labour strikes: what causes them? What are the consequences for a business in particular and for the economy in general?
Companies’ ethics: concepts and cases.
Subliminal advertising: how do they work?
Telemarketing: a thing from the past or a relevant method of advertising?
Underage workers: how does employment of minors work?
Underwriting: who provides underwriting services and who receives them?
Undocumented workers: do they have rights, and what are the risks?
Unions: what is their stand in your country?
Whistle blowing: is it regarded ethical in modern business practice?
Work ethic: what kind of belief system is that? Does it have any downsides?
Work-life balance : what are the ways of encouraging and maintaining it?
Business leadership: is it a skill that can be learned?
Stakeholders : what is their impact on the success of a business?
Global unemployment: why is it a worldwide phenomenon? What are the solutions to the problem?
International investment : why is it important to educate the public on its benefits?
International competition: what are the strategic measures of survival for local companies?
Job creation : how can big and small businesses create jobs?
Businesses and oceans: why is it crucial to institute and implement environmentally-friendly approaches?
Ethical conflicts: how to avoid cultural, religious, and political arguments at work?
Organizational environmental pollution: how does it affect consumer trust levels?
Business negotiation: what are the styles of intercultural dialogue?
Excessive work: what are the consequences of overworking ?

Marketing is one of the most prominent entities that govern our world. It’s the cornerstone of business, serving to identify and satisfy customers’ wants and needs. Without marketing, there is no business!

Here are some of the most relevant marketing research paper topics and ideas. Choose one, and you are bound to impress your professor!

Coronavirus: a case study. How has COVID-19 affected consumer behavior worldwide ? What about your own country? Are there any glaring examples of inadequate consumer behavior? What are the reasons behind them? How do different businesses deal with the consequences of quarantine? Produce examples of marketing centered around Coronavirus.
Zoom: a case study. How did Zoom manage to become a go-to platform during the Coronavirus outbreak ? Was it the brand’s clever marketing, or did something else influence the consumer choice? How did Zoom manage to outperform the dozens of rival video conferencing services? What are the numbers? Make your predictions on whether the company will be able to sustain its success after quarantine is over.
Gillette #MeToo commercial: a case study. How did the brand express its political stand on a pressing social subject? Did the campaign ultimately succeed in its goal? Did the backlash harm Gillette’s reputation, or was it a sign of successful branding? How did it ultimately reflect on sales? What can be learned from the data?
Xbox Series X: a case study. The Xbox Series X is the successor of the popular Xbox One home video game console. It is scheduled for release in late 2020. How is it advertised? How does its marketing campaign impact user behavior? Is it a fast process? Analyze the concept and the marketing campaign of the product.
Colin Kaepernick in a Nike commercial: a case study. How did the brand use an existing political situation to its advantage? Did the campaign ultimately succeed in its goal, or did it merely taint Nike’s reputation? Was it marketing genius or brand failure? What do the numbers say? What can be learned from the data?
Brexit and consumer behavior. How has Brexit affected consumer buying behavior in the UK? What about the EU? How did it impact currency exchange rate? What businesses benefited from it? What can be learned from the data?
Same product, different branding: a comparison. Two companies are selling the same product – only branding and packaging are different. What influences customers’ choice? Is the price relevant in this equation? What can be learned from the data?
Addictive consumer behavior. What brands are known to inspire addictive consumer behavior? What marketing tools do they employ? Are there any downsides for a business? Should companies be held liable for maniacal consumer behavior?
Corporate social responsibility as a brand marketing tool. How effective is it? Produce examples of brands whose sales increased after a charity or awareness campaign. What can be learned from the data? What are the pitfalls of the CPR approach?
The ROI in athletics. What exactly is return on investment? How is it calculated? Why is there close public attention to the ROI factor in athletics? How can ROI be used as a marketing tool? Produce real-life examples.

Slack: a case study. How popular is Slack as compared to rival platforms offering similar services? How much of its success can be attributed to marketing? Is its success currently on the rise or on the decline?
Uber : a case study. How has Uber become the leading company in its field? Analyze its history. What role did marketing play in its success? Analyze the company’s exit from the Chinese, Russian, and South Asian markets. Why did the company choose to do it? What benefits did it gain by doing so? What’s the current stand of the company?
Facebook: a case study. Facebook has faced a lot of backlash in recent years. How did the company manage it? What are the examples of Facebook’s different takes on marketing influenced by the company’s negative publicity?
Marketing in recession: a case study. The 2008 global financial crisis took a great toll on the markets worldwide. Nevertheless, there are stories of success for new products introduced to the market at the time. What companies managed to successfully roll out a product in the time following the 2008 global financial crisis? Give a case study of such a company.
Microsoft : a case study. How does Microsoft advertise its products? How are traditional storefronts doing market-wise as compared to the recent advertising trend, mobile phone marketing? What choices does the IT giant make concerning mobile ad targeting? Is it successful?
Black Friday : what’s the secret behind the phenomenon? Does it offer real value for money or is it simply a psychological trick of clever marketing?
Digital transformation: how to create an effective digital marketing budget?
Production expenditure: how does marketing affect it?
Jeep company’s marketing .
The Internet of things : what exactly is IoT? What are the examples? How can marketing be incorporated into it?
Volkswagen company’s information technology .
Volkswagen in America: managing IT priorities .
Relationship banking: how has it been influenced by digital promotion and mobile money accessibility? How is mobile banking redefining the customer-bank relationship?
Apple Computer Inc.: maintaining the music business .
Credit card responsibility: how to limit compulsive buying behaviors for credit card holders?
Corporate social responsibility: how do organizations use CSR to reinforce brand equity?
Servus Credit Union Ltd: marketing strategies.
Marketing manipulation tactics: what do brands do to get more customers?
Herfy’s marketing strategy in India .
Social media marketing as an image builder: different ways of communicating your brand image on the YouTube, Tik Tok, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms.
Consumer motivation on the BevCo example.
Influencers: how can Internet-famous people impact the buying choices of consumers ?

Marketing strategy connting digital devices.

A Coffee shop marketing strategy .
Direct marketing strategies: are consumers equipped enough to shield themselves from it?
The “Do no harm” ethical principle in business .
Maternity: what is the best way to market baby products?
Family orientation: how does it affect marketing in general?
Online shopping : what do buyers look for when shopping online? What attributes do they compare when choosing the product?
Harley Davidson, Naked Juice, and Tropicana Juice: brand perception analysis .
Global marketing: how does it incorporate standardization?
Social class differentiation: how do financial institutions market their products and services differently on the basis of social class?
Snapple Juice: marketing strategies .
Internet marketing: what trends can be expected to dominate the online world in the future?
Marketing and culture : how do advertising strategies vary across different cultures?
The Green Motor Car Company: marketing strategy .
Political campaigns: how can they impact advertising? Produce real-life examples.
Impulsive buying : how does it occur, and how do brands exploit it?
American Marketing Association: promotion strategy .
Loyalty cards: do they boost sales and encourage customer loyalty?
Brand trust: is it possible for well-marketed brands to get away with selling products of substandard quality?
Trust as the way to develop proper company-clients relationships.
Globalization: what is its impact on consumer behavior?
Customer loyalty : what brand attributes result in it?
Market monopoly: what are some of the successful marketing approaches that can help break through it?
Cause marketing : how does it impact a brand’s affinity with its target audience?
Brand equity : what is the effect of discount offerings and consumer promotions on it?
The outcomes of advertising in a recession
Top-of-mind awareness: how is it best achieved in modern times? Produce real-life data.
Event sponsorships and customer perceptions: how to?
Mobile ad targeting: pros and cons of mobile ad targeting based on users’ browser and app history.
Mortgage marketing: how to make customers be able to differentiate between various mortgage options offered by competing banks?
Drones production company marketing plan .
Click baiting: a promising novelty in sponsored posts promotion or a brand-compromising nuisance, best to be avoided for fear of bad associations with the brand?
Who are the consumers of Nivea?
Celebrity endorsement : what’s its impact on ROI for CPG brands?
Roadrunner Sport: social and digital media strategies.
Comparison advertising: is it effective in building brand equity?
Do consumers prefer purchasing routine grocery products online?
Is earned media perceived to be as important as it appears to be?
Word of mouth: what makes people want to forward content to their friends?
Viral content: how to?
Evolving family structures: what has changed and how to address it with marketing?
Augmented reality : how is it enhancing marketing experiences?
Artificial intelligence: what role does it play in modern marketing?
Advertising to children : how to? What are the pitfalls?
Brand salience: how to?
Humour in advertising: what’s the impact, and what’s the customer response?

As you are very well aware, accounting is all about numbers and measurements. It’s even been called the language of business! That’s why writing a research paper on one of the accounting research paper topics is such a good idea. You are going to master it in no time!

What are the main fields of accounting?

Financial Accounting
Management Accounting
Accounting Information Systems
Tax Accounting

There are carefully selected topics down below that explore each of those fields. Just go there and choose one – it’s that easy!

Taxes and politics. How do organizations fight for the reduction of the taxes they have to pay? How can politicians influence the tax rate in different spheres? Are there any real-life examples of that? How can this situation be curbed?
Financial markets. What are commodities and stocks? What is the role of financial markets in the global economy? Why are there few people who understand financial markets? What issues does it raise? What can be done about it?
Accounting information systems . What are the most popular accounting systems used by businesses nowadays? What are the most modern ones? How rapid is the flow of information today? How does it influence modern accounting? What can be done to advance it even further?
Managing and accounting. How can managerial accounting help a company make better decisions? How does it work? What are the possible examples of successful and unsuccessful decisions made in a company based on the managerial accounting reports?
Personal finances. Why should individuals hire personal accountants? How can this practice be systematized? What are the alternatives? Produce examples of modern mobile accounting applications and free online services. What are the pitfalls to be aware of?
Debt management. Why does such a serious issue exist in the modern world? Produce the current numbers of people for whom debt is a life-governing factor. What is the reason behind the prevalence of this problem? Who may benefit from this situation? How can this be fixed?
Auditing collusion. What is employee / auditing collusion? How can it result in an unfair marketing advantage? Why is it illegal? Produce real-life examples of auditing collusion disrupting marketing equilibrium. What can be done to anticipate and prevent such occurrences in companies?

Below are some other accounting research topics to explore:

Accounting decisions: what are the criteria for making them correctly?
General principles of accounting .

Forensic accounting : how does the investigation process go? What are the role and essential skills of forensic accountants?
Accounting theory: how is it influenced by culture?
Tax assessment: how to correctly assess the tax on organizational earnings?
The 2008 global financial crisis : what factors were the primary cause?
What are the steps on the way to becoming a certified accountant?
Accounting ethics: what are the modern dilemmas?
Accounting history : what are the historical prospects for the best accounting practices?
Accounting systems: what are the risks in the process of developing their design?
Earnings management: what are the perspectives?
Tax reduction: what are the most effective ways of doing it for organizations?
Managerial accounting: what are the effects of financial markets on management accounting?
Financial fraud: what are the ways to escape it?
Accounting theories: what is their meaning for business?
Nortel Networks Corporation Accounting Theory .
Normative theories: what are the issues with normative theorizing in accounting?
Theoretical concepts: how to implement them in practical accounting?
Earnings management: how to best organize it in a company?
Cash flow: what is the effect of external factors on cash flow in an organization?
Online accounting: can accountancy be effectively based on the Internet?
Offshore accounting: how does it work? What are the pros and cons?
Accounting systems: which are the most effective for accountants?
Tax code: how to?
Islamic banking: how is it different from the European approach?
Financial markets: what are the known commodities?
Financial markets: what is their role in the global economy?
Financial transparency: what are the strategies to make organizational finances transparent?
Cloud computing : what is its role in data management for accounting information systems?
Personal investment: important factors.
The ideal framework for AIS: what does an ideal framework for an accounting information system in multinational cooperatives look like?
Food production company: a financial plan .
Decision-making process: what is the role of AIS in the decision making process for medium / large economic enterprises?
Accounting frauds: analyze three major accounting frauds of the last decade in detail. Why is ethical judgment needed in accounting at all times?
Intellectual capital: how do two major business companies (of your choice) build a relationship between their financial statements and their intellectual capital?
Education for senior executives: how can business education for senior executives influence hedging behavior?
Non-profit accounting: what are its financial reporting requirements?

Project management is the cornerstone of doing business. After all, how can you do anything without organizing it first? You may think, “Oh, but that’s easy… I just do it!” But that’s not how it works in modern business.

In big corporations, the way you organize a project is often synonymous with its eventual success or failure. Project managers need all of their knowledge, skills, and techniques to make projects meet the requirements. Want to look deeper into the processes and secrets behind project management? The idea for your perfect project management research paper is waiting for you down below!

Project management software. Which project management tools dominate the market today? Are they cost-effective? What do they primarily focus on (e.g., cost, scheduling time, etc.)? Analyze different project management software and find out whether they really lead to project success and increase productivity or not.
Humanitarian logistics. How do system dynamics and project management principles affect logistics operations? The need for humanitarian logistics has increased around the world due to the rise in environmental disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.). How can the sustained damages be reduced? Analyze the collaboration between system dynamics and humanitarian logistics. How does it impact flows in the supply chain, stakeholders, and responses? What are the best adaptations of project management theories?
Project delay causes. Identify the leading symptoms and causes of project delays. How does it impact the project life cycle? How do global construction companies cope with it? What strategies have they devised to deal with the issue?
Factors of project selection. What are the primary factors that affect selecting a project? Analyze the shift of project benefits approach towards customer-centricity. What is the reason for it? What is the difference between the two approaches? Which is more effective in modern business?
IT industry and agile project management . What is the impact of agile project management on productivity in IT companies? Analyze it using quantitative research techniques. Measure improvement of productivity, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. Analyze and report the outputs of the data using empirical hypothesis testing methods.
Implementation of project management practices . What is the impact of an organization on how project management practices are implemented? Analyze the more informal and people-focused project management practices that are used in small and medium-sized enterprises. Use mixed methods research techniques such as interviews and surveys. Choose companies from a specific sphere to collect data. Examine the size of the company and how it impacts project management practices.
Communication and quality. How significant is communication in maintaining timely delivery and quality of project activities? Analyze the importance of communication between the organization of a project and its stakeholders (external and internal). How does efficient communication help an organization meet the expectations?
Team conflict dynamics model: what conflict types and team conflict profiles are there? How can they produce resolutions that can lead a project to success?
Culture and conflict management: how different cultures of project managers may influence the methods of conflict resolution they implement? How does a project manager’s background affect the way they identify misdeeds and the way they try to deal with conflicts that arise in their project?
Project misalignment with business objectives: how does it affect the overall project performance?
Project management soft skills : how important are they in the context of project success rates? What is the cost of training, and what are the benefits? How do they help the project achieve the desired outcome?
Psychosocial stressors: how do they impact project manager performance? What types of psychosocial stressors are there? Does organizational culture have any mediating effect? Use real-life data.

Project management research trends: how do they influence project success? What is the relationship between project management research trends and social-economic trends?
Project management maturity factors: how do they influence project success in large enterprises? How come the role of projects has increased worldwide, but the overall number of successful projects hasn’t changed? What is the relationship between project performance factors and organizational project management maturity?
Agile-scrum beyond IT: how can it bring managerial benefits to other sectors? Analyze its potential for the healthcare industry. Illustrate how it may be applied to develop frameworks for quality and timeliness improvement. How can it help deliver healthcare in a large-scale patient setting?
Project completion rate: how do organizational characteristics influence it in the construction industry? Analyze data on project performance using key performance indicators (KPIs). Use social network analysis tools to document organizational characteristics.
Leadership style as a mediator: how to connect collaboration satisfaction and emotional intelligence? What leadership styles are there? What are their roles as mediators between emotional intelligence and collaboration satisfaction?
Effective project scheduling system: what are the effects of the application of this planning and scheduling style in construction projects? Use the critical path method (CPM) in the analysis of drafting and subsequent implementation of an effective project scheduling system for manufacturing renewable energy plants.
Effective project manager appointment guidelines: how to design and implement them for construction companies in XYZ? How do two types of leadership styles, person-centered and team-centered, differ when used by project managers? How can one balance them? What does Archer say on the topic in her Realist social theory? Use the data from your analysis for designing effective project manager appointment guidelines to be implemented in XYZ construction companies.
Controlling costs in project management: a systems approach. Analyze the work of the research and development departments for a US-based consumer goods manufacturer.
Management: power, authority, and influence .
Culture, project performance, and IT industry: what might be the causes of delay and failure due to cultural factors?
CISCO Systems Inc: strategies and management .
Initiation stage of a project: a review. Analyze the work of the US medicine sector.
Similar but different: review the similarities and differences in how people practice project management across the world.
Effective teamwork role for organizations performance .
Competitive advantage: does a company gain a competitive advantage by implementing expert management in a project?
Canbide Corporation: operations management tools .
Critical path analysis: how do project managers plan for it and assess it?
Diversity: management practices and principles .
The uncertainty: how valid is it in lengthy and difficult projects in the US construction industry?
Transformational and transactional leadership models.
The history: investigate and analyze the development and evolution of project management across the past 20 years.
The qualities of an efficient leader.
Understanding the intricacies: how important is the grasp of the project’s intricate nature for its effective management?
McDonalds: management effectiveness .
Benchmarking project management maturity: analyze the benchmark standard of measuring maturity in project management.
Shangri-La Hotels: company management .
Agile project management: how does academic literature help develop its understanding?
The organization of international business .
The PMBOK guidelines: do they prepare managers for handling project risks successfully?
Information management system: practical solutions .
Project management methodologies: how do various prevailing project management methodologies correspond with efficacy? Review the US market.
Subway in the US: management strategies in food industry .
Software development methodologies: how do organizations justify their choices?
Teamwork on project management: how important is it in the US healthcare system?
The concept of change in management .
Software tools: how do different project management software tools correspond with efficacy in the developed world?
Establishment of Ruth’s Chris Steak House in London: how to make a restaurant chain international?
Attitude towards risk: how does project management handle possible risks in the US oil and gas sector?

Package role in design and planning process .
Public procurement: what are the associated challenges for project management in the US IT sector?
Humility and its impact in leadership .
The stakeholder approach: how does a global perspective picture its overall success in adoption and completion of projects?
Management: Holistic Response to Client Issues .
Captiva Conglomerate: management strategies.
Best project management practices: what does the European financial sector tell us about them?
Hewlett-Packard: global supply chain management .
Leadership qualities: does successful project management need them?

Human resource management is one of the most interesting spheres of business. After all, it’s all about people!

There are three major areas of a human resource manager’s responsibilities. They are: staffing, allocating compensation and benefits for employees, and administrating work.

There’s so much you can do as an HR specialist. It’s as people-oriented as a profession can get. It’s always a continuous process, too. You’ll never get bored!

There are a number of questions an HR specialist needs to know the answer to. How to select the best recruits? How to encourage team spirit and teamwork among the employees? How to motivate people? How to appraise and how to punish? All of those questions and more are raised in our selection of human resources research topics!

Training of employees as a performance enhancer. How does training of employees correspond with their performance? Produce real-life data. Use a questionnaire to identify and determine the workforce needs in an organization. Analyze the data by calculating a simple percentage analysis. How much did employee training influence their performance? Was it cost-effective?
Performance evaluation and its impact on productivity. How does performance evaluation impact employee productivity? What is its purpose? What is the difference between formal and informal evaluations? How should a performance evaluation be carried out? Describe each of the steps. What is the influence of a poor evaluation on an employee’s morale and their absenteeism rate? Produce real-life data.
Motivation and its impact on morale. What motivation theories are there? Which are the most popular to utilize in organizations today? What does the process of staff motivation look like? Does it influence employee performance? Produce real-life data. Analyze the data by calculating a simple percentage analysis.
Performance appraisal and its impact on productivity. What is performance appraisal, and how is it different from performance evaluation / employee motivation? Why is it considered to be crucial for the growth and survival of an organization? What is the role of performance appraisal as a strategic factor? Describe what performance appraisal techniques are used in an organization. How does it impact employee productivity? Produce real-life data.
Human resource and its relevance in modern business. Why are the effective acquisition, utilization, and maintenance of human resources considered to be central to the growth of an organization? How can executive initiative utilize human resources profitably for an organization? What are the techniques of sustaining and developing human resources in an organization? How to achieve maximum cooperation between staff and management?
Stress and its impact on the employee performance. What is the effect of stress on workers’ performance? Produce real-life data. Collect data using questionnaires and descriptive survey research design. Present the collected data in tables. Analyze it using simple percentages and frequencies.
Staff training in business organizations. How to identify the training needs of an organization? What is the role of management in staff training and development? What types of training methods are there? What are the effects of training on employee performance? Produce real-life data.

Here are some of the simpler human resources topics to explore:

Employee loyalty: what are the main factors that can increase it?
The cost of prejudice and discrimination on the wprkplace .
Conflicts in the workplace : how to resolve them? What are the most typical ones?
Cultural differences: how can human resource managers work around cultural differences in an international company?

Recruiting students: what are the pros and cons?
Compensation and benefits are the parts of employment relationship .
Employees’ education: should a company pay for it?
Harmful outsourcing of United States jobs .
Outsourcing and freelance workers: what are the pros and cons?
Recruitment : what are the opportunities and risks of recruiting new team members?
How to motivate employees effectively?
HR managers: how to select, recruit, hire, and educate human resource managers?
Legal aspects of human resource management .
Overqualified employees: how should an HR manager deal with an overqualified employee?
Google company: workforce diversity policy .
Talent hunting and management: what’s the human resource manager’s role in this process?
Character types: what character types are there, and how do they affect the team-building process in a company?
Workplace harassment and bullying: how should a human resource manager deal with such challenges? What strategies of prevention are to be employed?
Diversity : how can a company encourage it? What is its impact on the dynamics in the workplace?
Communication: how to make it effective? How does it affect a company’s success?
Wages : do they affect employee productivity? How to increase employees’ motivation and make it cost-effective?
Assessing employee performance : what are the best ways to do it? What tools and criteria are there?
The role of diversity in the workplace .
Labor laws : what are the most critical issues to be resolved?
Company data: how to protect it in the age of technology?
Equal pay: are staff members paid equally, and how can HR managers address this issue?
Leadership styles.
Health problems: how can they affect employees’ productivity, and how can HR managers address this issue?
Riordan Manufacturing: HR marketing services.
Workplace motivation: what motivates people to work more?
Mergers and acquisitions: what is the role of an HR specialist in these processes?
Managing a diverse workforce.
Employee loyalty: how can HR specialists encourage employee loyalty through developing the job satisfaction factor?
Organizational burnout of employees .
Employee retention: which factors contribute to it?
Salary bonuses: what are their additional benefits? How can an HR specialist identify who is eligible for getting them?
Strategic human resources : is there global competitiveness on it, and why?
Human resources market: describe its demand and supply circle.
Daily childcare: how can it enhance the performance of employees in the company?
Compensation packages : what are they and what is their function? How can an HR specialist identify who is eligible for getting them?
Career planning : should it be more people-oriented, or is it to be centered around companies?
Professional qualities vs. fitting personality: which is more important?
Performance tests: how are they to be conducted?
Do remote interviews match in their effectiveness with personal ones?

The Accountancy , Business , and Management (ABM) research focuses on the basic concepts of financial, marketing, and business management. ABM research explores various strategies employed in the business, marketing, and accounting spheres. It helps specialists in the sphere discern which business theories work best when put to practice.

Qualitative research gathers non-numerical data used to uncover customers’ opinions, thoughts, and trends. ABM qualitative studies use focus groups, observations, and interviews. The importance of the qualitative method have been increasingly recognized in the ABM field as a rich in detail and insightful way of analyzing the current market situation.

The nature of business research is the collection, study, and analysis of various business-related data to acquire detailed information and use it to maximize sales and profit of a business. The employed research methods include qualitative and quantitative types. The importance and benefits of business research can’t be overrated.

A marketing research topic is an issue that a researcher is investigating in their marketing research paper. The topic needs to be specific and well-defined to ensure the success of a research project on market and marketing. Selecting a topic is a challenging part of the marketing research.

Learn more on this topic:

280 Good Nursing Research Topics & Questions
256 Research Topics on Criminal Justice & Criminology
224 Research Topics on Technology & Computer Science
178 Best Research Titles about Cookery & Food
507 Interesting History Topics to Research
193 Best Education Research Topics & Ideas
120+ Micro- & Macroeconomics Research Topics
201 Research Topics on Psychology & Communication
512 Research Topics on HumSS
301 Best Health & Medical Research Topics
521 Research Questions & Titles about Science
A List of Research Topics for Students. Unique and Interesting
Good Research Topics, Titles and Ideas for Your Paper
Gale Databases: Gale
Writing a Research Paper: Purdue OWL
What are the Topics used in Research Starters – Business? EBSCO Connect
What should be a good topic for research related to Accountancy, Business, and Management? Quora
The difference between quantitative vs. qualitative research: SurveyMonkey
Understanding Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research: Medium.com
PhDs in Business & Management: Five Hot Research Topics (TopUniversities)
All Topics: Harvard Business Review
Research topics and projects: QUIT Business School
Browse All Topics: Harvard Business School
Market Research: Entrepreneur
Management Accounting Research: Elsevier
Accounting Research Tutorial: UF Libraries
What Is Management Research Actually Good For? Harvard Business Review
What is Management Research? University of Toronto
The value of management research to managers: The Conversation
Human Resources: Harvard Business School
Research & Surveys: SHRM
Human Resources in Research: UOttawa
BA (Hons) Business Studies: University of Stirling
BA Research: University of Newcastle
Education Studies BA: UCL Institute of Education
Areas of Research: PhD in Management, Michigan State University
Research focus areas in business and government: Victoria University of Wellington
PhD Subject Groups: Business School, University of Edinburgh
Research areas: The University of Sydney Business School
Research topics: Leeds University Business School
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Use of Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) in Psychological Research

First Online: 23 December 2023

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Enrique Canessa 6 ,
Sergio E. Chaigneau 7 &
Nicolás Marchant 7

Part of the book series: STEAM-H: Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Mathematics & Health ((STEAM))

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In this chapter, we introduce the general use of agent-based modeling (ABM) in social science studies and in particular in psychological research. Given that ABM is frequently used in many disciplines in social sciences, as the main research tool or in conjunction with other modeling approaches, it is rather surprising its infrequent use in psychology. There are many reasons for that infrequent use of ABM in psychology, some justified, but others stem from not knowing the potential benefits of applying ABM to psychological research. Thus, we begin by giving a brief overview of ABM and the stages one has to go through to develop and analyze such a model. Then, we present and discuss the general drawbacks of ABM and the ones specific to psychology. Through that discussion, the reader should be able to better assess whether those disadvantages are sufficiently strong for precluding the application of ABM to his/her research. Finally, we end up by stating the benefits of ABM and examining how those advantages may outweigh the potential drawbacks, thus making ABM a valuable tool to consider in psychological research.

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Sergio E. Chaigneau & Nicolás Marchant

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Canessa, E., Chaigneau, S.E., Marchant, N. (2023). Use of Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) in Psychological Research. In: Veloz, T., Khrennikov, A., Toni, B., Castillo, R.D. (eds) Trends and Challenges in Cognitive Modeling. STEAM-H: Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Mathematics & Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41862-4_2

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100 Qualitative Research Paper Topics

Published by Ellie Cross at November 1st, 2021 , Revised On November 3, 2023

Selecting an interesting research topic is a very daunting task. And it becomes even more daunting when students are required to pick a topic that is:

Highly specific
Useful to the larger research community
Has a lot of material present on it to start with
Can be supported by enough facts and figures
Instrumental in closing the ‘research gap’ that already exists around it or within the same field of study.
Tries to explain the what , why , how , when , where and/or who behind a phenomenon or an event.

Because of all these factors, institutions—schools, colleges and universities alike—pay so much attention to the kind of topics their students will be researching on.

Qualitative research involves describing or explaining an event or a phenomenon without heavily relying on statistical or mathematical practices. Even though some qualitative research papers do make use of such practices to collect data, in the end, they generally rely on summarising and interpreting that data qualitatively.

Did you know that an eclectic method or mixed-methods approach is a research method that uses both quantitative and qualitative means of data collection and interpretation?

How to Choose the Correct Qualitative Research Paper Topic

Settling on the right qualitative research topic for one’s study depends on answers to some questions and personal student reflections, such as: :

Can I research this topic in the time I have been given by my school/college/university?
Is there a research gap that my research will be able to fill?
Is this topic highly necessary; if I don’t research this topic, will the research community be affected?
Has this topic been researched before?
Does this topic support doable, practical research objectives and questions?
Does my topic lean more towards the quantitative side than the qualitative side?

Such questions, if brainstormed before selecting a topic, will greatly help make the right decision about what kind of research needs to be done.

Still having difficulty choosing the perfect qualitative research topic? Below is a list of 100 qualitative research topics for different types of students.

Qualitative Research Paper Topics for Senior High School Students

In most countries around the world, high school generally comprises grades from 9th or 10th to 12th grade. The courses taught to students in high school mostly include the ones listed below, along with some unique qualitative research topics for each subject.

What are the main cultural elements in Charlotte Brontë’s novels? OR How do they reflect modern cultures?
How does literary language differ from the non-literary language in writing?
What are the differences between poetry and drama?
Which Shakespearean play/drama is most relevant to present times and why/how?
How do Charles Dickens’ writings portray the pre-industrial revolution era?
Why are Charles Bukowski’s writings negatively criticised?

Biology/Animals/Nature

Why are coral reefs so important in marine life?
How do bones in the human body ossify?
Flora and fauna in deserts: truth or fiction?
When is exposure to the sun beneficial and harmful to the human body?
What is mercury poisoning in humans?
What is the world’s oldest plant/animal species?
What are the effects and causes of prolonged humidity or lack of rain on land?
Is global warming getting worse or is it just a myth?
Why do some plants need water and some don’t?
Are there any physical benefits of having pets?
What are ferrofluids?
How do aluminium and mercury react together? What happens/doesn’t happen?
What are the properties of aerogel?
Can metal be smelled? If not, why, and if so, how?
How can old jewellery be turned into gold bars?
When does milk become lactose-free?
Why are some gases odourless and others aren’t?
How are black holes evolving?
What is so special about Jupiter’s rings?
What is the Fermi Paradox and what are the Five Solutions to it?
Where can the law of entropy be witnessed in action?
Does the soul have weight? How can it be measured?
How does the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) work?
What kind of environments would fission and fusion reactions not hold in?
What are the major implications of the Civil War in today’s world?
How did the age of piracy end?
Which civilisation was advanced and why (Roman, Greek, Incan, etc)?
What would modern society be like without the two World Wars?
Which ancient cultures have survived/are still practiced today? How?
What is the Nova Effect?
Will AI be the end of humankind?
Nihilism: good or bad?
Why is Arthur Schopenhauer considered the ‘darkest’ philosopher of all time?
Stoicism, Taoism, or Absurdism: which leads to a happier life?
How does the Amara Effect work in real life?

Arts and design

Do students learn better in a ‘colourful’ and architecturally rich environment?
What is the importance of the golden ratio in modern-day design?
Lefties are more artistic: myth or fact?
What is the importance of birth order according to Adler’s theory?
Alcoholism and drug abuse is common in teenagers: why or why not?
How do the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO shape an adult’s personality according to Freud?
Why is gratitude considered a sign of happiness in young adults?
Where do the effects of childhood abuse affect one’s mental well-being in later life stages?
Bullied children go on to bully others: fact or fiction?
Why is Bach’s classical music given so much importance?
Are music and memory connected? How?
What are Beethoven’s contributions to present-day orchestral music?

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Qualitative Research Paper Topics for ABM Students

This group of students comprises those who belong to the field of accountancy, business and management. Even though the following topics have been mentioned for each field separately, some of them can be mixed and matched. Because each field in ABM might make use of other, surrounding fields during its research process. This is all because of a simple fact: such fields are very inter-connected.

Accountancy

Will Blockchain improve the future of accounting? Why or why not?
How has the COVID-19 situation affected accountancy firms globally?
Is cryptocurrency the solution to all the financial issues of today’s consumerist society? Why/why not or how?
What are some important ethical considerations involved in discretionary accruals?
What will an accounting firm be like without interest rates?
Do international firms like Coke or Nestle have a better accountancy workforce than local vendors? Why or why not?
How can someone launch their own business during the current COVID-19 pandemic? How is it different than launching a business any other time of the year?
Is the AI business model the most integrated business approach model out there right now? Why/why not or how?
What is the importance of language in communicating business goals, reaching the target audience, etc.?
Which business ethics’ theories are followed most rigorously by contemporary businesses and why?
When do businesses like Amazon or Shopify least benefit or affect the general public or other businesses?
What is the relation between career and talent management?
Which affects management more: process planning or project planning? Why or how?
Does organisational leadership affect management in small companies? How?
Where is construction management most useful?
How will an organisation be affected without brand management?

Qualitative Research Paper Topics for STEM Students

STEM students belong to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Same as ABM, STEM research topics can also be mixed and matched with one another. Since the STEM fields are also highly intertwined with each one, it becomes difficult to tell sometimes what kind of topics are solely for one field or the other.

For instance, a topic related to global warming can be considered merely scientific. But then again, fields like technology, engineering and mathematics are all different faces of science. So, while discussing the effects of global warming, a student might find themselves discussing how technological advancements can help prevent excessive damage caused by global warming worldwide.

Similarly, mathematics is heavily used in the field of engineering. So, research from one field doesn’t necessarily have to rely on that field alone. It can go on to join with other related fields, too.

The following topics, therefore, might be combined with others to create a whole new topic. Or they can also be used as they are.

Is terraforming on Mars (and possibly on other planets too) a good or bad move? Why?
How do black holes affect supernovas?
Can ice caps melting from global warming be artificially preserved to stop the spread of viruses living under the snow?
How has the earth changed in the last 100 years?
What is the relation between climate change and flora and fauna growth?
Are science and religion two sides of the same coin? Why or why not?
The scientific inquiry leads to more questions than answers: fact or fiction?
Scientific inventions have destroyed more than created. Is that so? Why or why not?
What is the most likely future of energy, be it solar or otherwise?
What is the importance of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) in helping patients?
What are the negative implications of machine learning in today’s world?
How has information technology (IT) revolutionised the medical world in the last couple of years?
Wireless technology or AI: which is better and why?
What is blockchain technology? Or Why is it important?
Should nanotechnology be adopted in different spheres of life? Why or why not?
How has Python revolutionised the world of technology in contemporary society?

Engineering

What are some important future trends in industrial robotics?
How has aerospace engineering helped scientists and engineers discover all they have about space?
Where does civil engineering play an important part in construction?
Where are industrial pneumatics used mostly these days and how?
Why is mechanical design so important in a product’s development process?
Which household use engineering products run on thermodynamics and how?
What are the fundamentals of submarine engineering?
How do hydroelectric power plants function?

Mathematics

How do modern construction workers and/or designers make use of the Fibonacci sequence?
How do mathematical calculations help determine the endpoint of the universe?
How do spacecraft make use of basic math in their construction and working?
What is the role of maths in data science?
Where are mathematical computations used in game development?
Is contemporary mathematical knowledge and practices etc. based on Vedic math? Why/why not or how?
Can architects work without the use of geometry? Why or why not?

Explore further: Check out the top 10 tips every emerging qualitative researcher ought to know about before beginning their research.

Other Essay Topics: Discursive Essay Topics & Ideas 2022 , Persuasive Essay Topics – Suggested By Industry Experts , Argumentative Essay Topics and Ideas .

Selecting a research topic is the first and therefore, perhaps the hardest step in the research process. Qualitative research involves using more descriptive, non-statistical and/or non-mathematical practices to collect and interpret data.

There are a couple of important things that should be considered before finalising a research topic, such as whether it’s practical, doable within the assigned time, etc.

There are many different types of qualitative research topics that high school students, ABM (accountancy, business, management) and STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) students can uptake these days, especially with new knowledge being published each day in different fields. However, there is still always more to be discovered, explored and explained.

Selecting a qualitative research topic for senior high school, ABM, or STEM students is made easier when the close relationship between these fields is considered. Since they’re all so interconnected, a topic from one field is bound to include elements of another, closely related field. Such topics can therefore be mixed and matched to create a whole new topic!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to choose the correct qualitative research paper topic.

To choose a qualitative research paper topic, consider your interests, expertise, and available resources. Explore current trends, gaps in knowledge, and societal issues. Seek feedback from peers and advisors. Prioritize relevance, feasibility, and potential impact. Refine your topic to ensure it aligns with your research goals.

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A Qualitative Study of Spending Behavior of ABM Students in STI College Malolos (Version 2)

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Dr.S.Saravanan Saran

atie nadome

A qualitative study on the experiences and challenges of MBA students' engagement with a business research methods module

Journal of Work-Applied Management

ISSN : 2205-2062

Article publication date: 17 March 2021

Issue publication date: 5 April 2022

Undertaking research as part of a business degree qualification undoubtedly enables students to develop practical and life-long skills. Nevertheless, students seem to find it challenging undertaking a research project. This study set out to explore the experiences of a group of MBA students who recently undertook their business and management research projects as part of their MBA degree program.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was carried out in a UK higher education institution and is based on an MBA business and management research module. The purpose of the module is to enable learners to develop advanced-level independent research and critical problem-solving skills within a business context. The study adopted a qualitative approach to capture a broad mix of students' experiences and perceptions on the module. The sample includes previous MBA students on different cohorts and different nationalities.

Outcomes of the study show that though students are stretched in the business and management project process they develop a diversity of skills required in the workplace while conducting their projects. The study findings also show that the practical implications of the students' projects and progressive support from their project supervisors contribute to the successful completion of their projects and subsequent attainment of their MBA degree.

Originality/value

Outcomes of this study further reveal that undertaking business and management projects creates a rewarding learning experience for learners/students, develops confident graduates as well as enables effective applications of theory into practice.

Business research
Research methods

Nzekwe-Excel, C. (2022), "A qualitative study on the experiences and challenges of MBA students' engagement with a business research methods module", Journal of Work-Applied Management , Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 46-62. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-08-2020-0040

Emerald Publishing Limited

Published in Journal of Work-Applied Management . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction: study context and rationale

Undertaking or conducting business and management research projects can be a daunting experience for students, probably because of the requirement to adopt an academic stance while undertaking the task/ project, which is intended to be practice-based. Students may demonstrate full engagement on the idea of undertaking a project or research; however they seem to disconnect from the requirement of doing so within the confines of academic research process. Thus, it can be a challenge for an academic, who is teaching a research methods module to guide/ encourage students to stay within the scope of an achievable research study ( Lewthwaite and Nind, 2016 ). Over the past four decades, there is a reasonable number of studies on the challenges associated with teaching research methods as well as suggestions on how to encourage students to become more engaged and less anxious while undertaking their research projects ( Ransford and Butler, 1982 ; Zablotsky, 2001 ; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003 ; Ekmekci et al. , 2012 ; Lewthwaite and Nind, 2016 ; Mullins, 2017 ). Carr (2014) collated and presented discussions from five studies on the challenges associated with teaching research methods in business and management to both undergraduate and MBA students. The challenges were around the epistemological assumptions and differing methodological conceptions of tutors, equipping staff/ tutors with statistical capabilities for quantitative research methodology and enabling students to develop the skills or aptitudes associated with the research process. The completion of students' projects can also be viewed in the context of collaborative or paired projects; an empirical study carried out by Ronnie (2017) shows high levels of positive outcomes. Amongst other factors, Ronnie's study reveals that early and ongoing conversations between the students, trust in each other's ability and self-reflection contribute to productive outcomes in the paired-project process.

The difficulty for students to engage with and to link the knowledge gained in the research methods teaching to the entirety of their higher education study is a recognisable challenge for the students ( Winn, 1995 ; Chapdelaine and Chapman, 1999 ; Ekmekci et al. , 2012 ). Winn (1995) suggests that live organisational issues or projects based on problems within a specific organisation can offer a unique opportunity toward mitigating such challenges. Similarly, Garnett et al. (2016) argue that there is the need for the projects to be grounded in real-time work-related issues. This may mean a review and subsequent redesign or reformation of the research methods module within the business and management discipline. Ekmekci et al. (2012) outline a number of reflective questions/ recommendations and associated implications on how to enable students to apply the knowledge gained in their research methods course. A summary of the authors' recommendations show that tutors of the research methods course play a significant role in creating the right atmosphere that will enable students navigate their learning in a meaningful way.

With particular focus on qualitative research approach, Cassell (2018) discussed the challenges faced by over 200 MBA students in conducting their business and management research. Cassell demonstrated the need for the students to develop the knowledge, skills and competences required for undertaking qualitative research, which can be used for effective management practice. While the focus of the business and management projects may not be categorically on aptitude or skills development, Toledano-O'Farrill (2017) argues that students are expected to develop workplace skills as a result of their involvement with the project activities. For example, qualitative research which involves a series of questioning between the researcher and the respondent as part of the data collection process for the research enables the researcher to develop skills such as critical thinking, reflective ability and communication skills ( Wall et al. , 2017a , b ).

Evidence shows that MBA students enrol on their MBA course with minimal work experience and critical thinking ability ( Schaupp and Vitullo, 2019 ), which highlights the need for research methods to be taught in such a way that students are enabled to “build-up” the required knowledge and competences ( Galliers and Huang, 2012 ). Similarly, Llamas and Boza (2011) argue that research methods by definition should be applicable to a specific discipline ( or practice ). In a similar line of argument, Beardwell and Claydon (2007 , cited in Rowe et al. , 2017 ) echo that employers prefer graduates who have the ability to reflect and synthesise opinions through critical thinking. The challenges of undertaking their business and management research projects raise the questions: how MBA students apply critical thinking to practical problems, how to keep them engaged throughout the research process and essentially how to enable them to confidently develop or enhance a wide range of personal and professional skills, which are a necessity in today's workplace.

Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the experiences of a group of MBA students who recently undertook their business research module and completed their business and management research project as part of their MBA degree program.

Research module design

This study explores student experiences in completing a business and management research module and in carrying out a business and management research project. One of the key requirements of the research module is for students to define their project topics themselves with assistance from their project supervisors. The module is developed to include interactive teaching components, action-learning sets (ALS), which are designed to be student-led and tutor-facilitated and individual (and in some cases, group) supervision. The module design incorporates the active-blended learning concepts, including a combination of face-to-face and virtual/ online sessions.

Planning the business and management research

Conducting and writing up the literature review

Deciding on the right methodological approaches; Research Governance and Ethics

Collecting and gathering data

Analysing and interpreting data

Dissemination and presentation: Write-up of the project report.

The ALS are designed to help consolidate the research project process, enable students to frame their research ideology and to make more tailored decisions for their individual business and management research. At this stage of the process, students may become anxious initially; however with support and guidance from their project supervisors, they should be able to channel their energy and anxiety toward making better informed decisions and choices for their business and management research. It is also during the ALS classes that students begin to develop the confidence to undertake their individual business and management research projects; the ALS classes provide an environment for learners to share their research experiences, express their challenges and suggest strategies with tailored support or advice from their project supervisors.

Methodology

Paradigm and research stance.

An interpretivist paradigm was adopted for this study; this enabled gaining an understanding of the research focus through subjective relationship with the participants ( Manroop, 2017 ). Interpretivism places focus on the perceptions, interpretations and experiences of individuals ( Cohen et al. , 2010 ; Fisher, 2010 ). Therefore, interpretivism was assumed for this study with the intention to individually question the study participants and to gain an understanding of their experiences from undertaking their business and management research projects. Consequently, a qualitative methodology was employed, which created a platform to generate in-depth personal information on the subject under study. This approach was considered more appropriate considering the intention to explore the views and experiences of a diversity of postgraduate students who have recently undertaken the assessed business and management research module. Thus, this methodology enabled the investigation of student learning experience in the area of undertaking business and management research and thorough evaluation of the perceptions of different categories of students.

This study recruited participants from a United Kingdom (UK) public university with campuses in the UK and two partner institutions in Vietnam. Precisely, the concept of purposeful sampling was used, which means that a selection of students enrolled on the business and management research module (under discussion) was recruited as participants for the study because they could purposefully inform an understanding of the aim of the study ( Creswell, 2013 ). A total of four cohorts from two academic years (2016/17 and 2017/18) were considered for this study, which had a total of 54 students enrolled on the module. 33 were contacted, and 13 agreed to be part of the study. However, only 11 attended the interview sessions, which resulted in a small sample. Nonetheless, there is evidence to suggest that the sample size of 11 for a qualitative study can be considered as being suitable. Morse (1994 , cited in Guest et al. , 2006 ) recommended a minimum of six participants while Dukes (1984) and Reimen (1986) (both cited in Creswell, 2013 ) recommended a sample size of 3–10. As perceived by 14 qualitative research experts collated by Baker et al. (2012) , the sample size for a qualitative study varies and will depend on the number of participants who are sufficient to provide evidence on the issue under discussion; some of the experts argue that one interview is sometimes sufficient (p. 16; 24), while some other experts suggest a minimum sample size of 12 (p. 11; 19).

This study's population (54) comprised students who received the same teaching sessions from the same research module. It is aimed at exploring the students' experiences on undertaking the business research module and completing their research project; therefore, effort was made to draw rich, detailed responses and insights from the 11 participants. Subsequently, critical evaluations of the collected data were carried out. Thus, data saturation was considered and achieved through the sampling process, data collection strategy, the study timeframe and data analysis. The 11 participants who contributed to the study are recent MBA graduates of the UK Higher Education Institution under study, who achieved varied grade categories in the business and management research module assessment. All the participants were on full-time MBA programme and eight were in some form of employment during their MBA study. Details of the participants are shown in Table 1 . The 11 participants comprised five participants who had the module taught and delivered in the UK and six participants who had the module taught and delivered outside the UK (in Vietnam).

Approach and data collection procedure

The interview technique was the primary data collection tool that was adopted to capture the students' experiences in undertaking their business and management research projects as well as their perceptions on the research module under study. All the interview sessions were carried out between March and June 2019, when the students/participants were not under any form of academic pressure in terms of exams or pending assignments/resits. In addition, all the interview sessions were carried out in consideration of the participants' availability and convenience. Prior to the data collection, appropriate ethical approval was adhered to, which included obtaining each participant's signed consent before the interview sessions. A participant information sheet, which outlined the purpose of the study and explained the conditions for participation was given to each interview participant before conducting the interviews. Subsequently, voluntary participation, issues of strict confidentiality and participants' anonymity were established. Prior to the data collection, an individual email containing the consent form was sent to each participant to sign their consent to participate in the interview. Each of the 11 participants had their one interview session organised and carried out in a formal fashion, and each interview session lasted approximately 40 min (see Table 1 ). During the interview sessions, simpler opening questions were used to ease the interviewees, thereby ensuring that any form of tension or anxiety was eliminated or reduced ( Nzekwe-Excel, 2012 ). Similarly, pertinent closing questions were used to enable the interviewees make concluding remarks and/or additional comments to their earlier responses. Effort was made to keep the participants within the focus of the study by highlighting the purpose of the study as well as asking additional questions for clarity. In addition, each interview was audio-recorded and fully transcribed.

Students/ participants' expectations from the research module before the teaching/ delivery

Students/ participants' expectations from the research module during the teaching/ delivery

Students/ participants' positive experiences while undertaking their business and management research projects

Students/ participants' challenging experiences while undertaking their business and management research projects and how these were managed

Students/ participants' perceptions on whether their expectations were met and the benefits of the business and management research module

The participants' recommendations in the review/ redesign of the business and management research module

Analytical procedure

The concept of thematic analysis was used in analysing and interpreting the data. Precisely, thematic analysis was used for identifying themes and patterns of behaviour or meanings in the interview/ qualitative dataset. The themes are developed by placing the initial coding of the data in such a way that they can be moved around to form connections with data that has similar coding ( Howitt and Cramer, 2008 ). Themes are defined as “conversation topics, vocabulary, recurring activities, meanings, feelings, and proverbs” ( Taylor and Bogdan, 1984 , p. 131, cited in Aronson, 1994 ). For the purpose of this study, the themes are phrases or comments, also known as the participants' responses. Therefore, thematic analysis was employed because of its flexibility in identifying participants' experiences, views and behaviours, which seeks to understand what participants' think, feel and do ( Clarke and Braun, 2017 ). The six phases of implementing thematic analysis as suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006) were considered in analysing the collected/ interview data of this study. The six phases include: familiarisation of the data, generation of initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing the themes, defining and naming the themes and then producing the report.

Sufficient time was dedicated toward transcribing, reviewing the data as well as making initial notes. The NVIVO qualitative data analysis software was employed for the initial coding process of the data, which subsequently helped in searching for/ identifying themes. NVIVO provided a platform for grouping the data in different ways using folders, sets and cases for coding, easy access and retrieval of the data ( Wiltshier, 2011 ). As an approach to data analyses, the identified themes (generated data) were reviewed, and named by managing, classifying, and categorising the data using a process of reduction and coding technique ( Nzekwe-Excel, 2012 ). Subsequently, meaningful textual segments were derived based on similar and/or dissimilar viewpoints of the study's participants ( Nzekwe-Excel, 2012 ).

Data analyses and findings

The first two interview questions were aimed at exploring the students' preparedness and engagement prior to and during the delivery of the business and management research module. Responses from these questions were grouped under the themed-category labelled “Preparedness”. The theme “Preparedness” was used because it reflects how students were prepared for the business and management research module, including their expectations and learning needs.

The third and fourth questions were aimed at exploring the students' critical thinking ability and their engagement with the module. Responses from these questions were grouped under the themed-category labelled “Engagement”. The theme “Engagement” was used because it reflects the students' ongoing interest in the module including challenges and their learning development from the module.

The fifth question was aimed at exploring the students' ability to manage the entire research process from question formulation through to analysis and interpretation of results. Responses from this question were grouped under the themed-category labelled “Aptitude”. The theme “Aptitude” was used because it reflects the students' personal and research skills development including their met expectations and learning needs.

Finally, participants were given the opportunity to make additional comments regarding the progressive review and delivery of the module through the sixth/ final question. Responses from this question were grouped under the themed-category labelled “Reformation”. The theme “Reformation” was used because it reflects the students' suggestions on how the business and management research Module can be further enhanced in its design and delivery.

It is important to note that the terms “Preparedness”, “Engagement”, “Aptitude” and “Reformation” were put together in view of the aim of this study as well as to categorise the participants' responses accordingly.

Preparedness of the students

The study identified a number of themes in an evaluation of students' expectations before and during the teaching sessions for the business and management research module. The students' “prior” expectations were generally focussed on their desire to gain or expand their knowledge on business and management research processes and on what to do to succeed in the module assessment. A careful review of the students' expectations “during” the teaching sessions show focused research needs as shown in Figure 2 .

Engagement of the students

The students' engagement throughout the duration of the module delivery and the conduct of their individual projects were analysed based on their perceptions on what they enjoyed, the challenges they encountered and their coping mechanisms. Most of the positive experiences shown by the interviewees' supportive comments express the learning or skills gained in conducting their business and management projects and confidence developed in the area of business and management research strategies ( Figure 3 ). With respect to the challenges that the students encountered while conducting their projects, references were made to a number of factors associated with different stages of their projects, the online mode of module delivery and personal issues such as managing and combining full-time study and full-time employment.

Aptitude of the students

In an attempt to explore the students' ability to manage their entire research process and demonstrate a consistent focus on their arguments, this study sought to find out the participants' perceptions on whether their “prior” and “during” module expectations were met as well as the participants' views on the benefits of the module to them on a personal basis. As illustrated in Figure 4 , the findings show strong positive affirmations from the participants. There are also demonstrations of understanding on the systematic stages of the research process.

Reformation of the module

As a way forward toward upgrading the business and management research module, the study drew insights from the participants. The findings, as shown in Figure 5 , uncover varied viewpoints, mostly around the timing allocated to the module delivery and quantitative/ statistical support sessions. Interestingly, some of the participants noted that they simply like the module design/ delivery as it is and do not think a redesign is necessary.

Evaluation of findings and discussions

This study presents verbatim quotes of the interview participants (in italics) as a way to reinforce the study findings. The participants' identifier numbers shown in Table 1 are written next to the quotes.

Business and management research expectations and learning needs

Being the final module that the students are expected to complete and pass before being considered for their MBA degree qualification, it is no surprise that some of the students' expectations prior to undertaking their business and management research projects were focused on the successful completion and submission of the project assessment. This is shown by comments from two of the interviewees: “ I had expectation on graduation” (INTC-UK2); “ I had a knowledge shortage. I wanted to know what is expected…in submission” (INTH-UK5) .

“we were not sure how to do research…to have some knowledge transfer” (INTH-UK5).

“I had little knowledge…Um, the advancement of knowledge especially on facial products…More socialisation with people…I became a specialist” (INTC-UK2).

“It has…broadened my knowledge in the area that I researched on.… it made me have a more critical thinking approach…making sure you are exactly on point in asking the right questions” (INTH-UK5).

“Applying the knowledge that is being learned to… specific business projects” (VNT-Hanoi2)

“I wanted to explore…business research process to apply in practical…” (VNL-Hanoi2)

“Mostly, I expect…to get the implication and recommendation to handle the situation we are facing (in the organisation); gaining knowledge to apply to my current organisation' I try to check my topic with my organisation… to deliver the project” (VNJ-HMC3).

“I had an expectation that the module will provide me a way we can know to start a business plan” (VNU-HMC2).

“I wanted to know more information on the business market” (VNT-HMC1).

In addition, one of two of the participants in part-time employment at the time of the module delivery also expected to acquire knowledge on business concepts in view of their career aspirations: “ I expected this module will give…an opportunity to study new knowledge….for…future when I want to start my own business…” (INTP-UK3) .

“I had questions such as “what am I gonna do for my dissertation? “will I find my topic?” (INTC-UK1)

“The subject of the research topic: because the topic I chose has also been chosen by another. So the difficulty is in decision making for the topic” (INTC-UK2).

“how to define a topic was confusing…but by end of the teaching week, I had idea on what to do my research on” (INTH-UK5).

“Therefore, what I expect was finding a suitable method for the research topic…to proceed” (VNK-Hanoi3).

“I expected that…my research is easy to find and not much difficult to understand but my thinking was wrong; some were easy to understand but some were difficult to understand” (INTP-UK3).

“Struggled with which methodology to go by… what should I use to support my research? These took a lot of time” (INTH-UK5).

“…due to my chosen topic, I had to travel back home to interview the participants. There were times when I couldn't find the appropriate literature to support my research” (INTP-UK4).

One of the participants noted that their met expectations were more in theory than in practice, which suggests a drawback: “Actually for me, the expectations were met more in theory than in practical” (VNU-HMC2) . The same participant suggested that the teaching sessions should be more tailored to their own environment: “ …to be met in practice, it can be based in more research in Vietnam market” (VNU-HMC2).

Business and management research learning experience and skills gained

“I also understood about the changes that I could suggest making it easier for women to work in bank” (INTP-UK4).

“When I finish and submit, I think I made a difference for myself” (VNJ-HMC3)

“The skills I developed doing this module are my study skills, research skills, analysing skills” (INTC-UK1).

“Absolutely…bring me many skills like developing independent working skills, problem solving skills, management skills, decision-making skills, market research, data analysis” (VNT-Hanoi2).

“Yes, the project provided insights for my organisation, and it meet the expectation, and it's good timing” (VNJ-HMC3).

“I think this module is very valuable for me so I know how to conduct a research and I learn about time management and I learn about how to conduct the survey, and know about the research questions” (VNJ-HMC3)

The above participants' positive comments suggest that the goal of the module to enable learners to be equipped with or develop the skills to undertake research on a high level ( Kilburn et al. , 2014 ), and of course on a practical basis in the workplace is a welcomed approach.

“The other challenge I faced was the fact that we had to do online classes…in my view if we were present physically in the class with teachers, it would have been better. (INTP-UK4).

“However it is also hard to catch up…ideas because the other students showed up without preparation. In addition, we…work full time and study therefore hard to follow the deadlines while lack of statistics and software experiences” (VNL-Hanoi1).

One of the participants commented on the opportunity for students to interact and share ideas in the teaching and learning environment: “ It ' s also interesting to listen to the others ' ideas to see how they implement the research on different industries and various cases” (VNL-Hanoi1). These insights indicate the strength of action learning sets and the workshop teaching method. Workshops enable dialogue and constructive interactions between learners and tutors ( Nzekwe-Excel, 2014 ). In their discussion on the role of action learning concept/ approach in executive management program, Johnson and Spicer (2006) and Kelliher and Byrne (2018) assert that the approach fosters learning, effective interactions, progress and knowledge transfer. In addition, Ronnie (2017) elucidates that there is an opportunity for collaborative dialogue and an atmosphere for students to build on each other's ideas: “I remember, I identified the wrong topic and my scope was very big and I get support from my classmates” (VNJ-HMC3) .

“ readily available tutor-support'; “quick response from the project supervisor, which helped speed the project process” (INTC-UK1).

“…were my supervisor kept on providing me feedback whenever, I mailed her any of my work completed” (INTP-UK4).

“I'm really thankful of the conversations I received from my tutors” (INTH-UK5).

“Um, I think for me, it's very helpful and Project Supervisor's guidance is helpful” (VNJ-HMC3).

“the Project Supervisor teach on how to take care of each work, how to use exact words for…” (VNU-HMC2).

A key component in undertaking business and management research projects is adherence to appropriate ethical procedures; the ethical procedure is expected to demonstrate research governance and integrity, particularly in the design of the data collection procedure/ tool. Interestingly, one of the interviewees highlighted the learning she gained while undergoing the rigorous ethical approval process: “For me, actually I learnt from…first of all is Ethics Form…teach on how to take care of each work, how to use exact words for each person…make the questionnaire for the customer service … (VNU-HMC2).

“For me, actually I learnt … first of all…” (VNU-HMC2).

“I did not fully understand the principles of qualitative research, so I encountered many difficulties in the process of analysing…. Although I failed to do a quality research…the study helped me understand important principles such as collecting and analysing data accurately. Besides, I also get better understood the importance of determining goals…, I also realized that not spending enough time to review theory and doing research is a major cause of this failure” (VNK-Hanoi3).

“For me I can make the questionnaire for…industry so we can control the quality of the service” (VNU-HMC2).

“However, what I have not really understood after the course is that I still have not fully understood how to effectively apply qualitative and quantitative analysis methods to other kinds of research” (VNK-Hanoi3).

“I prefer that I will identify the topic by myself and if I think it's too big, I will get guidance from my project supervisor and I will change by myself because actually I learn by myself a lot” (VNJ-HMC3).

“Providing the topics may be a good for those not knowing what they gonna do or kind of lost, that is students who are unsure of their career prospects. On the contrary, doing so, will limit students' ability to think outside the box, limit their creativity and initiation” (INTC-UK1).

“like to decide the title but at the same time have the tutor support on the recommendation on the topic, which my tutors did” (INTH-UK5).

“Well it depends on the students. Personally, I do recommend you choose me a topic because to be honest I don't know what to choose as it's the first time of the research. I think it will facilitate the students if you provide the students the topic to choose. It may also block the ability of the students to think outside the box” (INTC-UK2).

These show that the business and management research module provides a unique opportunity for learners to explore or examine an area of interest on a specific subject within the business and management discipline.

An exploration of the participants' comments on the “timing” theme broadly reflect management of the students' time throughout their business and management research process: “…challenge of time management” (VNJ-HMC3); “A challenge I had was to follow on the schedule...because we had to share our time…and working (VNT-HMC1)”; “Challenge I had was managing my time with respect to personal job commitments and attend the sessions as well, and commuting…from…most times made the project challenging” (INTC-UK1). These unimpressive comments also suggest a personal act of discipline, commitment and responsibility from the students are required to successfully complete their business and management research. A slightly different comment on “timing”: “Deadlines should note the holiday leave of professors as we have different new year holiday…we don ' t have holidays for Christmas and New Year” (VNL-Hanoi1) still highlights the need for students to develop the habit of good time management practice. The module assessment deadline is set well in advance before the module delivery and the students are made aware of the deadline in the first teaching session. In addition, the students are sent deadline reminders throughout the duration of the module/ their business and management research.

Another area where the students appeared to find challenging is in their data analyses and the technicality of their chosen data analysis software (SPSS): “I wish that we could have a workshop for 1 hour or…n the classroom…teach us a bit more about SPSS first because for some of us, that ' s the first time they hear about SPSS” (VNU-HMC2) . It is not surprising that this issue was raised again when asked on their views for recommendations on the review/ redesign of the module. Similarly, some of the themes identified as the participants' challenging experiences ( Figure 3 ) were identified as themes for the reformation of the module ( Figure 5 ).

Future direction for the business and management research module

Reflecting on the participants' recommendations for the business and management research module ( Figure 5 ) and in consideration of the main highlights from the study findings (discussed above), the review of the module will be addressed from two perspectives: module design and module delivery. It is important to note that the themes shown in Figure 5 have been defined in such a way that they are strategies aimed to be implemented in the review of the module's content and activities.

At present, qualitative and quantitative data analyses taught sessions are embedded in the module design, with an inclusion of independent/ additional support sessions available to students to take advantage of from the university learning development/ statistics team. However, the participants' responses or concerns around quantitative evaluations, including software usage (“Should have a separate session to train software/ statistics” (VNL-Hanoi1); “My challenge is knowledge about the statistics I used in my research because I never known and done it before” (INTP-UK3); “I think that choosing the right form of analysis (qualitative or quantitative) for different research objects is very important…the module should focus more deeply on…analysing information with specific examples” (VNK-Hanoi3)) suggest that students are not taking advantage of the additional support sessions tailored toward qualitative and quantitative/ statistical evaluations. Though research shows that it is not unusual for students to be anxious or concerned toward statistical evaluations ( Baglin et al. , 2017 ), it may be a step in the right direction to “formally” embed the additional support sessions on quantitative/ statistical evaluations and qualitative analysis in the module design and delivery to bridge this knowledge gap. The contents of the additional support sessions will need to be modified or updated accordingly for each cohort considering that students' research topics vary. Some degree of competence in statistical evaluations is expected from today's graduates in the workplace as shown in the outcomes from Harraway and Barker (2005) study; so the formalised additional support or specialised data analyses sessions may be one way to develop and harness this skill in students as they undertake their business and management research projects.

With respect to decision-making for the research topic, a possible way forward is to have two options including students deciding on their project topics themselves and students' choosing a topic from a list made available to the students. Making a list of project topics available could help trigger possible areas that the students may want to focus their research on. This may consequently minimise unnecessary anxiety, enable effective time management, foster/ boost the research profile of the institution as the predefined research topics will be put together in consideration of the institution's current research areas/ foci. In addition, aspirational research areas could be developed or expanded on through the predefined research topics; the list of topics could be put together to embrace a wider perspective and in consideration of locations where the module is taught or delivered, which is in view of one of the non-UK participants' comments: “If possible, … add more case-study in the module design and delivery; I think the case study should be … focussed in Vietnam (VNT-HMC1)” . Whether students define their project topic themselves or make a choice for a project topic based on a list of available topics, it is important that students are guided and supported on how to decide/define their project topic with careful consideration of what they have a passion for. In his discussion on a six-stage process for choosing a project topic, Fisher (2010) identifies interest as the first stage or fundamental requirement of the topic definition.

The theme “Diversified communication modes” refers to how information is communicated to (and with) the students enrolled on the module. An unsurprising comment from one of the participants “Use social media i.e. Whatsapp Facebook, Instagram and email students directly instead of expecting them to always check the Learning_Environment [1] site” (INTC-UK2) demonstrates the drive for IT embrace in today's society. With a module that already has the concepts of active-blended learning in its design, extending its communication platforms as a means to facilitate student engagement and success should be a straightforward process.

Concluding remarks and further research

The critical evaluations of the findings from the qualitative data discussed in the preceding sections of this paper show the relevance, benefits and challenges associated with the business and management research module in the personal and professional development of learners. This study contributes to knowledge and practice on teaching research methods and supporting students while they undertake their business and management projects as follows: the study findings provide useful insights on MBA students' preparedness for undertaking business and management research projects, the students' development of a range of personal, practical and research skills and triggers for enabling the students' engagement throughout the research process. Furthermore, outcomes of this study suggest that where the challenges associated with undertaking business and management research projects are adequately channelled toward developing practical skills required in the workplace through progressive support from the academic project supervisors, it will contribute toward creating a rewarding learning experience for learners as well as enabling effective applications of theory into practice.

While transcribing the data and carefully reviewing the participants' responses, and making initial notes, it was observed that factors such as gender, academic year when the module was delivered and place of module delivery did not uncover any obvious disparity in the participants' responses to the interview questions. Nevertheless, there is still an opportunity for further research on the possible effects of these factors on the students' academic performance/ grade achieved.

Interview themes: Knowledge acquired and application of business and management research techniques

Interview themes: expectations and learning needs from business and management research

Interview themes: Learning and skills gained in business and management research

Interview themes: Benefits associated with business and management research

Interview themes: review of business and management research module

Study participants

Learning_Environment = This is the acronym for the virtual learning environment of the higher education institution under study.

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Home » 500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

Table of Contents

Qualitative research is a methodological approach that involves gathering and analyzing non-numerical data to understand and interpret social phenomena. Unlike quantitative research , which emphasizes the collection of numerical data through surveys and experiments, qualitative research is concerned with exploring the subjective experiences, perspectives, and meanings of individuals and groups. As such, qualitative research topics can be diverse and encompass a wide range of social issues and phenomena. From exploring the impact of culture on identity formation to examining the experiences of marginalized communities, qualitative research offers a rich and nuanced perspective on complex social issues. In this post, we will explore some of the most compelling qualitative research topics and provide some tips on how to conduct effective qualitative research.

Qualitative Research Titles

Qualitative research titles often reflect the study’s focus on understanding the depth and complexity of human behavior, experiences, or social phenomena. Here are some examples across various fields:

“Understanding the Impact of Project-Based Learning on Student Engagement in High School Classrooms: A Qualitative Study”
“Navigating the Transition: Experiences of International Students in American Universities”
“The Role of Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Perspectives from Teachers and Parents”
“Exploring the Effects of Teacher Feedback on Student Motivation and Self-Efficacy in Middle Schools”
“Digital Literacy in the Classroom: Teacher Strategies for Integrating Technology in Elementary Education”
“Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices: A Case Study in Diverse Urban Schools”
“The Influence of Extracurricular Activities on Academic Achievement: Student Perspectives”
“Barriers to Implementing Inclusive Education in Public Schools: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“Teacher Professional Development and Its Impact on Classroom Practice: A Qualitative Exploration”
“Student-Centered Learning Environments: A Qualitative Study of Classroom Dynamics and Outcomes”
“The Experience of First-Year Teachers: Challenges, Support Systems, and Professional Growth”
“Exploring the Role of School Leadership in Fostering a Positive School Culture”
“Peer Relationships and Learning Outcomes in Cooperative Learning Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
“The Impact of Social Media on Student Learning and Engagement: Teacher and Student Perspectives”
“Understanding Special Education Needs: Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Support Services in Schools

Health Science

“Living with Chronic Pain: Patient Narratives and Coping Strategies in Managing Daily Life”
“Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on the Challenges of Rural Healthcare Delivery”
“Exploring the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on Frontline Healthcare Workers: A Qualitative Study”
“Patient and Family Experiences of Palliative Care: Understanding Needs and Preferences”
“The Role of Community Health Workers in Improving Access to Maternal Healthcare in Rural Areas”
“Barriers to Mental Health Services Among Ethnic Minorities: A Qualitative Exploration”
“Understanding Patient Satisfaction in Telemedicine Services: A Qualitative Study of User Experiences”
“The Impact of Cultural Competence Training on Healthcare Provider-Patient Communication”
“Navigating the Transition to Adult Healthcare Services: Experiences of Adolescents with Chronic Conditions”
“Exploring the Use of Alternative Medicine Among Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“The Role of Social Support in the Rehabilitation Process of Stroke Survivors”
“Healthcare Decision-Making Among Elderly Patients: A Qualitative Study of Preferences and Influences”
“Nurse Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture in Hospital Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
“Experiences of Women with Postpartum Depression: Barriers to Seeking Help”
“The Impact of Nutrition Education on Eating Behaviors Among College Students: A Qualitative Approach”
“Understanding Resilience in Survivors of Childhood Trauma: A Narrative Inquiry”
“The Role of Mindfulness in Managing Work-Related Stress Among Corporate Employees: A Qualitative Study”
“Coping Mechanisms Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
“Exploring the Psychological Impact of Social Isolation in the Elderly: A Phenomenological Study”
“Identity Formation in Adolescence: The Influence of Social Media and Peer Groups”
“The Experience of Forgiveness in Interpersonal Relationships: A Qualitative Exploration”
“Perceptions of Happiness and Well-Being Among University Students: A Cultural Perspective”
“The Impact of Art Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Adult Cancer Patients”
“Narratives of Recovery: A Qualitative Study on the Journey Through Addiction Rehabilitation”
“Exploring the Psychological Effects of Long-Term Unemployment: A Grounded Theory Approach”
“Attachment Styles and Their Influence on Adult Romantic Relationships: A Qualitative Analysis”
“The Role of Personal Values in Career Decision-Making Among Young Adults”
“Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness in Rural Communities: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“Exploring the Use of Digital Mental Health Interventions Among Adolescents: A Qualitative Study”
“The Psychological Impact of Climate Change on Young Adults: An Exploration of Anxiety and Action”
“Navigating Identity: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Youth Culture and Self-Perception”
“Community Resilience in the Face of Urban Gentrification: A Case Study of Neighborhood Change”
“The Dynamics of Intergenerational Relationships in Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Analysis”
“Social Capital and Economic Mobility in Low-Income Neighborhoods: An Ethnographic Approach”
“Gender Roles and Career Aspirations Among Young Adults in Conservative Societies”
“The Stigma of Mental Health in the Workplace: Employee Narratives and Organizational Culture”
“Exploring the Intersection of Race, Class, and Education in Urban School Systems”
“The Impact of Digital Divide on Access to Healthcare Information in Rural Communities”
“Social Movements and Political Engagement Among Millennials: A Qualitative Study”
“Cultural Adaptation and Identity Among Second-Generation Immigrants: A Phenomenological Inquiry”
“The Role of Religious Institutions in Providing Community Support and Social Services”
“Negotiating Public Space: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Urban Environments”
“The Sociology of Food: Exploring Eating Habits and Food Practices Across Cultures”
“Work-Life Balance Challenges Among Dual-Career Couples: A Qualitative Exploration”
“The Influence of Peer Networks on Substance Use Among Adolescents: A Community Study”

Business and Management

“Navigating Organizational Change: Employee Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies in Mergers and Acquisitions”
“Corporate Social Responsibility: Consumer Perceptions and Brand Loyalty in the Retail Sector”
“Leadership Styles and Organizational Culture: A Comparative Study of Tech Startups”
“Workplace Diversity and Inclusion: Best Practices and Challenges in Multinational Corporations”
“Consumer Trust in E-commerce: A Qualitative Study of Online Shopping Behaviors”
“The Gig Economy and Worker Satisfaction: Exploring the Experiences of Freelance Professionals”
“Entrepreneurial Resilience: Success Stories and Lessons Learned from Failed Startups”
“Employee Engagement and Productivity in Remote Work Settings: A Post-Pandemic Analysis”
“Brand Storytelling: How Narrative Strategies Influence Consumer Engagement”
“Sustainable Business Practices: Stakeholder Perspectives in the Fashion Industry”
“Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges in Global Teams: Strategies for Effective Collaboration”
“Innovative Workspaces: The Impact of Office Design on Creativity and Collaboration”
“Consumer Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service: A Qualitative Exploration”
“The Role of Mentoring in Career Development: Insights from Women in Leadership Positions”
“Agile Management Practices: Adoption and Impact in Traditional Industries”

Environmental Studies

“Community-Based Conservation Efforts in Tropical Rainforests: A Qualitative Study of Local Perspectives and Practices”
“Urban Sustainability Initiatives: Exploring Resident Participation and Impact in Green City Projects”
“Perceptions of Climate Change Among Indigenous Populations: Insights from Traditional Ecological Knowledge”
“Environmental Justice and Industrial Pollution: A Case Study of Community Advocacy and Response”
“The Role of Eco-Tourism in Promoting Conservation Awareness: Perspectives from Tour Operators and Visitors”
“Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Smallholder Farmers: Challenges and Opportunities”
“Youth Engagement in Climate Action Movements: Motivations, Perceptions, and Outcomes”
“Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Qualitative Analysis of Stakeholder Expectations and Company Practices”
“The Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecosystems: Community Awareness and Behavioral Change”
“Renewable Energy Adoption in Rural Communities: Barriers, Facilitators, and Social Implications”
“Water Scarcity and Community Adaptation Strategies in Arid Regions: A Grounded Theory Approach”
“Urban Green Spaces: Public Perceptions and Use Patterns in Megacities”
“Environmental Education in Schools: Teachers’ Perspectives on Integrating Sustainability into Curricula”
“The Influence of Environmental Activism on Policy Change: Case Studies of Grassroots Campaigns”
“Cultural Practices and Natural Resource Management: A Qualitative Study of Indigenous Stewardship Models”

Anthropology

“Kinship and Social Organization in Matrilineal Societies: An Ethnographic Study”
“Rituals and Beliefs Surrounding Death and Mourning in Diverse Cultures: A Comparative Analysis”
“The Impact of Globalization on Indigenous Languages and Cultural Identity”
“Food Sovereignty and Traditional Agricultural Practices Among Indigenous Communities”
“Navigating Modernity: The Integration of Traditional Healing Practices in Contemporary Healthcare Systems”
“Gender Roles and Equality in Hunter-Gatherer Societies: An Anthropological Perspective”
“Sacred Spaces and Religious Practices: An Ethnographic Study of Pilgrimage Sites”
“Youth Subcultures and Resistance: An Exploration of Identity and Expression in Urban Environments”
“Cultural Constructions of Disability and Inclusion: A Cross-Cultural Analysis”
“Interethnic Marriages and Cultural Syncretism: Case Studies from Multicultural Societies”
“The Role of Folklore and Storytelling in Preserving Cultural Heritage”
“Economic Anthropology of Gift-Giving and Reciprocity in Tribal Communities”
“Digital Anthropology: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Movements”
“Migration and Diaspora: Maintaining Cultural Identity in Transnational Communities”
“Cultural Adaptations to Climate Change Among Coastal Fishing Communities”

Communication Studies

“The Dynamics of Family Communication in the Digital Age: A Qualitative Inquiry”
“Narratives of Identity and Belonging in Diaspora Communities Through Social Media”
“Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement: A Case Study in the Non-Profit Sector”
“Cultural Influences on Communication Styles in Multinational Teams: An Ethnographic Approach”
“Media Representation of Women in Politics: A Content Analysis and Audience Perception Study”
“The Role of Communication in Building Sustainable Community Development Projects”
“Interpersonal Communication in Online Dating: Strategies, Challenges, and Outcomes”
“Public Health Messaging During Pandemics: A Qualitative Study of Community Responses”
“The Impact of Mobile Technology on Parent-Child Communication in the Digital Era”
“Crisis Communication Strategies in the Hospitality Industry: A Case Study of Reputation Management”
“Narrative Analysis of Personal Stories Shared on Mental Health Blogs”
“The Influence of Podcasts on Political Engagement Among Young Adults”
“Visual Communication and Brand Identity: A Qualitative Study of Consumer Interpretations”
“Communication Barriers in Cross-Cultural Healthcare Settings: Patient and Provider Perspectives”
“The Role of Internal Communication in Managing Organizational Change: Employee Experiences”

Information Technology

“User Experience Design in Augmented Reality Applications: A Qualitative Study of Best Practices”
“The Human Factor in Cybersecurity: Understanding Employee Behaviors and Attitudes Towards Phishing”
“Adoption of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Enterprises: Challenges and Success Factors”
“Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management: A Qualitative Exploration of Potential Impacts”
“The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Personalizing User Experiences on E-commerce Platforms”
“Digital Transformation in Traditional Industries: A Case Study of Technology Adoption Challenges”
“Ethical Considerations in the Development of Smart Home Technologies: A Stakeholder Analysis”
“The Impact of Social Media Algorithms on News Consumption and Public Opinion”
“Collaborative Software Development: Practices and Challenges in Open Source Projects”
“Understanding the Digital Divide: Access to Information Technology in Rural Communities”
“Data Privacy Concerns and User Trust in Internet of Things (IoT) Devices”
“The Effectiveness of Gamification in Educational Software: A Qualitative Study of Engagement and Motivation”
“Virtual Teams and Remote Work: Communication Strategies and Tools for Effectiveness”
“User-Centered Design in Mobile Health Applications: Evaluating Usability and Accessibility”
“The Influence of Technology on Work-Life Balance: Perspectives from IT Professionals”

Tourism and Hospitality

“Exploring the Authenticity of Cultural Heritage Tourism in Indigenous Communities”
“Sustainable Tourism Practices: Perceptions and Implementations in Small Island Destinations”
“The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Destination Choice Among Millennials”
“Gastronomy Tourism: Exploring the Culinary Experiences of International Visitors in Rural Regions”
“Eco-Tourism and Conservation: Stakeholder Perspectives on Balancing Tourism and Environmental Protection”
“The Role of Hospitality in Enhancing the Cultural Exchange Experience of Exchange Students”
“Dark Tourism: Visitor Motivations and Experiences at Historical Conflict Sites”
“Customer Satisfaction in Luxury Hotels: A Qualitative Study of Service Excellence and Personalization”
“Adventure Tourism: Understanding the Risk Perception and Safety Measures Among Thrill-Seekers”
“The Influence of Local Communities on Tourist Experiences in Ecotourism Sites”
“Event Tourism: Economic Impacts and Community Perspectives on Large-Scale Music Festivals”
“Heritage Tourism and Identity: Exploring the Connections Between Historic Sites and National Identity”
“Tourist Perceptions of Sustainable Accommodation Practices: A Study of Green Hotels”
“The Role of Language in Shaping the Tourist Experience in Multilingual Destinations”
“Health and Wellness Tourism: Motivations and Experiences of Visitors to Spa and Retreat Centers”

Qualitative Research Topics

Qualitative Research Topics are as follows:

Understanding the lived experiences of first-generation college students
Exploring the impact of social media on self-esteem among adolescents
Investigating the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction
Analyzing the perceptions of employees regarding organizational culture
Examining the impact of parental involvement on academic achievement of elementary school students
Investigating the role of music therapy in managing symptoms of depression
Understanding the experience of women in male-dominated industries
Exploring the factors that contribute to successful leadership in non-profit organizations
Analyzing the effects of peer pressure on substance abuse among adolescents
Investigating the experiences of individuals with disabilities in the workplace
Understanding the factors that contribute to burnout among healthcare professionals
Examining the impact of social support on mental health outcomes
Analyzing the perceptions of parents regarding sex education in schools
Investigating the experiences of immigrant families in the education system
Understanding the impact of trauma on mental health outcomes
Exploring the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy for individuals with anxiety
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful intergenerational relationships
Investigating the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace
Understanding the impact of online gaming on social skills development among adolescents
Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding technology integration in the classroom
Analyzing the experiences of women in leadership positions
Investigating the factors that contribute to successful marriage and long-term relationships
Understanding the impact of social media on political participation
Exploring the experiences of individuals with mental health disorders in the criminal justice system
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for youth development
Investigating the experiences of veterans in accessing mental health services
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood obesity prevention
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful multicultural education programs
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in the workplace
Understanding the impact of poverty on academic achievement
Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee retention strategies
Investigating the experiences of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease
Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent sexual behavior
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health services on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in the workplace
Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of mentorship on career success
Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for mental health
Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of social media on romantic relationships
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding child discipline strategies
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cross-cultural communication in the workplace
Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on healthcare delivery
Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing loss in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful parent-teacher communication
Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health outcomes
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding alcohol and drug use on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentor-mentee relationships
Investigating the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the workplace
Understanding the impact of work-family balance on employee satisfaction and well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in vocational rehabilitation programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management in the construction industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in peer support groups
Understanding the impact of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction and mental health
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood nutrition
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful environmental sustainability initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of job stress on employee burnout and turnover
Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in recreational activities
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful strategic planning in nonprofit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with hoarding disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of culture on leadership styles and effectiveness
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual health education on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management in the retail industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of multiculturalism on group dynamics in the workplace
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee engagement strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with internet addiction disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of social comparison on body dissatisfaction and self-esteem
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood sleep habits
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of job crafting on employee motivation and job satisfaction
Exploring the experiences of individuals with vision impairments in navigating public spaces
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer relationship management strategies in the service industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative amnesia in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural intelligence on intercultural communication and collaboration
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus diversity and inclusion efforts
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of transformational leadership on organizational performance and employee well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with mobility impairments in public transportation
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful talent management strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in harm reduction programs
Understanding the impact of gratitude practices on well-being and resilience
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health and well-being
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful corporate social responsibility initiatives in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of emotional labor on job stress and burnout
Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in healthcare settings
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer experience strategies in the hospitality industry
Investigating the experiences of individuals with gender dysphoria in gender-affirming healthcare
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural negotiation in the global marketplace
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic stress and mental health
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain agility in organizations
Understanding the impact of music therapy on mental health and well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in educational settings
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in nonprofit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in online support groups
Understanding the impact of exercise on mental health and well-being
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management strategies in organizations
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on international business negotiations
Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in corporate settings
Understanding the impact of technology on communication in romantic relationships
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for local governments
Investigating the experiences of individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of financial stress on mental health and well-being
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentorship programs in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling addictions in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood education
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful virtual team management strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative identity disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in healthcare settings
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-building strategies in urban neighborhoods
Investigating the experiences of individuals with alcohol use disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of personality traits on romantic relationships
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for political campaigns
Investigating the experiences of individuals with traumatic brain injuries in rehabilitation programs
Understanding the impact of social support on mental health and well-being among the elderly
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in medical treatment decision-making processes
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful innovation strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in education settings
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood physical activity
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in family relationships
Investigating the experiences of individuals with opioid use disorders in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of emotional intelligence on leadership effectiveness
Exploring the experiences of individuals with learning disabilities in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management in educational institutions
Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in recovery support groups
Understanding the impact of self-compassion on mental health and well-being
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus safety and security measures
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with postpartum depression in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of ageism in the workplace
Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in the education system
Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
Understanding the impact of socioeconomic status on access to healthcare
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time usage
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management strategies
Understanding the impact of parenting styles on child development
Exploring the experiences of individuals with addiction in harm reduction programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful crisis management strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with trauma in trauma-focused therapy programs
Examining the perceptions of healthcare providers regarding patient-centered care
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful product development strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in employment programs
Understanding the impact of cultural competence on healthcare outcomes
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in healthcare navigation
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for non-profit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in dialectical behavior therapy programs
Understanding the impact of gender identity on mental health treatment seeking behaviors
Exploring the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in community-based treatment programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project team management strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in exposure and response prevention therapy programs
Understanding the impact of cultural competence on academic achievement and success
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic integrity
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful social media marketing strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in community-based treatment programs
Understanding the impact of mindfulness on academic achievement and success
Exploring the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in medication-assisted treatment programs
Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in exposure therapy programs
Understanding the impact of healthcare disparities on health outcomes
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain optimization strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in schema therapy programs
Understanding the impact of culture on perceptions of mental health stigma
Exploring the experiences of individuals with trauma in art therapy programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful digital marketing strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in online support groups
Understanding the impact of workplace bullying on job satisfaction and performance
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health resources on campus
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain risk management strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
Understanding the impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder
Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in business organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
Understanding the impact of cultural differences on intercultural communication
Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding inclusive education for students with disabilities
Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in therapy programs
Understanding the impact of workplace culture on employee retention and turnover
Exploring the experiences of individuals with traumatic brain injuries in rehabilitation programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful crisis communication strategies in organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in mindfulness-based interventions
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in healthcare settings
Understanding the impact of technology on work-life balance
Exploring the experiences of individuals with learning disabilities in academic settings
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful entrepreneurship in small businesses
Understanding the impact of gender identity on mental health and well-being
Examining the perceptions of individuals with disabilities regarding accessibility in public spaces
Understanding the impact of religion on coping strategies for stress and anxiety
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in complementary and alternative medicine treatments
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer retention strategies in business organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with postpartum depression in therapy programs
Understanding the impact of ageism on older adults in healthcare settings
Examining the perceptions of students regarding online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in virtual work environments
Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling disorders in treatment programs
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in peer support groups
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful social media marketing strategies for businesses
Investigating the experiences of individuals with ADHD in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of sleep on cognitive and emotional functioning
Examining the perceptions of individuals with chronic illnesses regarding healthcare access and affordability
Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in dialectical behavior therapy programs
Understanding the impact of social support on caregiver well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in disability activism
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cultural competency training programs in healthcare settings
Understanding the impact of personality disorders on interpersonal relationships
Examining the perceptions of healthcare providers regarding the use of telehealth services
Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative disorders in therapy programs
Understanding the impact of gender bias in hiring practices
Exploring the experiences of individuals with visual impairments in the workplace
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion programs in the workplace
Understanding the impact of online dating on romantic relationships
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood vaccination
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful communication in healthcare settings
Understanding the impact of cultural stereotypes on academic achievement
Exploring the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in sober living programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful classroom management strategies
Understanding the impact of social support on addiction recovery
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in the workplace
Understanding the impact of race and ethnicity on healthcare access and outcomes
Exploring the experiences of individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder in treatment programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management strategies
Understanding the impact of teacher-student relationships on academic achievement
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer service strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with social anxiety disorder in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of workplace stress on job satisfaction and performance
Exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities in sports and recreation
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful marketing strategies for small businesses
Investigating the experiences of individuals with phobias in treatment programs
Understanding the impact of culture on attitudes towards mental health and illness
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual assault prevention
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful time management strategies
Investigating the experiences of individuals with addiction in recovery support groups
Understanding the impact of mindfulness on emotional regulation and well-being
Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in treatment programs
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in romantic relationships
Investigating the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in social skills training programs
Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent substance use
Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health services
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for non-profit organizations
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in support groups
Understanding the impact of personality traits on career success and satisfaction
Exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities in accessing public transportation
Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in sports teams
Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in alternative medicine treatments
Understanding the impact of stigma on mental health treatment seeking behaviors
Examining the perceptions of college students regarding diversity and inclusion on campus.

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6 Qualitative data examples for thorough market researchers

Types of qualitative data in market research, 6 qualitative data examples, get nuanced insights from qualitative market research.

There are plenty of ways to gather consumer insights for fresh campaigns and better products, but qualitative research is up there with the best sources of insight.

This guide is packed with examples of how to turn qualitative data into actionable insights, to spark your creativity and sharpen your research strategy. You’ll see how qualitative data, especially through surveys, opens doors to deeper understanding by inviting consumers to share their experiences and thoughts freely, in their own words — and how qualitative data can transform your brand.

Before we dig into some examples of how qualitative data can empower your teams to make focused, confident and quick decisions on anything from product to marketing, let’s go back to basics. We can categorize qualitative data into roughly three categories: binary, nominal and ordinal data. Here’s how each of them is used in qualitative data analysis.

Binary data

Binary data represents a choice between two distinct options, like ‘yes’ or ‘no’. In market research, this type of qualitative data is useful for filtering responses or making clear distinctions in consumer preferences.

Binary data in qualitative research is great for straightforward insights, but has its limits. Here’s a quick guide on when to use it and when to opt for qualitative data that is more detailed:

Binary data is great for:

Quick Yes/No questions : like “Have you used our app? Yes or No.”
Initial screening : to quickly sort participants for further studies.
Clear-cut answers : absolute factors, such as ownership or usage.

Avoid binary data for:

Understanding motivations : it lacks the depth to explore why behind actions.
Measuring intensity : can’t show how much someone likes or uses something.
Detail needed for product development : misses the nuanced feedback necessary for innovations.

Nominal data

Nominal data categorizes responses without implying any order. For example, when survey respondents choose their favorite brand from a list, the data collected is nominal, offering insights into brand preferences among different demographics.

Some other examples of qualitative data that can be qualified as nominal are asking participants to name their primary information source about products in categories like social media, friends, or online reviews. Or in focus groups, discussing brand perceptions could classify brands into categories such as luxury, budget-friendly, or eco-conscious, based on participant descriptions.

Nominal data is great for:

Categorizing responses : such as types of consumer complaints (product quality, customer service, delivery issues).
Identifying preferences : like favorite product categories (beverages, electronics, apparel).
Segmentation : grouping participants based on attributes (first-time buyers, loyal customers).

Nominal data is not for:

Measuring quantities : it can’t quantify how much more one category is preferred over another.
Ordering or ranking responses : it doesn’t indicate which category is higher or lower in any hierarchy.
Detailed behavioral analysis : While it can group behaviors, it doesn’t delve into the frequency or intensity of those behaviors.

Ordinal data

Ordinal data introduces a sense of order, ranking preferences or satisfaction levels. In qualitative analysis, it’s particularly useful for understanding how consumers prioritize features or products, giving researchers a clearer picture of market trends.

Other examples of qualitative data analyses that use ordinal data, are for instance a study on consumer preferences for coffee flavors, participants might rank flavors in order of preference, providing insights into flavor trends. You can also get ordinal data from focus groups on things like customer satisfaction surveys or app usability, by asking users to rate their ease of use or happiness on an ordinal scale.

Ordinal data is great for:

Ranking preferences : asking participants to rank product features from most to least important.
Measuring satisfaction levels : using scales like “very satisfied,” “satisfied,” “neutral,” “dissatisfied,” “very dissatisfied.”
Assessing Agreement : with statements on a scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”

Ordinal data is not for:

Quantifying differences : it doesn’t show how much more one rank is preferred over another, just the order.
Precise measurements : can’t specify the exact degree of satisfaction or agreement, only relative positions.

This mix of qualitative and quantitative data will give you a well-rounded view of participant attitudes and preferences.

The things you can do with qualitative data are endless. But this article shouldn’t turn into a work of literature, so we’ll highlight six ways to collect qualitative data and give you examples of how to use these qualitative research methods to get actionable results.

How to get qual insights with Attest

You can get to the heart of what your target customers think, with reliable qualitative insights from Attest Video Responses

1. Highlighting brand loyalty drivers with open-ended surveys and questionnaires

Open-ended surveys and questionnaires are great at finding out what makes customers choose and stick with a brand. Here’s why this qualitative data analysis tool is so good for gathering qualitative data on things like brand loyalty and customer experience:

Straight from the source

Open-ended survey responses show the actual thoughts and feelings of your target audience in their own words, while still giving you structure in your data analysis.

Understanding ‘why’

Numbers can show us how many customers are loyal; open-ended survey responses explain why they are. You can also easily add thematic analysis to the mix by counting certain keywords or phrases.

Guiding decisions

The insights from these surveys can help a brand decide where to focus its efforts, from making sure their marketing highlights what customers love most to improving parts of their product.

Surveys are one of the most versatile and efficient qualitative data collection methods out there. We want to bring the power of qualitative data analysis to every business and make it easy to gather qualitative data from the people who matter most to your brand. Check out our survey templates to hit the ground running. And you’re not limited to textual data as your only data source — we also enable you to gather video responses to get additional context from non verbal cues and more.

2. Trend identification with observation notes

Observation notes are a powerful qualitative data analysis tool for spotting trends as they naturally unfold in real-world settings. Here’s why they’re particularly valuable insights and effective for identifying new trends:

Real behavior

Observing people directly shows us how they actually interact with products or services, not just how they say they do. This can highlight emerging trends in consumer behavior or preferences before people can even put into words what they are doing and why.

Immediate insights

By watching how people engage with different products, we can quickly spot patterns or changes in behavior. This immediate feedback is invaluable for catching trends as they start.

Context matters

Observations give you context. You can see not just what people do, but where and how they do it. This context can be key to understanding why a trend is taking off.

Unprompted reactions

Since people don’t know they’re being observed for these purposes, their actions are genuine. This leads to authentic insights about what’s really catching on.

3. Understanding consumer sentiments through semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews for qualitative data analysis are an effective method for data analysts to get a deep understanding of consumer sentiments. It provides a structured yet flexible approach to gather in-depth insights. Here’s why they’re particularly useful for this type of research question:

Personal connection

These interviews create a space for a real conversation, allowing consumers to share their feelings, experiences, and opinions about a brand or product in a more personal setting.

Flexibility

The format lets the interviewer explore interesting points that come up during the conversation, diving deeper into unexpected areas of discussion. This flexibility uncovers richer insights than strictly structured interviews.

Depth of understanding

By engaging in detailed discussions, brands can understand not just what consumers think but why they think that way and what stations their train of thought passes by.

Structure and surprise

Semi-structured interviews can be tailored to explore specific areas of interest while still allowing for new insights to emerge.

4. Using focus groups for informing market entry strategies

Using a focus group to inform market entry strategies provides a dynamic way to discover your potential customers’ needs, preferences, and perceptions before launching a product or entering a new market. Here’s how focus groups can be particularly effective for this kind of research goal:

Real conversations

Focus groups allow for real-time, interactive discussions, giving you a front-row seat to hear what your potential customers think and feel about your product or service idea.

Diverse Perspectives

By bringing together people from various backgrounds, a focus group can offer a wide range of views and insights, highlighting different consumer needs and contextual information that you might miss out on in a survey.

Spotting opportunities and challenges

The dynamic nature of focus groups can help uncover unique market opportunities or potential challenges that might not be evident through other research methods, like cultural nuances.

Testing ideas

A focus group is a great way to test and compare reactions to different market entry strategies, from pricing models to distribution channels, providing clear direction on what approach might work best.

5. Case studies to gain a nuanced understanding of consumers on a broad level

Case studies in qualitative research zoom in on specific stories from customers or groups using a product or service, great for gaining a nuanced understanding of consumers at a broad level. Here’s why case studies are a particularly effective qualitative data analysis tool for this type of research goal:

In-depth analysis

Case studies can provide a 360-degree look at the consumer experience, from initial awareness to post-purchase feelings.

This depth of insight reveals not just what consumers do, but why they do it, uncovering motivations, influences, and decision-making processes.

Longitudinal insight

Case studies can track changes in consumer behavior or satisfaction over time, offering a dynamic view of how perceptions evolve.

This longitudinal perspective is crucial for giving context to the lifecycle of consumer engagement with a brand.

Storytelling power

The narrative nature of case studies — when done right — makes them powerful tools for communicating complex consumer insights in an accessible and engaging way, which can be especially useful for internal strategy discussions or external marketing communications.

6. Driving product development with diary studies

Diary studies are a unique qualitative research method that involves participants recording their thoughts, experiences, or behaviors over a period of time, related to using a product or service. This qualitative data analysis method is especially valuable for driving product development for several reasons:

Real-time insights

Diary studies capture real-time user experiences and feedback as they interact with a product in their daily lives.

This ongoing documentation provides a raw, unfiltered view of how a product fits into the user’s routine, highlighting usability issues or unmet needs that might not be captured in a one-time survey or interview.

Realistic user journey mapping

By analyzing diary entries, you can map out the entire user journey, identifying critical touch points where users feel delighted, frustrated, or indifferent.

This then enables you to implement targeted improvements and innovations at the moments that matter most.

Identifying patterns

Over the course of a diary study, patterns in behavior, preferences, and challenges can emerge, which is great for thematic analysis.

It can guide product developers to prioritize features or fixes that will have the most significant impact on user satisfaction, which is especially great if they don’t know what areas to focus on first.

Qualitative research brings your consumers’ voices directly to your strategy table. The examples we’ve explored show how qualitative data analysis methods like surveys, interviews, and case studies illuminate the ‘why’ behind consumer choices, guiding more informed decisions. Using these insights means crafting products and messages that resonate deeply, ensuring your brand not only meets but exceeds consumer expectations.

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Predictors of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Adherence: Mixed-Methods Research With a Convergent Parallel Design

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Sun S Kim, Anyah Prasad, Manan M Nayak, Hua Chen, Chaowalit Srisoem, Rosanna F DeMarco, Peter Castaldi, Mary E Cooley, Predictors of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Adherence: Mixed-Methods Research With a Convergent Parallel Design, Annals of Behavioral Medicine , Volume 58, Issue 4, April 2024, Pages 275–285, https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaae006

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Few studies have examined the effect of baseline attitudes toward nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on its actual adherence in a smoking cessation intervention.

This study (i) examined the predictability of baseline variables (quantitative data) on NRT adherence and (ii) explored the congruence of participants’ statements about NRT products (qualitative data) during counseling sessions with their baseline attitudes.

This is a mixed-methods research study using a convergent parallel design. Participants included 74 individuals in the treatment group who received behavioral counseling and combination NRT. A Poisson regression analysis was performed to identify baseline variables predicting NRT adherence. Thematic analysis was completed with a subset of participants ( n = 38) who varied in NRT attitude scores and adherence. A joint display was created to integrate quantitative and qualitative data and discover convergence.

Approximately 59% of the participants (41/74) used NRT continuously for ≥5 weeks. Having negative attitudes toward NRT and depressive symptoms predicted NRT adherence even after controlling for education and anxiety symptoms. Thematic analysis revealed that NRT adherence is a learning process that consists of the following three distinctive but interrelated phases: (i) information needs, (ii) comprehensive readiness, and (iii) experiential learning. Of the 38 participants, 34 (89.5%) showed convergence between baseline attitude scores and statements about NRT made during counseling sessions.

Individuals who have negative attitudes toward NRT are less likely to use the products in a smoking cessation intervention. Counselors should assess attitudes toward NRT at baseline and address them proactively during counseling sessions.

Few research studies have explored how attitudes toward nicotine substitutes (nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges) affect people’s adherence to those substitutes (using them consistently as directed). This study examined (i) whether age, gender, education, attitudes toward the substitutes, and depressive and anxiety symptoms would predict peoples’ adherence to these nicotine substitutes during a study to help stop smoking and (ii) whether peoples’ statements about their experiences with the substitutes would reveal any patterns. The study was conducted with 74 individuals who received behavioral counseling and combination nicotine substitutes. Having negative attitudes toward the substitutes and depressive symptoms predicted adherence. Age, gender, education, positive attitudes, and anxiety symptoms did not. Statements from a subset of participants (n = 38) revealed that adherence to the substitutes is a learning process that consists of the following three phases: (i) needing more information assuring the safety of the substitutes, (ii) being mentally and situationally ready, and (iii) learning while being involved in the process such as “trial and error.” Individuals who have negative attitudes toward the substitutes are less likely to use them, and counselors should assess attitudes toward nicotine replacement therapy before suggesting their use and address these attitudes proactively during smoking cessation counseling sessions.

Smoking is the number one leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. killing more than 480,000 people every year, including 41,000 people who die from exposure to secondhand smoke [ 1 ]. In 2021, 11.5% (28.3 million) of U.S. adults 18 or older currently smoked cigarettes [ 2 ], and more than half (60.2%) of these people reportedly attempted to quit smoking within the past year [ 3 ]. Evidence supports that a combination of pharmacotherapy and behavioral counseling can increase the likelihood of successful smoking cessation [ 4 , 5 ]. While there are several FDA-approved medications for smoking cessation, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is comparatively effective and easily accessible over the counter. Combination NRT, such as a dual-usage of nicotine patches and nicotine lozenges or nicotine gum, has been found to be more effective than the usage of a single-agent NRT because the combination supplies a steady release of nicotine in a 24-hr period while providing a fast-acting product to address nicotine cravings [ 6–8 ]. However, a recent study identified that only 10% of individuals who tried to quit smoking used NRT as a cessation aid [ 9 ].

NRT adherence can double the success of smoking cessation [ 7 , 10 ]. Mersha et al. developed a framework to illustrate composite factors associated with NRT adherence using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior (COM-B) model [ 11 ]. They identified 31 factors from a systematic review of 26 studies. They mapped the factors into the six elements of the COM-B model: psychological capability (forgetfulness and education), physical capability (level of nicotine dependence and withdrawal symptoms), reflective motivation (perception about NRT and quitting), automatic motivation (alcohol use, stress, and depression), physical opportunity (cost), and social opportunity (social support) [ 11 ]. The COM-B model was used to guide the quantitative part of the present study and the selection of variables that might affect adherence to NRT. According to Mersha et al., reflective motivation, defined as positive and negative perceptions and beliefs, was the most prominent element associated with NRT adherence [ 11 ]. Examples provided for the construct (perceiving NRT as noneffective, believing NRT is safe, believing NRT is easy to use, etc.) are identical to several question items in the 12-item Attitudes toward Nicotine Replacement Therapy (ANRT-12) scale developed by Etter and Perneger [ 12 ]. The COM-B model also includes depression, anxiety, and social support as factors associated with NRT adherence.

Numerous studies have been conducted to identify demographics and psychosocial variables associated with NRT adherence. Males, older people, and more educated people were more adherent to the medications than their respective counterparts [ 13 , 14 ]. Having good social support [ 15 ] and believing NRT was safe and easy to use [ 16 ] were also found to increase the odds of being adherent. In contrast, low socioeconomic status [ 17 ] and having depressive or anxiety symptoms [ 15 , 18 ] were found to reduce adherence. Findings are mixed regarding the relationship between nicotine dependence and NRT adherence. Some studies found a positive relationship [ 15 , 16 , 19–21 ], whereas others reported an inverse relationship [ 22–24 ]. Nevertheless, few published studies tested the effect of baseline NRT attitudes on actual adherence during a smoking cessation intervention. This study extends the literature by using a mixed-methods approach to examine if baseline NRT attitudes, sociodemographic factors, and other psychological variables such as depressive and anxiety symptoms would predict NRT adherence (quantitative data) and to explore whether participants’ statements (qualitative data) during counseling sessions would convey concordant messages with their baseline attitude scores.

The following hypotheses were proposed as part of the quantitative study:

Individuals who had more positive attitudes toward NRT at baseline would be more likely to adhere to NRT during the smoking cessation intervention.

Individuals who had more negative attitudes toward NRT at baseline would be less likely to adhere to NRT during the smoking cessation intervention.

Individuals who had more depressive symptoms at baseline would be less likely to adhere to NRT during the smoking cessation intervention.

Individuals who had more anxiety symptoms at baseline would be less likely to adhere to NRT during the smoking cessation intervention.

Research Design

This study is mixed-method research using a convergent parallel design. This design was selected to illustrate the convergence of qualitative data with quantitative data regarding attitudes toward NRT. The study is a secondary data analysis of a two-arm randomized controlled trial that tested the efficacy of a digitized lung health intervention conducted at an academic cancer institute. The treatment group received eight weekly individualized counseling sessions over Zoom for smoking cessation and education about low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan lung cancer screening, and the control group was referred to the Quitline after brief smoking cessation advice over the telephone. Therefore, those delivering the intervention and participants receiving the intervention were not blinded to group assignments. The quantitative data were assessed at baseline and during eight weekly counseling sessions. The qualitative data were participants’ statements about NRT extracted from counseling sessions. We used participants’ statements from the treatment arm only because participants in the control arm did not receive individualized counseling sessions from the study team. The study was approved by the institutional review board of an academic cancer institute, and informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to baseline data collection. Detailed descriptions of the parent study have been reported elsewhere [ 25 ].

Participants

Participants were community-dwelling residents recruited remotely across the nation via Facebook advertisements. Inclusion criteria for study participation were individuals who: (i) were eligible for the low-dose CT scan (55–77 years of age, 30-pack-year smoking history, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤1), (ii) had smoked at least 5 cigarettes per day for the past 30 days, (iii) owned a mobile phone or another electronic device to access a video call application, (iv) had a primary care provider, (v) had active health insurance, and (vi) did not have the low-dose CT scan lung cancer screening before. The exclusion criterion was any hospitalization due to serious mental illness during the past 6 months. We launched Facebook advertisements linking to a Lung Health Study website on January 11, 2021, and we recruited participants between January 2021 and June 2022.

Intervention

Detailed descriptions of the intervention and counselor training are described in the study protocol published elsewhere [ 25 ]. The first author was the lead counselor who had more than 15 years of experience in smoking cessation counseling, and the other two were doctoral students trained by the first author and received 4 days of intensive training from an accredited tobacco treatment training program. In the first session, counselors assessed participants’ willingness to use transdermal nicotine patches and their preference between the usage of nicotine gum and lozenges for a short-acting NRT product. Participants were mailed the first 4-week supply of patches combined with gum or lozenges depending on their preference. They also received information materials instructing them on how to use the medications and manage common side effects. The dosages of NRT were adjusted according to the number of cigarettes smoked per day or time to the first cigarette after waking. At the beginning of each session, counselors asked participants how many nicotine patches and gum or lozenges they had used since the last session. During the counseling session, counselors explained the underlying treatment mechanism of NRT and addressed any side effect concerns in real time. They reassured participants that such side effects were manageable and that nicotine patches were safe even if they wore them while smoking cigarettes. We mailed the second 4-week supply of the medications 3 weeks after the first package and after counselors confirmed participants’ self-report affirming adherence to the medications. Although we planned to do a salivary cotinine test for the validation of self-reported abstinence at the end of the intervention, we could not do so because many participants reported using NRT during the prior 7 days.

Data Collection

Participants self-administered baseline questionnaires at home that included sociodemographic information and tobacco-related variables (smoking and quitting behaviors and attitudes toward NRT), and psychosocial variables (depressive and anxiety symptoms). The assessment was done on a HIPAA compliant web-based Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). Those who had difficulty accessing the REDCap through the Internet completed the questionnaires via mailed surveys or by telephone. Adherence to NRT and smoking status were assessed weekly at the beginning of each counseling session. Qualitative data were participants’ statements about NRT during counseling sessions, which were audiotaped. First, we selected participants stratified by three counselors who provided the intervention. Second, we selected participants whose NRT attitude scores varied from the mean. Third, we selected participants whose NRT use varied by the number of weeks. We then selected participants who differed in smoking cessation outcome and gender. As a result, 38 participants were selected. The first author listened to the recordings of selected participants and then transcribed the sections where participants talked about NRT. A second person verified the transcripts while listening to the recordings. The session extracted most from was either the fifth or the sixth session when participants had been abstinent for about 1–2 weeks. The first session also had many statements related to NRT in which counselors asked participants their prior experiences of NRT use and preference between nicotine gum and lozenges. Several participants also offered their overall experiences with NRT at the eighth session.

Sociodemographic Questionnaire

We collected information on age, sex assigned at birth, race and ethnicity, marital status, employment status, and education level.

Smoking and Quitting Questionnaire

We gathered information about the age at smoking onset, the number of cigarettes smoked per day on average, and past year quit attempts at which abstinence lasted more than 24 hr.

The Heaviness of Smoking Index

Nicotine dependence was assessed using the Heaviness of Smoking Index composed of two questions: time to first cigarette of the day (TTFC) and the number of cigarettes smoked per day on average (CPD) [ 26 ]. The codes of TTFC are 0: 61+ min, 1: 31–60 min, 2: 6–30 min, and 3: ≤5 min [ 26 ]. The codes for CPD are 0: 1–10, 1: 11–20, 2: 21–30, and 3: 31+. The scale score is the sum of the two scores with a range of 0–6. The scale was found to be a valid and reliable measure of nicotine dependence [ 27 ].

ANRT-12 scale

This scale has two subscales that measure the perception of the advantages (positive attitudes) of NRT (eight items) and the drawbacks (negative attitudes) of NRT (four items) [ 12 ]. The measure is a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “fully agree” that are coded “0” and “4,” respectively. Examples of positive attitudes are “ These products help people to feel less irritable when they quit smoking ” and “ These products help people to feel less depressed when they quit smoking. ” Negative attitudes include statements such as “ I am concerned about the side effects of these products ” and “ I am wary of these products .” A sixth response option labeled “don’t know” was coded as a missing value following the scale developers’ suggestion. The two subscales use the mean of the eight-item scores for advantages and the mean of the four-item scores for drawbacks. The score ranges from 0 to 4, and the higher the score is, the more positive (advantages) or negative (drawbacks) attitudes an individual has. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.87 for the advantage subscale and was 0.68 for the drawback subscale. Etter and Perneger reported that the scale scores were associated with the intention to use NRT and the number of NRT-use days, suggesting the construct validity of the measure [ 12 ].

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption

This was assessed using three items of the 10-item scale; each scored on a 5-point scale from “0” to “4.” The scale score is the sum of the three-item scores (0–12), with a score of 0 reflecting no alcohol use [ 28 ]. Individuals with scores of ≥4 (male sex at birth) or ≥3 (female sex at birth) were categorized as having “high-risk alcohol use.” Cronbach’s alpha was 0.70 in this study.

Patient Health Questionnaire 4-item scale

The scale is a four-item questionnaire answered on a 4-point Likert-type scale. It consists of the core symptoms and signs of anxiety and depression by combining the first two items of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale for anxiety and the first two items of the Patient Health Questionnaire 4-item (PHQ-8) for depression [ 29 ]. A total score of ≥3 for the first two questions suggests anxiety, and a total score of ≥3 for the last two questions suggests depression. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.86 in this study.

Adherence to counseling sessions

Adherence to counseling sessions was assessed by the number of sessions attended. Those who had attended all eight weekly sessions without missing one were coded as adhering to the counseling session.

NRT adherence

This was defined as the number of weeks during which participants had used any NRT products as recommended. Counselors assessed daily use of NRT using the timeline follow-back scale [ 30 ] during weekly counseling sessions.

Smoking abstinence

Participants were asked about having smoked any cigarettes, even a puff, for the past 7 days at the eighth counseling session. Those who answered “no” to the question were recorded as being abstinent, while those who answered “yes” were then assessed using the timeline follow-back scale [ 30 ]. Individuals who were missing or dropped out of the study even before receiving any part of the intervention were all treated as smoking at the baseline level.

Data Analysis

Quantitative analysis.

To see the sample size calculation, please refer to the study protocol [ 25 ]. Data were analyzed using STATA Statistical Software 15 (Stata Corp, 2017). Descriptive statistics of demographic information and other key variables were performed. Correlations of key study variables were calculated. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were run when both variables were continuous measures. Otherwise, Spearman’s rank coefficients were run. Due to the non-normal distribution of weeks of NRT use, a Poisson regression analysis was performed. We selected sociodemographic factors (gender, age, and education) as covariates that have been found to be significant correlates of NRT adherence. Incident rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for predictors. The proportion of missing data was around 3.5%, and the average value of the responses was used to handle missing data if the missingness was less than 25% of the total responses. Cessation outcome was assessed at the eighth counseling session using an intention-to-treat analysis in which all participants assigned to the treatment group were included. A p -value ≤.05 was considered statistically significant.

Qualitative analysis

The transcripts of 38 participants were imported to NVivo 12 (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia) and analyzed by three coders using the thematic analytic procedures as outlined by Braun and Clarke [ 31 , 32 ]. The coding was guided by the following research questions: (i) What did participants report about NRT? and (ii) how did the reports vary by NRT adherence? The three coders independently generated themes from the repetitive codes that they created. They then compared the themes and discussed to reach a consensus for different themes. The agreed themes were then reviewed by the remaining research team members. The three coders and three additional research team members discussed the emerging themes until they reached agreement. They renamed some of the themes, grouped them into major categories, and found an overarching theme capturing participants’ adherence to NRT. The first author then randomly listened to audiotaped counseling sessions of 10 participants whose counseling sessions were not transcribed. There was no new information about NRT adherence, suggesting data saturation.

Integration of quantitative and qualitative data

We created a joint display to compare the scores of baseline attitudes toward NRT with statements from counseling sessions. Comparing the two datasets strengthened the validity of our findings through the congruence of quantitative and qualitative results (examining concordance and consistency of results) and complementarity (using one dataset to enrich or explain the other) [ 33 ]. We also presented discordant cases whose statements did not reflect their baseline attitudes scores. We explored what might have affected the discrepancy between the quantitative and qualitative data.

Seventy-five participants were initially assigned to the treatment group; however, one was excluded from the study after the person disclosed vaping electronic cigarettes only during the first counseling session. The descriptive statistics of baseline data ( N = 74), including sociodemographic and key study variables, are shown in Table 1 . Participants’ mean age was 62.0 (standard deviation = 4.8) years. They were predominantly non-Hispanic Whites (89.2%) and females (79.7%). Approximately 42% of them were separated, divorced, or widowed in marital status. Nearly 80% of them had higher than secondary education. Individuals reporting “don’t know” on more than one-third of either the advantages (positive attitudes) or the drawbacks (negative attitudes) subscales of the ANRT-12 were excluded from the quantitative analysis. Therefore, the final samples for the two subscales were 65 and 66, respectively. Participants were more likely to endorse positive attitudes toward NRT than negative attitudes. Only five participants endorsed more negative attitudes than positive attitudes that were assessed at baseline. No significant correlation ( r = −.10, ns , Supplementary Table 1 ) was observed between the two attitude scores.

Baseline Characteristics ( N = 74)

a Standard Deviation.

b General Educational Development.

c The Heaviness of Smoking Index.

d Nicotine Replacement Therapy.

e Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption.

f Patient Health Questionnaire.

g Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Quantitative Results

Four participants (4/74, 5.4%) dropped out of the study before receiving any counseling sessions. Forty-seven of the remaining participants (47/70, 67.1%) attended all eight weekly counseling sessions, and 41 (58.6%) reported having used NRT products daily for 5 or more consecutive weeks. Among those who adhered, 18 (18/41, 43.9%) used combined NRT, whereas the remaining 23 used a single nicotine product, mostly patches. Based on the intention-to-treat analysis, 28 (28/74, 37.8%) reported that they had not smoked even a single puff during the past 7 days at the eighth counseling intervention. The odds of quitting smoking were much higher (odds ratio = 10.2, 95% CI = 3.0, 34.5) for those who had used NRT for at least 5 consecutive weeks.

A multivariable Poisson regression analysis revealed that negative attitudes toward NRT (IRR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.66, 0.90) and depressive symptoms (IRR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.83, 1.00) assessed at baseline were significant predictors of NRT adherence ( Table 2 ). Gender, age, and positive attitudes toward NRT were not significant in the univariable analysis. Therefore, only the four variables, education, negative attitudes toward NRT, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, were included in the multivariable analysis. Education and anxiety symptoms were no longer significant when negative attitudes toward NRT and depressive symptoms were held constant. As a participant’s negative attitude score increased by one point on the 5-point Likert scale of the ANRT-12, the person’s rate ratio for NRT adherence decreased by a factor of 0.76. Similarly, as a participant’s depressive symptom score increased by one point on the 4-point Likert-type scale of the PHQ-4, the person’s rate ratio for NRT adherence decreased by a factor of 0.89.

Poisson Regression Analyses of Baseline Variables Predicting Adherence to Nicotine Replacement Therapy

CI confident interval; GED General Educational Development; IRR incidence rate ratio; NRT nicotine replacement therapy; SE standard error; Z z score. Bold values represent statistically significant results.

Qualitative Results

A total of 115 codes and 15 themes were identified from the statements of 38 participants. The rate of agreement among the three coders was 81.7%. The themes are presented with example quotes in Table 3 . The themes were further grouped into three major categories: (i) information needs, (ii) comprehensive readiness, and (iii) experiential learning. An overarching theme, “ NRT adherence is a learning process ,” emerged from the three categories, which is depicted as a wheel of NRT adherence ( Fig. 1 ). The three categories represent distinctive but interrelated phases of the learning process. By going through the process, participants correct misinformation about NRT, get assured of the effects and safety of the medications, prepare themselves mentally and the surrounding social and physical environments before use, gain new knowledge from experiential learning, and eventually become committed to the treatment.

Themes, Major Themes, and Quotes From Qualitative Data ( n = 38)

NRT nicotine replacement therapy.

The process of adherence to nicotine replacement therapy.

Information needs

Nearly all participants reported that they had prior experience of using nicotine patches and gum, whereas only a few reported any experience with nicotine lozenges. Yet, irrespective of their experiences, many acknowledged that they did not know how each NRT product worked and how to use them. Some participants expressed concerns about getting too much nicotine when they were advised to use nicotine patches along with either nicotine gum or lozenges. Several participants already had strong negative attitudes toward the medications based on their past experiences and refused to use any NRT products. They talked at length about the side effects of the medications, such as headache and stomachache, and pointed out that the medications had no effects on reducing cravings for smoking.

Comprehensive readiness

Many participants talked about psychological, social, and environmental changes needed to be comprehensively ready to initiate NRT. Although some started NRT without any preparation, those who seriously thought about quitting smoking prepared themselves for the use of NRT, as shown by quotes in Table 3 . Many stated that this kind of preparation was needed so that they could avoid a relapse to smoking, at which they might be likely to stop using the medications. Some participants mentioned that they needed to be prepared for the dose reduction of nicotine patches as they stepped down from 21 to 14 and 7 mg. They also sought social support by telling family members or friends about their decision to quit smoking by using NRT and making public announcements at work or at social gatherings that they were quitting smoking. In addition, they talked about how they prepared their surroundings for the first day of using NRT. Some mentioned preparing the environment was crucial because it could help them avoid various temptations to smoke. For example, some picked the day when they visited a family member or a friend who lived in a smoke-free housing complex.

Experiential learning

A good number of participants pointed out challenges in using NRT. They talked about several occasions, such as after taking a shower or after swimming, when they forgot to put their patch back on. They said that this forgetting tended to happen as they experienced few cravings for smoking and felt comfortable with their new daily routines without smoking. Some talked about challenges in wearing a nicotine patch in hot weather because of sweating. After having used NRT for several weeks, many shared that using NRT involved learning from trials and errors. They learned how to manage cravings and how much commitment they needed to adhere to NRT. They also learned that they could override cravings by adhering to NRT. They gradually learned how to manage various challenges and make progress, which eventually helped them gain confidence and be committed to the treatment.

Integration of Quantitative and Qualitative Results

The qualitative findings were mainly congruent with the quantitative results ( Table 4 ). Of the 38 participants whose statements were analyzed, 34 (89.5%) showed concordances between baseline attitude scores and statements about NRT, while the remaining four participants (10.5%) presented discordance. Participants with more negative attitudes were significantly less likely to adhere to NRT ( Table 2 ). Based on qualitative data, those with high positive attitudes were likely to adhere to NRT. However, the quantitative data failed to show statistical significance. Among the four individuals who showed discordance, one participant, who showed more positive than negative attitudes toward NRT at baseline but did not adhere to the treatment, said the patches received from the study team were not the same as those she used before. She commented that the patches did not stay on her skin, which made her stop using them. Some others stated that they were surprised to learn that NRT was not strong enough to take away cravings for smoking. Accordingly, their statements reflected these negative experiences, which differed from their attitudes toward the treatment at baseline. On the other hand, none who had more negative attitudes than positive ones at baseline changed their stance after the treatment.

Joint Display of Patient Experiences With Nicotine Replacement Therapy

a Nicotine replacement therapy.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study comparing participants’ baseline attitudes toward NRT with their statements about the treatment during counseling sessions for smoking cessation. Findings from the quantitative data are congruent with the current literature, namely, those with more depressive symptoms [ 24 , 34 ] and those with more negative attitudes toward NRT [ 12 ] adhere less to the treatment than their respective counterparts. On the other hand, positive attitudes were not a significant predictor. Etter and Perneger reported a longer duration of NRT use among individuals with more positive and less negative attitudes [ 12 ]. The lack of a significant finding with positive attitudes in the present study might be related to its small sample size. None of the sociodemographic factors, including age, gender, and education, was a significant predictor, which might be related to either the small sample size or the characteristics of participants in the present study. Participants were restricted to those aged 55–77 years who were eligible for lung cancer screening, which caused a lack of variety in ages. In addition, most participants were females and had postsecondary education.

Depressive symptoms were found to be a significant barrier to NRT adherence. The low energy and fatigue that individuals with depression experience may make it a challenge to adhere to NRT dosing schedules. Ojo-Fati et al. [ 18 ] indeed found that homeless people who were depressed at baseline had low confidence to quit, were less motivated to quit, and were less likely to adhere to NRT. There is a plethora of studies reporting baseline depressed symptoms as a significant predictor of post-quit nicotine withdrawal symptoms [ 34 , 35 ]. However, it is not clear whether people who are depressed are more likely to have withdrawal symptoms because of not adhering to NRT or because of severe withdrawal symptoms despite NRT use. More studies are needed to explore the underlying mechanism between depression, nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and NRT adherence.

The thematic analysis of participants’ statements revealed that NRT adherence is a learning process composed of three distinctive but interrelated phases: information needs, comprehensive readiness, and experiential learning. In the first phase, before starting NRT, many inquired about the safety of each NRT product, how to use the product, and its therapeutic effect. These findings were consistent with those from previous studies reporting expectations of NRT effect and safety concerns as major themes in relation to NRT adherence [ 36 , 37 ]. Although we provided written information materials, participants might have wanted to hear directly from counselors ensuring the effectiveness and safety of the products. Similarly, engaging with information and support was identified as one of the key components for optimal NRT use [ 38 ]. The reassurance helped them be more mentally prepared for NRT use and motivated to start the medications. In the second phase of comprehensive readiness, participants prepared their physical and social environments before the initiation of NRT use. Their desire for social support seems to be identical to the component of social opportunity in the COM-B model by Mersha et al. [ 11 ]. According to them, this component consists of factors outside of the individual that make the performance of the behavior possible. The third phase of experiential learning shows the psychological and physical capabilities of the COM-B model. Participants’ experiential learning helped them gain the knowledge and skills for managing nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Most participants’ statements about NRT were congruent with their score on the ANRT-12. Since it is less time and labor intensive to administer the scale, it can be used as a screening tool, especially in population-level programs like Quitline services. It can be used to identify candidates who are more likely to have issues adhering to NRT. For individuals with more negative attitudes, counselors can devote more attention to understanding why they would harbor negative attitudes and how to provide more information or reassurance. For example, if an individual has any side effects in earlier attempts, information on how to manage the side effects or on alternative options may allay some of their fears. Although it was modified on April 2, 2013, the earlier labeling that instructed against concomitant use of an NRT product with any other nicotine-containing medications, including cigarettes [ 39 ], made many people fear the possibility of nicotine overdose if using NRT simultaneously with another nicotine-containing product or while smoking. Again, more information on how NRT works and reassurance about conditions of safe usage may empower these people to try and remain adherent to NRT.

As in most addiction recovery processes, the first step of smoking cessation is the individual’s self-realization of the harm and the willingness to give up smoking. Behavioral, pharmacological, and other forms of support can be administered to help individuals quit smoking and are likely helpful when they are motivated to quit smoking. Similarly, NRT, an important tool for helping people with nicotine dependence, can be effectively administered if the individual is open to trying it out. The insignificant relationship between positive and negative attitudes toward NRT found in this study indicates that despite being positive toward using NRT, participants may still harbor some negative attitudes, which may hinder their sustained adherence to NRT. Although motivational interviewing techniques have been widely used to help unmotivated individuals quit smoking, the latest Cochrane Review suggested insufficient evidence of the intervention [ 40 ]. Future studies should explore whether motivational interviewing techniques could confer benefits for unmotivated individuals in NRT adherence. Another option is to use health communication messages to enhance interest and motivation to use NRT [ 41 , 42 ]. Tailored and targeted health communication messages have been found to be a powerful tool to enhance cessation efforts. However, few studies have been focused on using messages to increase adherence to NRT.

Study Limitations

There are several noteworthy limitations to mention. First, the sample size, especially male participants, was too small to identify possible covariates of NRT adherence. Second, participants were those who signed up for a smoking cessation intervention that required a time commitment. They may differ in their attitudes toward NRT from those who currently smoke but are not interested in quitting. Since participants in a clinical trial are eager to join a smoking cessation intervention, there may be a positivity bias in filling out the ANRT-12. Third, most participants were older White women in the ages of 50s and 60s. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable to other age groups, racial and ethnic groups, and men. Replicating the study at a population level will enable researchers to have enough men and people of color for subgroup analyses. Fourth, the correlational nature of the variables in the multivariable analysis might have caused the nonsignificant finding of anxiety symptoms. Fifth, readers should also be cautious in making causal conclusions about the relationships between negative attitudes toward NRT and NRT adherence and between depressive symptoms and NRT adherence. Sixth, we did not transcribe all participants’ audiotaped counseling sessions. We purposively sampled participants as most qualitative studies adopt this methodology in sampling.

NRT, paired with behavioral therapy, is one of the most effective tobacco dependence treatments [ 4 , 5 ]. Our mixed-methods approach provides insight into the usefulness of measuring attitudes toward using NRT. The ANRT-12, specifically the drawbacks subscale, predicted actual adherence to NRT. The high degree of concordance with participants’ statements validates using the ANRT-12 as a potential screening tool. The ability to identify individuals with negative attitudes toward NRT may help counselors proactively address their concerns, which may increase their adherence to the treatment and, ultimately, their ability to quit smoking.

This study was funded by the American Association for Cancer Research and Johnson and Johnson Lung Cancer Innovation Grant (AACR-19-90-52-COOL). Drs. Cooley, Castaldi, and Kim are co-principal investigators of the funded project.

Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards Sun S. Kim, Peter Castaldi, and Mary E. Cooley have received the funding for the parent study of the submitted manuscript from Johnson & Johnson in collaboration with the American Association of Cancer Research. Nayak Manan and Mary E. Cooley have received a grant for improving outcomes in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in collaboration with Astra Zeneca. Peter Castaldi has received grant support from Bayer and consulting fees from Verona Pharmaceuticals.

Authors’ Contributions Sun S. Kim (Conceptualization [lead], Data curation [lead], Formal analysis [lead], Funding acquisition [equal], Investigation [lead], Methodology [lead], Project administration [equal], Resources [lead], Software [lead], Supervision [equal], Validation [lead], Visualization [supporting], Writing – original draft [lead]), Anyah Prasad (Data curation [supporting], Formal analysis [equal], Methodology [supporting], Project administration [supporting], Validation [equal], Visualization [lead], Writing – review & editing [supporting]), Nayak Manan (Data curation [supporting], Formal analysis [supporting], Investigation [supporting], Project administration [equal], Writing – review & editing [supporting]), Hua Chen (Data curation [supporting], Project administration [supporting], Writing – review & editing [supporting]), Chaowalit Srisoem (Data curation [supporting], Formal analysis [equal]), Rosanna F. DeMarco (Conceptualization [equal], Data curation [equal], Formal analysis [supporting], Investigation [supporting], Methodology [equal], Writing – review & editing [supporting]), Peter Castaldi (Funding acquisition [equal], Writing – review & editing [supporting]), and Mary E. Cooley (Conceptualization [lead], Funding acquisition [lead], Investigation [equal], Methodology [equal], Project administration [equal], Resources [lead], Writing – review & editing [supporting])

Transparency Statement This study is a secondary analysis paper using the data from a digitized lung health intervention. The parent study is registered on Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04691297). This study has not registered the analytic plan.

The protocol, informed consent, data dictionary, and code book will be made accessible in data repositories. Patient, clinical and questionnaire data will be collected in an electronic data capture system (REDCap) and analyzed using SAS statistical packages. Interview data will be deidentified and transcripts will be available. Relevant resources such as code used for data processing and analyses will be made publicly available through GitHub ( http://github.com ). Data will be submitted to DataVerse, which is the Harvard University data repository, and variable level metadata will be provided and will include details of common data elements, definitions, and standards used for data collection and sharing as applicable.

United States Surgeon General . The H ealth C onsequences of S moking—50 Y ears of P rogress: A R eport of the S urgeon G eneral (510072014-001). Published online 2014 . doi: 10.1037/e510072014-001

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CRO Guide > Chapter 3.1

Qualitative Research: Definition, Methodology, Limitation & Examples

Qualitative research is a method focused on understanding human behavior and experiences through non-numerical data. Examples of qualitative research include:

One-on-one interviews,
Focus groups, Ethnographic research,
Case studies,
Record keeping,
Qualitative observations

In this article, we’ll provide tips and tricks on how to use qualitative research to better understand your audience through real world examples and improve your ROI. We’ll also learn the difference between qualitative and quantitative data.

Marketers often seek to understand their customers deeply. Qualitative research methods such as face-to-face interviews, focus groups, and qualitative observations can provide valuable insights into your products, your market, and your customers’ opinions and motivations. Understanding these nuances can significantly enhance marketing strategies and overall customer satisfaction.

What is Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a market research method that focuses on obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication. This method focuses on the “why” rather than the “what” people think about you. Thus, qualitative research seeks to uncover the underlying motivations, attitudes, and beliefs that drive people’s actions.

Let’s say you have an online shop catering to a general audience. You do a demographic analysis and you find out that most of your customers are male. Naturally, you will want to find out why women are not buying from you. And that’s what qualitative research will help you find out.

In the case of your online shop, qualitative research would involve reaching out to female non-customers through methods such as in-depth interviews or focus groups. These interactions provide a platform for women to express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns regarding your products or brand. Through qualitative analysis, you can uncover valuable insights into factors such as product preferences, user experience, brand perception, and barriers to purchase.

Types of Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research methods are designed in a manner that helps reveal the behavior and perception of a target audience regarding a particular topic.

The most frequently used qualitative analysis methods are one-on-one interviews, focus groups, ethnographic research, case study research, record keeping, and qualitative observation.

1. One-on-one interviews

Conducting one-on-one interviews is one of the most common qualitative research methods. One of the advantages of this method is that it provides a great opportunity to gather precise data about what people think and their motivations.

Spending time talking to customers not only helps marketers understand who their clients are, but also helps with customer care: clients love hearing from brands. This strengthens the relationship between a brand and its clients and paves the way for customer testimonials.

A company might conduct interviews to understand why a product failed to meet sales expectations.
A researcher might use interviews to gather personal stories about experiences with healthcare.

These interviews can be performed face-to-face or on the phone and usually last between half an hour to over two hours.

When a one-on-one interview is conducted face-to-face, it also gives the marketer the opportunity to read the body language of the respondent and match the responses.

2. Focus groups

Focus groups gather a small number of people to discuss and provide feedback on a particular subject. The ideal size of a focus group is usually between five and eight participants. The size of focus groups should reflect the participants’ familiarity with the topic. For less important topics or when participants have little experience, a group of 10 can be effective. For more critical topics or when participants are more knowledgeable, a smaller group of five to six is preferable for deeper discussions.

The main goal of a focus group is to find answers to the “why”, “what”, and “how” questions. This method is highly effective in exploring people’s feelings and ideas in a social setting, where group dynamics can bring out insights that might not emerge in one-on-one situations.

A focus group could be used to test reactions to a new product concept.
Marketers might use focus groups to see how different demographic groups react to an advertising campaign.

One advantage that focus groups have is that the marketer doesn’t necessarily have to interact with the group in person. Nowadays focus groups can be sent as online qualitative surveys on various devices.

Focus groups are an expensive option compared to the other qualitative research methods, which is why they are typically used to explain complex processes.

3. Ethnographic research

Ethnographic research is the most in-depth observational method that studies individuals in their naturally occurring environment.

This method aims at understanding the cultures, challenges, motivations, and settings that occur.

A study of workplace culture within a tech startup.
Observational research in a remote village to understand local traditions.

Ethnographic research requires the marketer to adapt to the target audiences’ environments (a different organization, a different city, or even a remote location), which is why geographical constraints can be an issue while collecting data.

This type of research can last from a few days to a few years. It’s challenging and time-consuming and solely depends on the expertise of the marketer to be able to analyze, observe, and infer the data.

4. Case study research

The case study method has grown into a valuable qualitative research method. This type of research method is usually used in education or social sciences. It involves a comprehensive examination of a single instance or event, providing detailed insights into complex issues in real-life contexts.

Analyzing a single school’s innovative teaching method.
A detailed study of a patient’s medical treatment over several years.

Case study research may seem difficult to operate, but it’s actually one of the simplest ways of conducting research as it involves a deep dive and thorough understanding of the data collection methods and inferring the data.

5. Record keeping

Record keeping is similar to going to the library: you go over books or any other reference material to collect relevant data. This method uses already existing reliable documents and similar sources of information as a data source.

Historical research using old newspapers and letters.
A study on policy changes over the years by examining government records.

This method is useful for constructing a historical context around a research topic or verifying other findings with documented evidence.

6. Qualitative observation

Qualitative observation is a method that uses subjective methodologies to gather systematic information or data. This method deals with the five major sensory organs and their functioning, sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing.

Sight : Observing the way customers visually interact with product displays in a store to understand their browsing behaviors and preferences.
Smell : Noting reactions of consumers to different scents in a fragrance shop to study the impact of olfactory elements on product preference.
Touch : Watching how individuals interact with different materials in a clothing store to assess the importance of texture in fabric selection.
Taste : Evaluating reactions of participants in a taste test to identify flavor profiles that appeal to different demographic groups.
Hearing : Documenting responses to changes in background music within a retail environment to determine its effect on shopping behavior and mood.

Below we are also providing real-life examples of qualitative research that demonstrate practical applications across various contexts:

Qualitative Research Real World Examples

Let’s explore some examples of how qualitative research can be applied in different contexts.

1. Online grocery shop with a predominantly male audience

Method used: one-on-one interviews.

Let’s go back to one of the previous examples. You have an online grocery shop. By nature, it addresses a general audience, but after you do a demographic analysis you find out that most of your customers are male.

One good method to determine why women are not buying from you is to hold one-on-one interviews with potential customers in the category.

Interviewing a sample of potential female customers should reveal why they don’t find your store appealing. The reasons could range from not stocking enough products for women to perhaps the store’s emphasis on heavy-duty tools and automotive products, for example. These insights can guide adjustments in inventory and marketing strategies.

2. Software company launching a new product

Method used: focus groups.

Focus groups are great for establishing product-market fit.

Let’s assume you are a software company that wants to launch a new product and you hold a focus group with 12 people. Although getting their feedback regarding users’ experience with the product is a good thing, this sample is too small to define how the entire market will react to your product.

So what you can do instead is holding multiple focus groups in 20 different geographic regions. Each region should be hosting a group of 12 for each market segment; you can even segment your audience based on age. This would be a better way to establish credibility in the feedback you receive.

3. Alan Pushkin’s “God’s Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School”

Method used: ethnographic research.

Moving from a fictional example to a real-life one, let’s analyze Alan Peshkin’s 1986 book “God’s Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School”.

Peshkin studied the culture of Bethany Baptist Academy by interviewing the students, parents, teachers, and members of the community alike, and spending eighteen months observing them to provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Christian schooling as an alternative to public education.

The study highlights the school’s unified purpose, rigorous academic environment, and strong community support while also pointing out its lack of cultural diversity and openness to differing viewpoints. These insights are crucial for understanding how such educational settings operate and what they offer to students.

Even after discovering all this, Peshkin still presented the school in a positive light and stated that public schools have much to learn from such schools.

Peshkin’s in-depth research represents a qualitative study that uses observations and unstructured interviews, without any assumptions or hypotheses. He utilizes descriptive or non-quantifiable data on Bethany Baptist Academy specifically, without attempting to generalize the findings to other Christian schools.

4. Understanding buyers’ trends

Method used: record keeping.

Another way marketers can use quality research is to understand buyers’ trends. To do this, marketers need to look at historical data for both their company and their industry and identify where buyers are purchasing items in higher volumes.

For example, electronics distributors know that the holiday season is a peak market for sales while life insurance agents find that spring and summer wedding months are good seasons for targeting new clients.

5. Determining products/services missing from the market

Conducting your own research isn’t always necessary. If there are significant breakthroughs in your industry, you can use industry data and adapt it to your marketing needs.

The influx of hacking and hijacking of cloud-based information has made Internet security a topic of many industry reports lately. A software company could use these reports to better understand the problems its clients are facing.

As a result, the company can provide solutions prospects already know they need.

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Qualitative Research Approaches

Once the marketer has decided that their research questions will provide data that is qualitative in nature, the next step is to choose the appropriate qualitative approach.

The approach chosen will take into account the purpose of the research, the role of the researcher, the data collected, the method of data analysis , and how the results will be presented. The most common approaches include:

Narrative : This method focuses on individual life stories to understand personal experiences and journeys. It examines how people structure their stories and the themes within them to explore human existence. For example, a narrative study might look at cancer survivors to understand their resilience and coping strategies.
Phenomenology : attempts to understand or explain life experiences or phenomena; It aims to reveal the depth of human consciousness and perception, such as by studying the daily lives of those with chronic illnesses.
Grounded theory : investigates the process, action, or interaction with the goal of developing a theory “grounded” in observations and empirical data.
Ethnography : describes and interprets an ethnic, cultural, or social group;
Case study : examines episodic events in a definable framework, develops in-depth analyses of single or multiple cases, and generally explains “how”. An example might be studying a community health program to evaluate its success and impact.

How to Analyze Qualitative Data

Analyzing qualitative data involves interpreting non-numerical data to uncover patterns, themes, and deeper insights. This process is typically more subjective and requires a systematic approach to ensure reliability and validity.

1. Data Collection

Ensure that your data collection methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups, observations) are well-documented and comprehensive. This step is crucial because the quality and depth of the data collected will significantly influence the analysis.

2. Data Preparation

Once collected, the data needs to be organized. Transcribe audio and video recordings, and gather all notes and documents. Ensure that all data is anonymized to protect participant confidentiality where necessary.

3. Familiarization

Immerse yourself in the data by reading through the materials multiple times. This helps you get a general sense of the information and begin identifying patterns or recurring themes.

Develop a coding system to tag data with labels that summarize and account for each piece of information. Codes can be words, phrases, or acronyms that represent how these segments relate to your research questions.

Descriptive Coding : Summarize the primary topic of the data.
In Vivo Coding : Use language and terms used by the participants themselves.
Process Coding : Use gerunds (“-ing” words) to label the processes at play.
Emotion Coding : Identify and record the emotions conveyed or experienced.

5. Thematic Development

Group codes into themes that represent larger patterns in the data. These themes should relate directly to the research questions and form a coherent narrative about the findings.

6. Interpreting the Data

Interpret the data by constructing a logical narrative. This involves piecing together the themes to explain larger insights about the data. Link the results back to your research objectives and existing literature to bolster your interpretations.

7. Validation

Check the reliability and validity of your findings by reviewing if the interpretations are supported by the data. This may involve revisiting the data multiple times or discussing the findings with colleagues or participants for validation.

8. Reporting

Finally, present the findings in a clear and organized manner. Use direct quotes and detailed descriptions to illustrate the themes and insights. The report should communicate the narrative you’ve built from your data, clearly linking your findings to your research questions.

Limitations of qualitative research

The disadvantages of qualitative research are quite unique. The techniques of the data collector and their own unique observations can alter the information in subtle ways. That being said, these are the qualitative research’s limitations:

1. It’s a time-consuming process

The main drawback of qualitative study is that the process is time-consuming. Another problem is that the interpretations are limited. Personal experience and knowledge influence observations and conclusions.

Thus, qualitative research might take several weeks or months. Also, since this process delves into personal interaction for data collection, discussions often tend to deviate from the main issue to be studied.

2. You can’t verify the results of qualitative research

Because qualitative research is open-ended, participants have more control over the content of the data collected. So the marketer is not able to verify the results objectively against the scenarios stated by the respondents. For example, in a focus group discussing a new product, participants might express their feelings about the design and functionality. However, these opinions are influenced by individual tastes and experiences, making it difficult to ascertain a universally applicable conclusion from these discussions.

3. It’s a labor-intensive approach

Qualitative research requires a labor-intensive analysis process such as categorization, recording, etc. Similarly, qualitative research requires well-experienced marketers to obtain the needed data from a group of respondents.

4. It’s difficult to investigate causality

Qualitative research requires thoughtful planning to ensure the obtained results are accurate. There is no way to analyze qualitative data mathematically. This type of research is based more on opinion and judgment rather than results. Because all qualitative studies are unique they are difficult to replicate.

5. Qualitative research is not statistically representative

Because qualitative research is a perspective-based method of research, the responses given are not measured.

Comparisons can be made and this can lead toward duplication, but for the most part, quantitative data is required for circumstances that need statistical representation and that is not part of the qualitative research process.

While doing a qualitative study, it’s important to cross-reference the data obtained with the quantitative data. By continuously surveying prospects and customers marketers can build a stronger database of useful information.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

Qualitative and quantitative research side by side in a table

Image source

Quantitative and qualitative research are two distinct methodologies used in the field of market research, each offering unique insights and approaches to understanding consumer behavior and preferences.

As we already defined, qualitative analysis seeks to explore the deeper meanings, perceptions, and motivations behind human behavior through non-numerical data. On the other hand, quantitative research focuses on collecting and analyzing numerical data to identify patterns, trends, and statistical relationships.

Let’s explore their key differences:

Nature of Data:

Quantitative research : Involves numerical data that can be measured and analyzed statistically.
Qualitative research : Focuses on non-numerical data, such as words, images, and observations, to capture subjective experiences and meanings.

Research Questions:

Quantitative research : Typically addresses questions related to “how many,” “how much,” or “to what extent,” aiming to quantify relationships and patterns.
Qualitative research: Explores questions related to “why” and “how,” aiming to understand the underlying motivations, beliefs, and perceptions of individuals.

Data Collection Methods:

Quantitative research : Relies on structured surveys, experiments, or observations with predefined variables and measures.
Qualitative research : Utilizes open-ended interviews, focus groups, participant observations, and textual analysis to gather rich, contextually nuanced data.

Analysis Techniques:

Quantitative research: Involves statistical analysis to identify correlations, associations, or differences between variables.
Qualitative research: Employs thematic analysis, coding, and interpretation to uncover patterns, themes, and insights within qualitative data.

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Systematic Review
Open access
Published: 30 May 2024

Patient experiences: a qualitative systematic review of chemotherapy adherence

Amineh Rashidi 1 ,
Susma Thapa 1 ,
Wasana Sandamali Kahawaththa Palliya Guruge 1 &
Shubhpreet Kaur 1

BMC Cancer volume 24 , Article number: 658 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

43 Accesses

Metrics details

Adherence to chemotherapy treatment is recognized as a crucial health concern, especially in managing cancer patients. Chemotherapy presents challenges for patients, as it can lead to potential side effects that may adversely affect their mobility and overall function. Patients may sometimes neglect to communicate these side effects to health professionals, which can impact treatment management and leave their unresolved needs unaddressed. However, there is limited understanding of how patients’ experiences contribute to improving adherence to chemotherapy treatment and the provision of appropriate support. Therefore, gaining insights into patients’ experiences is crucial for enhancing the accompaniment and support provided during chemotherapy.

This review synthesizes qualitative literature on chemotherapy adherence within the context of patients’ experiences. Data were collected from Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library, systematically searched from 2006 to 2023. Keywords and MeSH terms were utilized to identify relevant research published in English. Thirteen articles were included in this review. Five key themes were synthesized from the findings, including positive outlook, receiving support, side effects, concerns about efficacy, and unmet information needs. The review underscores the importance for healthcare providers, particularly nurses, to focus on providing comprehensive information about chemotherapy treatment to patients. Adopting recommended strategies may assist patients in clinical practice settings in enhancing adherence to chemotherapy treatment and improving health outcomes for individuals living with cancer.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Cancer can affect anyone and is recognized as a chronic disease characterized by abnormal cell multiplication in the body [ 1 ]. While cancer is prevalent worldwide, approximately 70% of cancer-related deaths occur in low- to middle-income nations [ 1 ]. Disparities in cancer outcomes are primarily attributed to variations in the accessibility of comprehensive diagnosis and treatment among countries [ 1 , 2 ]. Cancer treatment comes in various forms; however, chemotherapy is the most widely used approach [ 3 ]. Patients undergoing chemotherapy experience both disease-related and treatment-related adverse effects, significantly impacting their quality of life [ 4 ]. Despite these challenges, many cancer patients adhere to treatment in the hope of survival [ 5 ]. However, some studies have shown that concerns about treatment efficacy may hinder treatment adherence [ 6 ]. Adherence is defined as “the extent to which a person’s behaviour aligns with the recommendations of healthcare providers“ [ 7 ]. Additionally, treatment adherence is influenced by the information provided by healthcare professionals following a cancer diagnosis [ 8 ]. Patient experiences suggest that the decision to adhere to treatment is often influenced by personal factors, with family support playing a crucial role [ 8 ]. Furthermore, providing adequate information about chemotherapy, including its benefits and consequences, can help individuals living with cancer gain a better understanding of the advantages associated with adhering to chemotherapy treatment [ 9 ].

Recognizing the importance of adhering to chemotherapy treatment and understanding the impact of individual experiences of chemotherapy adherence would aid in identifying determinants of adherence and non-adherence that are modifiable through effective interventions [ 10 ]. Recently, systematic reviews have focused on experiences and adherence in breast cancer [ 11 ], self-management of chemotherapy in cancer patients [ 12 ], and the influence of medication side effects on adherence [ 13 ]. However, these reviews were narrow in scope, and to date, no review has integrated the findings of qualitative studies designed to explore both positive and negative experiences regarding chemotherapy treatment adherence. This review aims to synthesize the qualitative literature on chemotherapy adherence within the context of patients’ experiences.

This review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute [ 14 ] guidelines for systemic review involving meta-aggregation. This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021270459).

Search methods

The searches for peer reviewed publications in English from January 2006-September 2023 were conducted by using keywords, medical subject headings (MeSH) terms and Boolean operators ‘AND’ and ‘OR’, which are presented in the table in Appendix 1 . The searches were performed in a systematic manner in core databases such including Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). The search strategy was developed from keywords and medical subject headings (MeSH) terms. Librarian’s support and advice were sought in forming of the search strategies.

Study selection and inclusion criteria

The systematic search was conducted on each database and all articles were exported to Endnote and duplicates records were removed. Then, title and abstract of the full text was screened by two independent reviewers against the inclusion criteria. For this review, populations were patients aged 18 and over with cancer, the phenomenon of interest was experiences on chemotherapy adherence and context was considered as hospitals, communities, rehabilitation centres, outpatient clinics, and residential aged care. All peer-reviewed qualitative study design were also considered for inclusion. Studies included in this review were classified as primary research, published in English since 2006, some intervention implemented to improve adherence to treatment. This review excluded any studies that related to with cancer and mental health condition, animal studies and grey literature.

Quality appraisal and data extraction

The JBI Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument for qualitative studies was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies, which was conducted by the primary and second reviewers independently. There was no disagreement between the reviews. The qualitative data on objectives, study population, context, study methods, and the phenomena of interest and findings form the included studies were extracted.

Data synthesis

The meta-aggregation approach was used to combine the results with similar meaning. The primary and secondary reviewers created categories based on the meanings and concept. These categories were supported by direct quotations from participants. The findings were assess based on three levels of evidence, including unequivocal, credible, and unsupported [ 15 , 16 ]. Findings with no quotation were not considered for synthesis in this review. The categories and findings were also discussed by the third and fourth reviewers until a consensus was reached. The review was approved by the Edith Cowan University Human Research Ethics Committee (2021–02896).

Study inclusion

A total of 4145 records were identified through a systematic search. Duplicates ( n = 647) were excluded. Two independent reviewers conducted screening process. The remaining articles ( n = 3498) were examined for title and abstract screening. Then, the full text screening conducted, yielded 13 articles to be included in the final synthesis see Appendix 2 .

Methodological quality of included studies

All included qualitative studies scored between 7 and 9, which is displayed in Appendix 3 . The congruity between the research methodology and the research question or objectives, followed by applying appropriate data collection and data analysis were observed in all included studies. Only one study [ 17 ] indicated the researcher’s statement regarding cultural or theoretical perspectives. Three studies [ 18 , 19 , 20 ] identified the influence of the researcher on the research and vice-versa.

Characteristics of included studies

Most of studies conducted semi-structured and in-depth interviews, one study used narrative stories [ 19 ], one study used focus group discussion [ 21 ], and one study combined focus group and interview [ 22 ] to collect data. All studies conducted outpatient’s clinic, community, or hospital settings [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. The study characteristics presented in Appendix 4 .

Review findings

Eighteen findings were extracted and synthesised into five categories: positive outlook, support, side effects, concern about efficacy and unmet information needs.

Positive outlook

Five studies discussed the link between positivity and hope and chemotherapy adherence [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 27 , 28 ]. Five studies commented that feeling positive and avoid the negativity and worry could encourage people to adhere in their mindset chemotherapy: “ I think the main thing for me was just keeping a positive attitude and not worrying, not letting myself worry about it ” [ 20 ]. Participants also considered the positive thoughts as a coping mechanism, that would help them to adhere and complete chemotherapy: “ I’m just real positive on how everything is going. I’m confident in the chemo, and I’m hoping to get out of her soon ” [ 23 ]. Viewing chemotherapy as part of their treatment regimen and having awareness of negative consequences of non-adherence to chemotherapy encouraged them to adhere chemotherapy: “ If I do not take medicine, I do not think I will be able to live ” [ 28 ]. Adhering chemotherapy was described as a survivor tool which helped people to control cancer-related symptoms: “ it is what is going to restore me. If it wasn’t this treatment, maybe I wasn’t here talking to you. So, I have to focus in what he is going to give me, life !” [ 27 ]. Similarly, people accepted the medical facts and prevent their life from worsening; “ without the treatment, it goes the wrong way. It is hard, but I have accepted it from the beginning, yes. This is how it is. I cannot do anything about it. Just have to accept it ” [ 19 ].

Finding from six studies contributed to this category [ 20 , 21 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 29 ]. Providing support from families and friends most important to the people. Receiving support from family members enhanced a sense responsibility towards their families, as they believed to survive for their family even if suffered: “ yes, I just thought that if something comes back again and I say no, then I have to look my family and friends in the eye and say I could have prevented it, perhaps. Now, if something comes back again, I can say I did everything I could. Cancer is bad enough without someone saying: It’s your own fault!!” [ 29 ]. Also, emotional support from family was described as important in helping and meeting their needs, and through facilitation helped people to adhere chemotherapy: “ people who genuinely mean the support that they’re giving […] just the pure joy on my daughter’s face for helping me. she was there day and night for me if I needed it, and that I think is the main thing not to have someone begrudgingly looking after you ” [ 20 ]. Another study discussed the role family, friends and social media as the best source of support during their treatment to adhere and continue “ I have tons of friends on Facebook, believe it or not, and it’s amazing how many people are supportive in that way, you know, just sending get-well wishes. I can’t imagine going through this like 10 years ago whenever stuff like that wasn’t around ” [ 23 ]. Receiving support from social workers was particularly helpful during chemotherapy in encouraging adherence to the chemotherapy: “ the social worker told me that love is courage. That was a huge encouragement, and I began to encourage myself ” [ 25 ].

Side effects

Findings from five studies informed this category [ 17 , 21 , 22 , 25 , 26 ]. Physical side effects were described by some as the most unpleasure experience: “ the side effects were very uncomfortable. I felt pain, fatigue, nausea, and dizziness that limited my daily activities. Sometimes, I was thinking about not keeping to my chemotherapy schedule due to those side effect ” [ 17 ]. The impact of side effects affected peoples’ ability to maintain their independence and self-care: “ I couldn’t walk because I didn’t have the energy, but I wouldn’t have dared to go out because the diarrhoea was so bad. Sometimes I couldn’t even get to the toilet; that’s very embarrassing because you feel like you’re a baby ” [ 26 ]. Some perceived that this resulted in being unable to perform independently: “ I was incredibly weak and then you still have to do things and you can’t manage it ” [ 22 ]. These side effect also decreased their quality of life “ I felt nauseated whenever I smelled food. I simply had no appetite when food was placed in front of me. I lost my sense of taste. Food had no taste anymore ” [ 25 ]. Although, the side effects impacted on patients´ leisure and free-time activities, they continued to undertake treatment: “ I had to give up doing the things I liked the most, such as going for walks or going to the beach. Routines, daily life in general were affected ” [ 21 ].

Concern about efficacy

Findings form four studies informed this category [ 17 , 18 , 24 , 28 ]. Although being concerned about the efficacy of the chemotherapy and whether or not chemotherapy treatment would be successful, one participant who undertook treatment described: “the efficacy is not so great. It is said to expect about 10% improvement, but I assume that it declines over time ” [ 28 ]. People were worried that such treatment could not cure their cancer and that their body suffered more due to the disease: “ I was really worried about my treatment effectiveness, and I will die shortly ” [ 17 ]. There were doubts expressed about remaining the cancer in the body after chemotherapy: “ there’s always sort of hidden worries in there that whilst they’re not actually taking the tumour away, then you’re wondering whether it’s getting bigger or what’s happening to it, whether it’s spreading or whatever, you know ” [ 24 ]. Uncertainty around the outcome of such treatment, or whether recovering from cancer or not was described as: “it makes you feel confused. You don’t know whether you are going to get better or else whether the illness is going to drag along further” [ 18 ].

Unmet information needs

Five studies contributed to this category [ 17 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 26 ]. The need for adequate information to assimilate information and provide more clarity when discussing complex information were described. Providing information from clinicians was described as minimal: “they explain everything to you and show you the statistics, then you’re supposed to take it all on-board. You could probably go a little bit slower with the different kinds of chemo and grappling with these statistics” [ 26 ]. People also used the internet search to gain information about their cancer or treatments, “I’ve done it (consult google), but I stopped right away because there’s so much information and you don’t know whether it’s true or not ” [ 21 ]. The need to receive from their clinicians to obtain clearer information was described as” I look a lot of stuff up online because it is not explained to me by the team here at the hospital ” [ 23 ]. Feeling overwhelmed with the volume of information could inhibit people to gain a better understanding of chemotherapy treatment and its relevant information: “ you don’t absorb everything that’s being said and an awful lot of information is given to you ” [ 22 ]. People stated that the need to know more information about their cancer, as they were never dared to ask from their clinicians: “ I am a low educated person and come from a rural area; I just follow the doctor’s advice for my health, and I do not dare to ask anything” [ 17 ].

The purpose of this review was to explore patient’s experiences about the chemotherapy adherence. After finalizing the searches, thirteen papers were included in this review that met the inclusion criteria.

The findings of the present review suggest that social support is a crucial element in people’s positive experiences of adhering to chemotherapy. Such support can lead to positive outcomes by providing consistent and timely assistance from family members or healthcare professionals, who play vital roles in maintaining chemotherapy adherence [ 30 ]. Consistent with our study, previous research has highlighted the significant role of family members in offering emotional and physical support, which helps individuals cope better with chemotherapy treatment [ 31 , 32 ]. However, while receiving support from family members reinforces individuals’ sense of responsibility in managing their treatment and their family, it also instils a desire to survive cancer and undergo chemotherapy. One study found that assuming self-responsibility empowers patients undergoing chemotherapy, as they feel a sense of control over their therapy and are less dependent on family members or healthcare professionals [ 33 ]. A qualitative systematic review reported that support from family members enables patients to become more proactive and effective in adhering to their treatment plan [ 34 ]. This review highlights the importance of maintaining a positive outlook and rational beliefs as essential components of chemotherapy adherence. Positive thinking helps individuals recognize their role in chemotherapy treatment and cope more effectively with their illness by accepting it as part of their treatment regimen and viewing it as a tool for survival. This finding is supported by previous studies indicating that positivity and positive affirmations play critical roles in helping individuals adapt to their reality and construct attitudes conducive to chemotherapy adherence [ 35 , 36 ]. Similarly, maintaining a positive mindset can foster more favourable thoughts regarding chemotherapy adherence, ultimately enhancing adherence and overall well-being [ 37 ].

This review identified side effects as a significant negative aspect of the chemotherapy experience, with individuals expressing concerns about how these side effects affected their ability to perform personal self-care tasks and maintain independent living in their daily lives. Previous studies have shown that participants with a history of chemotherapy drug side effects were less likely to adhere to their treatment regimen due to worsening symptoms, which increased the burden of medication side effects [ 38 , 39 ]. For instance, cancer patients who experienced minimal side effects from chemotherapy were at least 3.5 times more likely to adhere to their treatment plan compared to those who experienced side effects [ 40 ]. Despite experiencing side effects, patients were generally willing to accept and adhere to their treatment program, although one study in this review indicated that side effects made some patients unable to maintain treatment adherence. Side effects also decreased quality of life and imposed restrictions on lifestyle, as seen in another study where adverse effects limited individuals in fulfilling daily commitments and returning to normal levels of functioning [ 41 ]. Additionally, unmet needs regarding information on patients’ needs and expectations were common. Healthcare professionals were considered the most important source of information, followed by consultation with the internet. Providing information from healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, can support patients effectively and reinforce treatment adherence [ 42 , 43 ]. Chemotherapy patients often preferred to base their decisions on the recommendations of their care providers and required adequate information retention. Related studies have highlighted that unmet needs among cancer patients are known factors associated with chemotherapy adherence, emphasizing the importance of providing precise information and delivering it by healthcare professionals to improve adherence [ 44 , 45 ]. Doubts about the efficacy of chemotherapy treatment, as the disease may remain latent, were considered negative experiences. Despite these doubts, patients continued their treatment, echoing findings from a study where doubts regarding efficacy were identified as a main concern for chemotherapy adherence. Further research is needed to understand how doubts about treatment efficacy can still encourage patients to adhere to chemotherapy treatment.

Strengths and limitation

The strength of this review lies in its comprehensive search strategy across databases to select appropriate articles. Additionally, the use of JBI guidelines provided a comprehensive and rigorous methodological approach in conducting this review. However, the exclusion of non-English studies, quantitative studies, and studies involving adolescents and children may limit the generalizability of the findings. Furthermore, this review focuses solely on chemotherapy treatment and does not encompass other types of cancer treatment.

Conclusion and practical implications

Based on the discussion of the findings, it is evident that maintaining a positive mentality and receiving social support can enhance chemotherapy adherence. Conversely, experiencing treatment side effects, concerns about efficacy, and unmet information needs may lead to lower adherence. These findings present an opportunity for healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, to develop standardized approaches aimed at facilitating chemotherapy treatment adherence, with a focus on providing comprehensive information. By assessing patients’ needs, healthcare professionals can tailor approaches to promote chemotherapy adherence and improve the survival rates of people living with cancer. Raising awareness and providing education about cancer and chemotherapy treatment can enhance patients’ understanding of the disease and its treatment options. Utilizing videos and reading materials in outpatient clinics and pharmacy settings can broaden the reach of educational efforts. Policy makers and healthcare providers can collaborate to develop sustainable patient education models to optimize patient outcomes in the context of cancer care. A deeper understanding of individual processes related to chemotherapy adherence is necessary to plan the implementation of interventions effectively. Further research examining the experiences of both adherent and non-adherent patients is essential to gain a comprehensive understanding of this topic.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. on our submission system as well.

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First author (AR) and second author (ST) conceived the review and the second author oversight for all stages of the review provided by the second author. All authors (AR), (ST), (WG) and (SK) undertook the literature search. Data extraction, screening the included papers and quality appraisal were undertaken by all authors (AR), (ST), (WG) and (SK). First and second authors (AR) and (ST) analysed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript and revised the manuscript and all authors (AR), (ST), (WG) and (SK) approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Rashidi, A., Thapa, S., Kahawaththa Palliya Guruge, W. et al. Patient experiences: a qualitative systematic review of chemotherapy adherence. BMC Cancer 24 , 658 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12353-z

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How Informal Carers Support Video Consulting in Physiotherapy, Heart Failure, and Cancer: Qualitative Study Using Linguistic Ethnography

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Original Paper

Lucas Martinus Seuren 1, 2 , PhD ;
Sara Shaw 1 , PhD

1 Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

2 Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, ON, Canada

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Lucas Martinus Seuren, PhD

Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences

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Background: Informal carers play an important role in the everyday care of patients and the delivery of health care services. They aid patients in transportation to and from appointments, and they provide assistance during the appointments (eg, answering questions on the patient’s behalf). Video consultations are often seen as a way of providing patients with easier access to care. However, few studies have considered how this affects the role of informal carers and how they are needed to make video consultations safe and feasible.

Objective: This study aims to identify how informal carers, usually friends or family who provide unpaid assistance, support patients and clinicians during video consultations.

Methods: We conducted an in-depth analysis of the communication in a sample of video consultations drawn from 7 clinical settings across 4 National Health Service Trusts in the United Kingdom. The data set consisted of 52 video consultation recordings (of patients with diabetes, gestational diabetes, cancer, heart failure, orthopedic problems, long-term pain, and neuromuscular rehabilitation) and interviews with all participants involved in these consultations. Using Linguistic Ethnography, which embeds detailed analysis of verbal and nonverbal communication in the context of the interaction, we examined the interactional, technological, and clinical work carers did to facilitate video consultations and help patients and clinicians overcome challenges of the remote and video-mediated context.

Results: Most patients (40/52, 77%) participated in the video consultation without support from an informal carer. Only 23% (12/52) of the consultations involved an informal carer. In addition to facilitating the clinical interaction (eg, answering questions on behalf of the patient), we identified 3 types of work that informal carers did: facilitating the use of technology; addressing problems when the patient could not hear or understand the clinician; and assisting with physical examinations, acting as the eyes, ears, and hands of the clinician. Carers often stayed in the background, monitoring the consultation to identify situations where they might be needed. In doing so, copresent carers reassured patients and helped them conduct the activities that make up a consultation. However, carers did not necessarily help patients solve all the challenges of a video consultation (eg, aiming the camera while laying hands on the patient during an examination). We compared cases where an informal carer was copresent with cases where the patient was alone, which showed that carers provided an important safety net, particularly for patients who were frail and experienced mobility difficulties.

Conclusions: Informal carers play a critical role in making video consultations safe and feasible, particularly for patients with limited technological experience or complex needs. Guidance and research on video consulting need to consider the availability and work done by informal carers and how they can be supported in providing patients access to digital health care services.

Introduction

Video consulting has become an established health care service model since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 1 ]. Video consultations have been shown to be safe and effective in a range of clinical settings [ 2 - 6 ]. Patients and clinicians have largely reported positive experiences, particularly in secondary and tertiary care [ 7 - 10 ], with some patients even preferring video consultations over face-to-face consultations, especially for follow-up appointments and where a trusted relationship with the provider is already in place [ 11 ]. Given the policy push for remote health care services to continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic [ 12 - 14 ], it is clear that video consulting is here to stay. However, significant concerns remain around when video consulting is feasible and appropriate (eg, for which patients and in which clinical settings) [ 15 - 17 ]. Some patients still do not have access to the necessary technology (ie, smartphone, tablet, or computer and high-quality internet) [ 18 , 19 ] and they may also lack the experience, confidence, or ability to use it for a medical consultation [ 20 - 22 ]. In these situations, carers, either professional or informal (eg, family and friends), can provide assistance [ 23 , 24 ].

There is extensive literature on video consulting, documenting the benefits and challenges for patients and clinicians [ 5 ]. However, very few studies address how informal carers participate in video consultations [ 25 , 26 ]. This is surprising, given that informal carers play an important role in patient care. Informal carers, usually family or friends, “[provide] unpaid care and support to a family member, friend or neighbour who is disabled, has an illness or long-term condition, or who needs extra help as they grow older” [ 27 ]. In the United Kingdom, approximately 6 million people provide unpaid care, many of whom play a vital role in coordinating and supporting care received by the person they care for [ 28 , 29 ]. Therefore, it is important to understand the role they play in supporting and delivering video-consulting services.

Contemporary health care systems and policy makers have been pushing a transition to patient-centered or person-centered care, that is, care that is “respectful and responsive to individual preferences, needs and values” [ 30 ]. However, person-centered care has often been taken to only mean patient-centered care. Guidelines do not always address family or carers, and where they do, they merely highlight that practitioners must involve carers in patient care, for example, by asking them to clarify the patient’s wishes [ 31 ]. In other words, the focus in person-centered care is still on the patient. Nevertheless, informal carers play a central role in the delivery of care, supporting patients (to varying degrees and in varying situations) with their needs and care. Carers may deliver up to 90% of the care and support for patients in the community [ 32 ]. Therefore, it is potentially important for guidance on video consultations to take carers, and the support of carers, into account. Given that the work done by carers can cause a significant mental and physical strain [ 33 ], practitioners and policy makers need to consider the preferences, needs, and values of patients and carers.

Health communication research has shown that carers sometimes play an active role in making in-person consultations work: carers may speak on behalf of the patient (eg, to provide additional medical or other information for children or patients who lack capacity), alongside the patient (eg, when planning a next appointment), or with the patient (eg, to help them answer questions about their medication) [ 34 - 36 ]. However, having a carer copresent, that is, physically with the patient in the consultation, can be challenging as patients, clinicians, and carers report that they have trouble managing turn-taking [ 37 ]. This raises questions regarding when the carer is able to talk, what they can talk about, and how they can determine this.

Participation problems may be more pronounced in video consultations. From research outside the health care setting, we know that it can be difficult for carers to facilitate a conversation over video [ 38 ]. The camera restricts the field of view, and generally, only 1 person is visible at a time on each end [ 39 ]. The clinical context adds additional challenges, with participants having to manage new interactional skills (eg, how to begin a video consultation) and accomplish activities that are constrained by the lack of physical copresence (eg, conducting a physical examination) [ 5 , 40 , 41 ].

To date, only 1 study has investigated how the constraints of technology affect communication in health care where informal carers are copresent, focusing on postoperative cancer consultations in the Netherlands and showing that carers often remain offscreen and do not actively participate, and when they do, they mostly talk to the patient [ 42 ]. Several other studies have investigated how professional carers (eg, copresent nurses or primary care physicians) participate in video consultations, with a focus on how these professional Despite their crucial role in health care delivery, informal carers have not yet benefited from the advancements made in this field [ 29 ].

Overall, there is a need to understand how informal carers support video consultations when they are copresent with the patient. This study focuses on how informal carers support patients and clinicians during video consultations. Our focus is on the work (either interactional, clinical, or technological) that informal carers do to make video consultations work to provide key insights into how they affect the feasibility of video consulting. To support our analysis, we compared the consultations where informal carers provided support and the reflections of participants in subsequent interviews with consultations where patients were alone and the reflections of those participants.

Study Design

We conducted a qualitative, multimethods study using Linguistic Ethnography, which combines ethnographic approaches (ie, observation and interviews) with the close inspection of interactional data [ 43 ]. We used ethnography of communication [ 44 ] to guide our understanding of how the context of video consultations (eg, restricted visual field) may shape the ways in which patients, carers, and clinicians communicate over video. We combined this with conversation analysis, an inductive method that investigates the turn-by-turn construction of a conversation, to understand the communication practices (verbal and nonverbal) that make up a video consultation [ 45 ]. Combining these methods enabled us to show how the interactions in video consultations shape, and are shaped by, the wider sociocultural and clinical contexts (eg, established clinical routines, policy, and technology in use) [ 46 ].

For this study, we conducted secondary analysis of qualitative data that were previously collected for 3 separate studies on video consultations in different clinical settings across 4 National Health Service clinics in the United Kingdom (1 in Oxford and 3 in London):

Supporting Consultations in Remote Physiotherapy (SCiP; 2021-2022) was funded by the National Institute for Health Research to investigate the feasibility and practicalities of video consultations for physiotherapy.
Virtual Online Consultations: Advantages and Limitations (VOCAL; 2015-2017) was funded by the National Institute for Health Research and investigated (gestational) diabetes and cancer.
Oxford Telehealth Qualitative Study (OTQS; 2015-2017) was funded by the Wellcome Trust to investigate the feasibility of video consulting in a specialist nurse service for patients with heart failure.

Data were chosen for convenience, having been collected as part of research studies that had already been conducted by members of the larger research team and available for secondary analysis [ 47 , 48 ].

Data Collection

We analyzed all 52 video recordings of video consultations that were recorded across the 3 studies. Data for VOCAL and OTQS were collected from 2015 to 2017 (refer to the study by Shaw et al [ 5 ] for an overview), and data for SCiP were collected from 2021 to 2022 (refer to the study by Seuren et al [ 47 ] for an overview).

In all 3 studies, recruitment was done based on convenience. For VOCAL and OTQS, which took place before the COVID-19 pandemic when video consulting was still relatively unfamiliar, patient participants were recruited in collaboration with clinical staff to ensure that patients were suitable to have a video consultation. The aim was to create a sample with a range of experiences with video consultations, “seeking maximum variety in clinical, ethnic and personal circumstances.” Patients were initially contacted by their clinician, after which the research team sent out an invitation letter [ 5 ]. For SCiP, data collection took place between August 2021 and March 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, clinicians reached out to any patient who had an upcoming appointment by video. Those who showed an interest in the study were subsequently contacted by a member of the research team to explain the details of the study [ 47 ]. For all studies, exclusion criteria were the inability to give informed consent and comorbidity preventing participation. For VOCAL and OTQS, additional exclusion criteria were no 3G internet access at home and lack of familiarity with technology [ 5 ].

Video consultations for VOCAL and OTQS were recorded using small digital camcorders (Sony Handycam DCR-SR72; Sony Corporation) and a handheld iPad (Apple Inc), combined with a commercially available screen-capture software tool (ACA Systems), which was run directly from an encrypted USB memory stick. Whenever feasible, both the patient’s and the clinician’s end of the consultation had been recorded, capturing the consultations and the context in which they took place. The total data set from VOCAL and OTQS consisted of 37 video recordings and transcripts of the video consultations (cancer: 12/37, 32%; diabetes: 12/37, 32%; heart failure: 7/37, 19%; and gestational diabetes: 6/37, 16%), 35 transcripts of semistructured interviews conducted with staff and 26 transcripts of semistructured interviews conducted with patients involved in these consultations ( Table 1 ) [ 5 ].

Video consultations for SCiP were recorded by the clinical team in the 2 National Health Service Trusts using the built-in recording option in Microsoft Teams (Microsoft Corp). The total data set consisted of 15 video recordings and transcripts of video consultations (neuromuscular rehabilitation: 5/15, 33%; long-term pain: 1/15, 7%; and orthopedics: 9/15, 60%), 15 transcripts of semistructured interviews with patients and 7 transcripts of semistructured interviews with clinicians involved in these consultations ( Table 2 ) [ 47 ].

a There was only one participant; hence, there is no IQR.

An initial exploration of the 52 recorded video consultations across all 3 studies showed that informal carers performed a range of seemingly vital tasks in some (but not all) video consultations (12/52, 23%; eg, holding the tablet and laying hands on the patient). This raised questions about the role of carers in video consultations. We collected all instances in our video data where carers were involved at any point during a video consultation and corresponding interview data in which participants in these video consultations reflected on the work carers do. As a routine practice in conversation analysis [ 49 , 50 ], we then built “collections” of similar cases [ 51 ], organizing the data based on the type of work done by carers. To further refine our analysis, we compared our findings with consultations where no carer was present (40/52, 77%), combining researcher observations of potentially risky situations (eg, an older patient nearly fell) with clinician reflections on these consultations to identify cases where the lack of a copresent carer might have negatively affected the quality of care. On the basis of these collections, we then analyzed the qualitative interviews deductively using thematic analysis [ 52 ]. Themes were identified based on our analysis of the consultations and used deductively to analyze the interviews. We examined how participants talked about the 3 key themes, aiming to discern whether participants’ reflections were in line with our findings of the consultations (eg, when and why do patients require assistance with technology) or whether they offered complementary (eg, additional work done by informal carers outside of the consultation) or even contradicting viewpoints (eg, informal carers not being able to offer support). Our analysis focused on the conversation analysis of the consultations, with supporting reflections from the participants.

As all data were selected for convenience, the consultations that involved a carer and those that did not involve a carer were not matched regarding, for example, clinical context, patient demographics, or type of technology used.

We transcribed all video consultations orthographically and subsequently used established conventions for verbal and nonverbal communication [ 53 , 54 ] for the data in our collections. This is a routine practice in conversation analysis and, for this paper, enabled us to track how and why carers assist in video consultations. In the Results section, we present simplified extracts from transcripts, providing orthographic transcripts complemented with notations for silence and overlapping talk to maintain legibility. We added screengrabs to allow readers to appreciate the context of consultations and how participants use their bodies and material objects (eg, how they move and hold a tablet). All interviews were transcribed orthographically. We extracted screengrabs using Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 (Adobe Inc), adding a video filter and facial blur to deidentify participants. Subsequently, we combined these screengrabs with the transcript in Adobe InDesign 2023 (Adobe Inc) and exported these at 600 dots per inch to generate the figures.

Ethical Considerations

All studies received ethics approval for detailed analysis of video recordings of video consultations and audio recordings of interviews. VOCAL was approved by the National Research Ethics Committee London-City Road and Hampstead in December 2014 (14/LO/1883), OTQS by the South Central-Berkshire Research Ethics Committee in September 2015 (15/SC/0553), and SCiP by the East Midland-Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee in April 2021 (21/EM/0082). All participating staff and patients provided their informed consent to be audio and video recorded during consultations and interviews and for the data to be used for research purposes, including secondary analysis.

Patients were initially approached by a member of their clinical care team. After signaling an interest in the study, the patient’s contact information was forwarded to a member of the research team. The author provided the patient with an information sheet to review. After providing an opportunity to ask questions, patients were asked if they wanted to participate, and if they agreed, they were asked to sign the consent form. For VOCAL and OTQS, patients provided consent during an in-person conversation with a member of the research team. For SCiP, to comply with infection control procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients provided verbal consent during a video call. Participants did not receive compensation for participation in any of the 3 studies.

All transcriptions were anonymized by removing identifying data and replacing names with descriptions (eg, NAME, where someone’s name is used). Participants consented to the analysis of the raw (ie, recognizable) video data. For publication, video data were anonymized using a visual filter and blur effect in Adobe Premiere Pro 2023.

Main Findings

Of the 52 video consultations in our data, 12 (23%) involved a copresent carer: 8 (67%) with patients with cancer, 3 (25%) with patients with heart failure, and 1 (8%) with a patient consulting for physiotherapy. None of the patients with gestational diabetes had a copresent carer. In these 12 consultations, we identified three main types of work that carers performed: (1) facilitating the use of the technology, (2) helping the patient hear or understand what the clinician said, and (3) assisting the patient with and performing parts of the physical examination. Carers performed these tasks through the use of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies, as seen in the data extracts, screengrabs, and participants’ reported experiences in the following sections. Furthermore, we found that in 10% (5/52) of the consultations the patient did not have a carer copresent, but either the patient or clinician expressed concerns regarding safety during the consultation (eg, a patient saying, “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get back up again”) or the clinician, during the interview afterward, commented that they felt they might have put the patient in an unsafe situation.

Facilitating the Use of Technology in Video Consultations

Informal carers facilitated the use of technology for video consultations in 2 ways: they provided patients access to the technology, and their presence and perceived expertise provided patients with confidence and reassurance for using the technology.

In our data, some patients (5/52, 10%) either did not have the technology or had never used it for video chat. Therefore, they relied on carers to set up, and sometimes provide, the technology. This facilitation involved activities such as the carer bringing a tablet for the patient to use, registering a Skype (Skype Technologies) account, adding the clinician as a contact on Skype or FaceTime (Apple Inc), talking to the clinician beforehand regarding any practicalities, and explaining to the patient what to expect from the video consultation. For the patients who lacked experience with video-mediated communication, carers provided a sense of reassurance if something went wrong or if there were difficulties. This was evident both in how the informal carers acted in the consultations and how they discussed their experiences during the interviews. An older patient explained before her oncology consultation that she only agreed to a video consultation if her husband would be there:

First uh, I was a bit uh, I said uh, if he’s here it’s fine. I haven’t got any problem.

Another older patient stated after her heart failure consultation that, while she could learn to use the technology, she relied on her daughter being there and would not have been able to do it on her own:

Patient: that’s what I really think, that for me,... it’s easy. Because I don’t have to sit here and think, what if I do something wrong? Carer: no Patient: for people, old people on their own, entirely different. Carer: yeah. it is entirely different. Patient: And I would not be able to do it on my own. ... I wouldn't have the confidence.

During consultations, we found that carers often facilitated the use of technology while being silent (ie, nonspeaking) and offscreen. This involved carers performing 3 types of background activities that allowed the patient to consult with the clinician via video: they handled the “preopening,” the work people do before they start a video consultation [ 55 ]; they handled the camera allowing the patient and clinician to adequately see each other; and they made sure that the patient and clinician could hear each other.

In 8 (67%) of the 12 consultations, carers took care of the “preopening” [ 55 ]: they set up the technology, logged in, and answered the call from the clinician when using a program such as Skype or FaceTime. Then, the patient took over when the consultation started.

In the example in Figure 1 , the patient had never used FaceTime before and did not own a video communication technology (eg, a smartphone or tablet). The carer brought a tablet with her, signed into FaceTime, and held it ready for use. When the clinician called via video, the carer explained to the patient that they would accept the call (line 1). Then, she swiped to answer, pointed out to the patient when the connection was established (line 7) and answered the video call with a "hello, conveying to the clinician that the connection had been established and they were ready [ 56 ]. The carer stayed out of the frame (refer to screengrab 2 in Figure 1 ) and hence out of the interaction [ 42 , 57 ], allowing the patient to conduct her consultation while still remaining available in the background.

In 7 (58%) of the 12 consultations, carers did additional background work that enabled patients to talk to their clinician. This included making sure that the patient and clinician could adequately see and hear each other, for example, by acting as a cameraperson: positioning the technology and framing the patient throughout the consultation [ 38 ] to maintain a “talking heads” configuration for the patient and clinician [ 39 ], a setup in which both participants are visible from the shoulders up. In 71% (5/7) of these consultations, the carer held a tablet or smartphone, moving this to frame the patient while remaining outside the frame themselves. In 29% (2/7) of these consultations, the patient used a desktop PC, so the carer moved the patient instead of the technology.

In the example in Figure 2 , from the start of an oncology consultation, the patient was at the left edge of the field of view of the camera and only half of her face was visible to the clinician. As soon as the physician told the patient to “move slightly” (line 3), the carer turned toward the patient and began to pull their chair. At the point where the physician completed his request (line 8), the patient was visible in the center of the screen. Our recording of the clinician’s end does not capture the screen. However, on the screen on the patient’s side, we can see that initially only the right half of her face is visible, and the carer then adjusts the chair so that the patient is centered and fully visible.

In 4 (33%) of the 12 consultations, the carers acted as a technological facilitator to ensure the audio and video were working. Carers did most of this work at the start of the consultation. This was the first point where participants could determine whether the sound and video were working. In the example in Figure 3 , the carer answered the clinician’s call when he appeared on screen by saying “hello” (line 1), but the clinician did not respond. The carer treated this silence as indicating a problem: she said “hello” again but this time with a more questioning intonation (a strong rising pitch on the “o”), a typical communication strategy for testing if someone can still hear [ 58 ].

After the clinician had said “hi” (line 4), he asked whether the patient (and carer) could hear him (line 8). The patient and carer confirmed (lines 9-10), and the carer checked whether the clinician could hear them. In other words, before the consultation began, the carer and clinician ensured that the technology was working and that the patient and clinician could see and hear each other. It was only when the physician had confirmed (line 14), that the consultation proceeded in a usual manner. At this point, the carer faded into the background.

Staying largely in the background (and so invisible to the clinician), carers typically maintained an active role, helping to address any problems (eg, lost connection or microphone on mute) that arose during the consultation. In these instances, carers temporarily became active participants while fixing the problem. In the example in Figure 4 , the physician asked the patient “how are you.” However, a technical disruption occurred and his turn was cut off after “ho.” After a few seconds of silence, the physician said, “what happened” (line 3), taking the lack of response by the patient as indicative of a problem. It was the carer who then switched to become an active coparticipant, asking if the physician could hear them (line 5). Once all parties had established that they could see and hear each other, the physician acknowledged (line 13) [ 59 ] and repeated the question.

Overall, carers in our data made video consultations feasible by facilitating the use of technology. Much of this work involved carers moving from being coparticipants to listening in the background, often unobservable to the clinician. They did this either by self-selecting to respond to a clinician’s question ( Figures 3 and 4 ) or by being selected by the clinician to answer a question. After responding, they would visually move out of the screen, or at least, no longer respond or take turns.

Making the Interaction Work in Video Consultations

Patients in our study occasionally had problems with hearing or understanding the clinician (eg, due to soft or distorted sound). Such problems happen routinely in any form of conversation [ 60 ], and people have a large array of repair strategies to fix them [ 61 , 62 ]. Normally, when trouble arises, recipients ask the speaker to repeat or clarify (part of) their turn (eg, by repeating the part of the turn they did hear or using exclamations such as “sorry,” “what,” or “huh” [ 63 - 65 ]). During in-person consultations, if patients have problems, they can ask the clinician to clarify [ 66 ].

In our video consultation data, we found that 25% (3/12) of the patients relied on their carer to help them hear or understand the clinician’s talk (in all 3 consultations, the quality of the call was problematic, eg, low volume and distortions). The example in Figure 5 illustrates how carers perform this type of interactional repair. In lines 1 to 4, the physician checked that the patient had seen one of his registrars the week before at an in-person consultation. At this point, the volume was low, making it hard to hear. Moving into the physician’s turn, the patient started squinting (refer to screengrab 1 in Figure 5 ), indicating she had a problem. When the physician finished his question, the patient remained silent for 700 milliseconds (a substantial amount of time, given the usual response time for face-to-face interaction being 0-200 milliseconds [ 67 ]), indicating difficulty [ 68 ]. Instead of answering, the patient turned to the carer (refer to screengrab 2 in Figure 5 ), softly asking “what?” (indicated with the degree symbols) and expecting the carer to perform an interactional repair on the physician’s question. The carer (offscreen) repeated the physician’s verification question in line 8. Once the patient could answer, she started to nod, turned her gaze toward the physician (line 9), and answered (line 11) loudly, thereby making clear her response was now directed to the physician.

While this was a brief interaction, the carer in this example played a crucial role in the successful communication between the physician and the patient. The patient mobilized the carer to help her hear what the physician said. Akin to an interpreter, the carer “animated” the physician’s talk [ 57 ]. Similar examples using indirect communication (eg, physically turning to the carer when something was unclear) were evident across our data set, where patients sought help from carers to enable repair and continuation of the interaction.

Making Physical Examination Possible in Video Consultations

The final area where carers made a vital contribution to video consultations was during physical examinations. The inability of clinicians to lay hands on the patient is one of the main concerns among clinicians and patients about video consultation [ 69 - 71 ]. Instead, patients have to describe and show their body and, where available, use their own devices such as oximeters (a device that people clip onto their finger to measure their blood oxygen saturation and heart rate) [ 40 , 72 ].

Carers supported remote physical examinations in 8 (67%) of the 12 video consultations in our data. This included helping to make the relevant parts of a patient’s body visible, acting as the clinician’s hands to perform tactile examinations and providing visual assessments, and assisting the patient with operating equipment such as blood pressure meters. Support was typically for patients who were frail, in cases where they were either unable to bend over (eg, due to the nature of their condition) or unable to move their tablet or laptop at the same time as moving their body (a complex sociotechnical task that was particularly challenging for those experiencing chronic illness) [ 72 ].

Figure 6 illustrates how carers can play a vital role in the feasibility of a physical examination. The patient had recently undergone surgery to remove a tumor and had complained to the physician about pain in her abdomen around the scar. The physician asked to examine the scar, requesting her to stand up (lines 1-3). The patient did not respond to this request. Instead, she waited for the carer to help out. After 1.3 seconds of silence, the physician made his request again, but at the same time, the carer said “hold on.” Then, the carer helped the patient lift her sweater and aimed the camera toward the scar, allowing the physician to perform a visual assessment (lines 16-19).

In the example in Figure 6 , the role of the carer was crucial for making the physical examination work. With limited physical capacity (and technological literacy), the patient was unable to hold the tablet and show the clinician her abdomen. It was only with the help of her carer that she could provide a sufficiently clear view for the physician to perform a visual assessment remotely.

At times, clinicians relied on a carer to lay hands on the patient on their behalf during video consultations. In the heart failure consultations—both routine follow-up consultations—the specialist nurse wanted to check whether the patients had fluid build-up (edema) in their legs and ankles by pressing their thumb on the patient’s leg and check whether this leaves an indentation. Carers played a vital role in performing these remote assessments, which involved patients who were frail, with restricted mobility and breathlessness, and for whom moving could cause severe discomfort [ 72 ]. Figure 7 illustrates an example in which the patient had just measured her blood oxygen saturation with an oximeter. Then, the nurse addressed the carer directly, announcing that she wanted to check the patient’s legs (lines 1-4). Depicting how the carer should hold her hand (lines 11-16) [ 72 , 73 ], she explained how to press (lines 18-19). The carer followed these instructions and pressed the patient’s legs several times. Using the camera on the back of the tablet, she not only performed the examination but also did so while simultaneously monitoring what the nurse could see (refer to screengrabs 2 to 4 in Figure 7 ). The carer’s presence meant that the nurse was able to make a good assessment of the patient’s legs, telling the carer that “you’re doing a good job, and I can see it really clearly on the screen.”

In total, 2 (4%) of the 52 cases in our wider data set of video consultations flagged questions regarding the safety of physical assessment where carers were not present. Figure 8 illustrates the example of a neuromuscular physiotherapy consultation with a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (a neurological disorder that causes damage to the peripheral nerves leading to muscle weakness and atrophy), who struggled with walking and balance. At one point, the clinician asked the patient to stand up so that she could see her walk while holding onto a wall. The patient had to push herself from the bed, had difficulty standing up without losing her balance, and had to use both hands to help herself. In hindsight, the clinician acknowledged that this may have been too difficult.

We identified a similar case in our heart failure data, where an older patient raised her leg to the camera, allowing her nurse to assess whether there was any swelling ( Figure 9 ). The patient needed to stand and had to hold on to the chair in front of her to maintain her balance, but the uncomfortable position caused abdominal cramps and led her to drop her leg. This raised questions regarding safety while also placing limits on what was only a brief visual assessment.

Furthermore, carers helped some patients (2/12, 10%) operate measuring devices during examination. This was particularly relevant in remote heart failure consultations, in which all 7 patients needed to measure their oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and heart rate. All 7 patients were able to use the oximeter; however, operating a blood pressure meter proved challenging for 2 patients, both experiencing frailty. In both cases, the patient’s carer placed the cuff on their arm, held the monitor up to the screen to display the results, and adjusted positions so that the patient’s blood pressure measurements could be obtained from both sitting and standing positions ( Figure 10 ).

Remote physical examinations are complex sociotechnical tasks, involving (in our data) at least 3 people, multiple devices at both ends of the call, and a series of instructions and interactions conducted over a video consultation [ 72 ]. Hence, while carers were often needed to make physical examinations work, the assistance of a carer did not make them straightforward. In 1 consultation, video largely restricted the examination to a visual inspection. As the carer from Figure 6 reported after the consultation, with an in-person consultation, “[the patient] could probably explain more where it hurts and [the physician] could, you know, feel why it’s, you know, still tender.” Furthermore, doing the examination while making it visible to the clinician can be challenging for the carer [ 72 ]. This was summarized by the carer from Figure 1 as follows:

Well, look at me, fannying about just trying to get a picture of your leg. I mean it’s not a matchstick. I just could not picture. But it’s partly, because I’m holding it and I can’t see what I’m looking at.

Principal Findings

Our findings demonstrate that, for some video consultations with some patients, informal carers play an important role in supporting setting up and running a video consultation. While most patients (40/52, 77%) in our data completed the consultation on their own, informal carers were the linchpin that made the video consultation safe and feasible, especially when the patients lacked technological literacy or experienced high frailty. We demonstrated this using recordings and observations to show 3 types of work that carers perform. First, they help patients use video technology by setting up everything beforehand and acting as technological support, providing patients with the confidence to even commit to using video. Second, where patients struggle to hear or understand the clinician, carers perform the interactional repair work, repeating or clarifying the clinician’s words. Third, where physical assessments are needed, carers can lay hands on the patient’s or the clinician’s behalf or assist the patient with using the technology (either video technology or examination equipment). Even where patients seemed to manage on their own, patients performed maneuvers that put them at risk of falling, and this was not always clear to the remote clinician. Copresent carers provide an important safety net, making video consultations safe and feasible.

Comparison With Previous Research

There is an extensive body of research on the feasibility and acceptability of video consultations [ 6 - 10 ], which indicates that some patients may need assistance from carers [ 74 ]. However, to date, no study has investigated the work informal carers do to support video consultations. A total of 3 health communication studies have used robust methods for analyzing interaction to demonstrate how carers, whether professional or informal, can be involved in a consultation. Two (67%) of these 3 studies documented that nurses and general practitioners play an essential role in making physical examinations work when patients talk to a remote consultant [ 74 , 75 ]. One study on follow-up consultations after surgery showed that informal carers mostly act as bystanders: they remain invisible to the clinician and only occasionally facilitate the consultation [ 42 ].

Our study adds to this growing body of literature, demonstrating that informal carers may take a more active role than that of a bystander: in our data, they are attentive to the interaction, moving into and out of the field of view of the camera as needed; performing a range of technical, interactional, and clinical tasks; and taking a more active role depending on the needs of both the patient and clinician. Discrepancies between our findings and previous studies can be accounted for in many ways. First, as both the 3 previous studies and our study are qualitative in nature, they prioritize analytical depth, which mandates small patient samples that are not necessarily representative, and these are prone to bias in recruitment processes. Second, all studies have taken place in different geographical locations, at different points in time (eg, before or during the COVID-19 pandemic), and in different clinical settings, with patients with different sociodemographic backgrounds. While the methods may be transferable, more research is needed to appreciate to what extent the findings transfer.

The important role of carers is not limited to video consulting. For in-person consultations, research has shown that carers can be actively involved, talking about, alongside, or with the patients, to provide clinicians with relevant information [ 34 - 36 ]. Findings from our study extend this, demonstrating not only the other types of work that carers do to support video consultations but also how the technology shapes this work.

Videoconferencing technologies and the visual angle of webcams are designed for one-to-one conversations [ 39 ]. These aspects of technology add to the complexity of the interactional dynamics that already exist for triadic consultations (ie, involving a patient, clinician, and informal carer), where participants may struggle with turn-taking [ 34 , 35 ]. Because of this added complexity, video consultations have a continuously shifting participation framework (ie, the roles of patient, clinician, and carer as, for example, an active coparticipant of overhearer) [ 57 ], where carers move in and out of a variety of interactional and technical support roles. Depending on the situation (eg, the patient’s capacity and willingness to talk on their own behalf), carers may be expected to be more or less active coparticipants during consultations. Being offscreen makes carers less available for the clinician. They are more likely to act as overhearers [ 42 ], which can be beneficial in cases where patients wish to interact with the clinician themselves, but it may also be detrimental when patients need more continuous support. Therefore, our findings contribute to not only our appreciation of the important role of carers in the delivery of health care services but also the interactional organization of video consultations. Future research should investigate systematically how the affordances of the technology, particularly the camera’s field of view, affect the norms regarding participation, quality of care, and participant satisfaction.

Meaning of the Study

Our findings suggest that when considering the feasibility of video consultations, some important considerations need to be taken into account. Video consulting has often only been considered a suitable service model for patients with technological competence and experience, where the goal of the consultation is expected to be relatively straightforward (eg, sharing test results and routine follow-up). However, our study shows that this unnecessarily limits to application of video for 2 reasons. First, where patients have a lack of experience with or have anxiety around technology, informal carers can help overcome technological or interactional difficulties. Furthermore, they offer reassurance, making patients comfortable with doing a video consultation. Help may not be needed, but where it would be needed, it would be available [ 76 ]. Second, where the goal of the consultation is more complex (eg, involves a physical assessment), video can still be an appropriate option if the patient has adequate support. Assessments in a video consultation often require the patient to move the camera around to frame themselves in a way that they are adequately visible to the clinician while performing movements that may be difficult for them to do safely or using devices that they are not familiar with (eg, oximeters). Copresent carers can overcome some of these challenges, for example, by taking care of the camera or laying hands on the patient, where patients are comfortable with that.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, video consultations have become a more routinely used service model. While many patients and providers are moving back to in-person delivery of (health) care, hybrid service models that involve remote options, including video consultation, are likely to constitute the new normal. However, despite the routinization of video-consulting services, clinicians still have limited evidence on when they are a feasible and safe option. While the literature is growing quickly and many organizations have proposed guidelines, these often ignore the role of informal carers. Further rollout of this new service model needs to consider not only what patients themselves can do but also what informal carers can do. Given the important role that informal carers have in health care management, particularly for certain groups of patients (eg, young children, patients with high frailty, or patients who lack capacity), it is logical to assume that their role can be transferred to video-consulting models. The additional work for carers will have to be weighed against the potential benefits for each specific clinical context and each individual patient.

The importance of carers for making some video consultations work raises important questions for those providing and supporting services. Not all patients will have access to an informal carer, and those who have may not always want a carer to be present during the consultation. A systematic review found that patients are not necessarily as involved during consultations where they are accompanied by a carer, and while most patients say they appreciate having someone with them, they want to be able to decide whether a carer will be present during the consultation [ 77 ]. Patients should feel comfortable asking for their carer to leave the room at any point during a consultation. However, this might put an unnecessary burden on the patient. It may be necessary for clinicians to create opportunities to talk to the patient privately.

Strengths and Limitations

Physiotherapy consultations in our data set were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with heart failure and diabetes consultations conducted before the pandemic when video consulting was not a routine service model and few patients, carers, or clinicians had experience with it. Given the uptake and learning around video consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible that patients involved in heart failure and cancer consultations needed more support with the technology than they would now. The prepandemic data were also likely to involve early-adopter clinicians who were supportive of video consultations as a new service model. Furthermore, participants in our data set used mainly Skype (Microsoft Corporation) and FaceTime (Apple Inc), whereas video consultations now often take place on dedicated platforms such as Teams (Microsoft Corporation), Attend Anywhere, or AccuRx. Some of these platforms affect the opening of video consultations, with patients expected to join a virtual waiting room before joining the consultation with their clinician. In addition, we focused on the positive experiences of patients and carers, without actively considering whether and when clinical staff are receptive to carer involvement. Despite these limitations, we anticipate that many of our findings are transferable to current video-consulting services. Our use of methods focused on interaction and communication has enabled us to demonstrate in detail the active role that carers played in some video consultations. While the exact role of carers may differ during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is highly likely that some patients (eg, older patients, those experiencing frailty, or those with multimorbidity) will continue to need assistance.

To our knowledge, this study is the first to use robust methods for analyzing communication in triadic video consultations (ie, among clinician, patient, and informal carer) across multiple clinical settings. Doing so has allowed us to show in detail not only that carers play a vital role in making video consulting work but also how they go about doing this. Our work adds to the existing literature by highlighting the interactional complexity of these consultations, demonstrating the sociotechnical nature of the work undertaken by informal carers, and underscoring the importance of focusing on the microlevel organization of consultations where carers are (and are not) involved [ 46 , 50 ]. Our work was exploratory in nature, relying on secondary analysis; future studies could investigate how the presence of carers affects the overall experience of patients and clinical staff with health care services, the patient-carer relationship, and the health outcomes for patients.

Conclusions

Video consulting remains a viable service option but depends on patient access to technology and their ability to use it. While many patients can manage a video consultation on their own, some (continue to) require assistance. In these circumstances, informal carers can play a unique, and often invisible, role in making video consultations work. To date, research and guidelines have not adequately considered the work of informal carers. This urgently needs addressing, not only to support the policy vision of the spread of video-consulting services but also to make visible and enable the informal carers (and the patients and clinicians they support) in this often vital role.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Marissa Bird and Joe Wherton for commenting on an earlier draft of this paper. The authors would like to thank Joe Wherton, Chrysanthi Papoutsi, Trish Greenhalgh, Christine A’Court, Gita Ramdharry, Anthony Gilbert, and Jackie Walumbe for their support in collecting the data used in this paper. This project was funded by UK Research and Innovation via the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/V010069/1), Wellcome Trust (WT104830MA), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC-1215-20008), and the NIHR under its Research for Patient Benefit (PB-PG-1216-20012) and Policy Research Programme (grant NIHR202067). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Data Availability

The data sets generated and analyzed during this study are not publicly available due to confidentiality and sensitivity of the material but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Authors' Contributions

LMS was the principal investigator for this study and led data collection and formal analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. SS provided supervision as a co–principal investigator and supported the review and editing of the manuscript. Both authors were involved in all aspects of the study design and funding acquisition and have reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

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Abbreviations

Edited by T de Azevedo Cardoso; submitted 08.08.23; peer-reviewed by P Traulsen, G Gauhe, T Halkowski, S White; comments to author 06.10.23; revised version received 24.11.23; accepted 19.04.24; published 31.05.24.

©Lucas Martinus Seuren, Sara Shaw. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 31.05.2024.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

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Adherence to chemotherapy treatment is recognized as a crucial health concern, especially in managing cancer patients. Chemotherapy presents challenges for patients, as it can lead to potential side effects that may adversely affect their mobility and overall function. Patients may sometimes neglect to communicate these side effects to health professionals, which can impact treatment ...
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Background: Informal carers play an important role in the everyday care of patients and the delivery of health care services. They aid patients in transportation to and from appointments, and they provide assistance during the appointments (eg, answering questions on the patient's behalf). Video consultations are often seen as a way of providing patients with easier access to care.

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200 Research Topics For ABM Students (Updated 2024)

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200 Research Topics For ABM Students

100 Research Topics For ABM Students (School Students)

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Financial Smarts for Teens

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Entrepreneurial Spirit

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Working World Insights

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Tech and the Consumer

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Sustainable Choices

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Local Business Spotlight

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Event Management Skills

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On The Future of Work

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Marketing on a Budget

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Personal Branding for Students

100 Research Topics For ABM Students (College Students)

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Accounting and Finance

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Human Resources and Management

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Operations and Supply Chain

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Information Technology and Data Analytics

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Business Ethics and Sustainability

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Global Business and Economic Trends

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Case Studies and Industry Analyses

Top 10 Research Topics For ABM Students On Emerging Technologies and their Impact

Top 10 Research Topics For Students On Future of Work and the ABM Profession

How To Select Research Topics For ABM Students?

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