I read Lindsey's blog entry on qualitative research. She shared a personal experience that was very helpful in defining qualitative research. She said it, "Attempts to uncover information to provide a basis for future research as well as for communications insights and prompts. This includes observing what people say and do, their meaning, comprehension and progress." I thought this definition was well put and thourough. Her internship at NBC News required her to listen to viewers through a hotline. Viewers called in to express their feelings about MSNBC programming. I could imagine the characters she must of had to deal with! Her experience with the viewers allowed her to see the effective research. NBC uses qualitative research to estimate the demand for TV commercial time during the upfront market, a time when TV networks sell a majority of their on-air advertising. I was happy to see a concept learned from class used by a highly respected company like NBC. Their collected data helps improve the company. NBC finds more information about where their money should go. Information about advertising spending in TV, print, radio, billboards and such is vital for the TV network NBC.
Charlie Niland's blog on health care and medical PR interested me. He wrote about the increased amount of qualitative research in health care. He provided a good definition of qualitative research. He said it is, "the gathering of data through non-numerical information which investigates the "why" and "how" of a certain topic. " Niland asks how can qualitative research answers clinical questions? Qualitative research in the medical field doesn't provide answers to many questions such as "is the design of the study appropriate?" Clinical experience is necessary when identifying scientific results. I would not be able to define most scientific terms found in medical research so it is a good thing that people who have a medical background conduct such research. However, people can do not often rely on personal experience as means to make decisions in the medical field. Charlie thinks that in certain situations an experienced person can be helpful in the medical field. This makes the issue of this type of research controversial.
I loved reading these blogs well written by my peers. Its a great exercise to get to know my classmates better.