Paraphrase the below questions without using direct quotations:

1. Detail:

One benefit of using a qualitative approach to research is that it "provides complex textual descriptions of selected research issues experienced by people" (Mack et al., 2005, p.12). The most common qualitative methods include participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. For example, for my research topic, mental health stigma among college students, I will use qualitative research by observing their behaviors within their usual social contexts (participation observation). I also will collect data by examining each participant's "personal history, perspectives, and experiences related to the selected topic and forming focus groups to generate a broad overview of issues or concerns among college students" (Mack et al., 2005, p.13).

1. Fluidity of data collection approaches:

Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research approaches are flexible and iterative study designs that may be easily refined or tweaked according to the participant's responses to questions. For example, "Qualitative methods ask mostly 'open-ended' questions that are not necessarily worded in the same way with each participant" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 15). Therefore, the participants can answer questions without a simple "yes" or "no," or repeating/copying the researcher's description. For my selected research topic, I will employ open-ended questions to elicit meaningful and salient responses from the study's participants regarding mental health stigma and a detailed and thick description of their experiences with the selected topic.

1. Integration of the unique human experience into the data collection:

Unique to qualitative research is the ability to view the human side of an issue through participant observation which is "integral to understanding the breadth and complexities of the human experience - an overarching research endeavor for any public health or development project" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 26). For example, participating in or witnessing a phenomenon through human interaction may generate a more profound understanding or uncover factors regarding the research problem previously unknown to the researcher. As a result, the researcher may decide to preface a question differently to understand the phenomenon better. In my research, I will use the qualitative method of participant observation to prevent any unconscious and personal biases and remain scientifically objective in my study of mental health stigma among college students.

1. Data complexity can be incorporated into general conclusions:

A qualitative researcher may include complex data, such as what may be obtained through participant observation, in their conclusion to improve the design of other methods (i.e., interviews and focus groups) and how to pose and ask follow-up questions related to research/selected topic. Complex data may also inform researchers "whom to recruit for a study and how best to recruit them" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 28). Therefore, I will use complex data, such as taking detailed field notes, to observe such specifics as appearance, verbal behaviors/interactions, physical behaviors/gestures, personal space, human traffic, and people who stand out.

1. It is an open-ended process:

Qualitative research is an open-ended process in that researchers ask questions that "encourage a detailed response rather than 'yes,' 'no,' or one-word answers to elicit unstructured talk from participants about their experiences and opinions" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 47). Therefore, the researcher can gain insight into or acquire information relevant to the study's participants, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, or perspectives. For example, regarding my research topic, I will prepare for in-depth interviews by creating an interview guide, identifying questions that will elicit the participants' perspectives on the research topic, and anticipating any follow-up questions the participants may have. In addition, I will ensure that I check and correctly set up any recording equipment.

1. Creativity is an important in indispensable aspect of this research approach:

Creativity is integral to qualitative research because the researcher must be flexible and adaptive to their study's designs and methodologies to generate new and obtain valuable information. For example, the qualitative research approach has flexibility in its instruments and "an iterative style of eliciting and categorizing responses to questions" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 14). Additionally, the researcher must revise their data collection and research questions to adapt to learning new information or knowledge acquisition. Therefore, I will be creative when researching my topic by avoiding a rigid and inflexible style of eliciting or categorizing questions and allowing the study's participants' responses to determine what questions I ask next.

1. Smaller samples sizes can save time and cost and generate iterative responses more efficiently:

Sampling procedures in qualitative research differ from quantitative research in that "only a sample (a subset) of a population is selected for any study" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 16). Therefore, I will save time and cost and generate iterative responses more efficiently. Moreover, my research objectives and characteristics will determine the sample size. The three qualitative methods are purposive, quota, and snowballing. For my research, I will use purposive sampling, "grouping participants according to preselected criteria relevant to my research question" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 16).

1. Attitude and changes in attitude can be assessed:

When using the qualitative approach, one way to assess a study's participant's attitudes or changes in their behavior is to remain neutral. For example, in an in-depth interview, "a researcher engages with participants neutrally, posing questions, listening attentively to participants' responses, and asking follow-up questions and probes based on those responses" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 42). Moreover, the researcher avoids inserting their personal opinions, biases, preconceived notions or using evaluative comments. I will assess for attitudes and behavior changes by adjusting to the participants' personalities/moods/emotions when necessary and ask them to repeat themselves if I am uncertain of their responses to questions. I will also take objective field notes and observe or participate in an activity with them to understand better their perspective on the research question (i.e., mental health stigma among college students).

1. Barriers and challenges to outcomes can be assessed:

A researcher may assess barriers or challenges using qualitative methods such as a focus group. For example, "during the data analysis phase of the research, after data collection, transcripts are coded according to participants' responses to each question or the most salient themes emerging across the set of focus groups" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 43). In response to the data gathered, the researcher may identify patterns of responses that might indicate a challenge or barrier not evident in the literature. For my research, I will focus on emergent themes that might aid in understanding the various perspectives and opinions of mental health stigma among college students.

1. Identify contextual influences of behaviors/factors:

The researcher must know that participants participating in the focus group may influence behaviors/factors within their study. For example, participants in focus groups "influence each other through their presence and their reactions to what other people say" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 66). However, the participants may not have the same view or experiences relevant to the research topic. Therefore, the researcher may "create a complete picture of how a given issue affects a community of people" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 66). Therefore, I will use qualitative methods such as observing behaviors within a focus group to understand better the social norms and various perspectives of the selected sample (e.g., college students).

Describe the disadvantages of exploring your research topic using qualitative research methods based on the specific categories/topics below; that is, how can adding a qualitative research approach to your topic potentially compromise your ability to answer your research question:

1. Qualitative data is inherently subjective:

One disadvantage of qualitative data, mainly obtained through participant observation, is that it is "inherently subjective, whereas research is objective" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 27). Therefore, a researcher must learn to distinguish between reporting/describing an observation and interpreting an observation, with the latter being less objective than the former. One way to mitigate subjectivity is to be aware of personal biases or use "field staff to review one another's field notes and help identify objective versus subjective observations" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 27). In comparison, I will practice writing down subjective and objective observations on paper but drawing a line between them to separate them. In doing so, I will practice being conscious of my personal biases and how left unchecked may comprise the integrity of my research on mental health stigma among college students.

1. Perception of the phenomenon (research topic) can impact data outcomes and conclusions:

According to the E-Source Behavioral & Social Sciences Research: Qualitative Methods Guide, "qualitative research can be made credible if we make every effort to falsify our initial assumptions about our data" (National Institutes of Health, n.d., p. 27). However, a better way to deal with initial assumptions is to "treat the analysis of different kinds of data as a 'dry run' for the main study" (National Institutes of Health, n.d., p. 27). In my research, I will avoid accepting my initial perception of the phenomenon and ensure that I have sufficient information to narrow my research topic to the selected participants' (i.e., college students) perspectives on mental health stigma.

1. Analysis of data can be difficult and time-consuming:

One disadvantage of qualitative methods such as participant observation is that data analysis can be challenging and time-consuming. For example, "In traditional ethnographic research, researchers spend at least one year in the field site collecting data through participant observation and other methods" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 26). In contrast, other applied research studies are "more practical and require a shorter period for data collection" (Mack et al., 2005, p. 26). Therefore, data analysis may present a challenge in my research if I do not focus on the research topic (i.e., mental health stigma among college students).

1. Qualitative data is more difficult to present:

Qualitative data is more difficult to explain because it "involves creativity, intellectual discipline, analytical rigor, and much hard work" (Cypress, 2018, p. 6). Moreover, the researcher's credibility is directly related to the analysis quality. That is to say that, as a novice, "Analyzing text from multiple forms of data would be challenging to present" (Cypress, 2018, p. 5). Therefore, it is essential for me as a mentee to ask questions, get advice, or seek guidance, such as anticipating possible ethical issues in my study. Also, I may need assistance collecting/recording the data correctly and disseminating any other required information relevant to my research topic (i.e., mental health stigma among college students).

1. Replicating qualitative data is difficult to accomplish:

Qualitative data is challenging to convey/examine through traditional statistics because it is highly subjective, context-dependent, sample size, time/resources, and ethical issues. For example, researchers co-construct knowledge with the study's participants when considering ethical concerns. Therefore, the researcher must use "ethical practices and recognize the importance of the subjectivity of their lens and their powerful position" (Creswell & Poth 2018, p. 33). Moreover, the researcher must understand that although they co-construct knowledge, the participants own it. Therefore, replicating qualitative data may raise ethical concerns, mainly if the researcher collected the original data from vulnerable populations or in sensitive contexts. Researchers may need to consider the potential harm caused by replicating the data and whether it is ethical. In my research, it is essential to consider what factors may influence my study, findings, and outcomes. For example, unlike conventional statistics, the qualitative approach requires a degree of specificity and rigorous collection of data to accurately report the study's participants' experiences relevant to the selected phenomenon and research topic.

1. Subject sampling can dramatically influence generalization of the outcomes:

Qualitative research differs from a quantitative sample using a saturation versus a statistical model. For example, a researcher that uses quantitative sampling "performs a power analysis while considering the theoretical framework, population size, and characteristics, and statistical analysis for a specific research project" (Trotter 2012, p. 2.). In contrast, a researcher that uses qualitative sampling "determines a sample size by conducting interviews through saturation in which all questions are asked in detail, and no other questions emerge in subsequent discussions" (Trotter 2012, p. 2). However, qualitative and quantitative sampling is used by researchers with some choosing to use them simultaneously, such as in a mixed-method research model. Still, "qualitative sampling has more epistemological difficulty with generalizability to large populations, especially highly diverse populations that are multi-modal in beliefs, values, knowledge, processes, etc." (Trotter 2012, p. 3). Therefore, I may improve the generalizability of my research by making it a criterion or priority at the beginning of my study while taking a postpositivist approach which includes elements of "reductionism, empiricism, cause-and-effect orientation, and determinism based on a priori theories" (Creswell & Poth 2018, p. 23).

1. Experience becomes a significant variable in qualitative research:

"Since experience is a considerable variable and qualitative researchers view social phenomena through the eyes of their subjects has led to a wariness regarding the imposition of prior and possibly inappropriate frames of reference on the people they study" (National Institutes of Health, p. 4). Moreover, with the epistemological assumption of a qualitative study, "the researcher must try to get as close as possible to the participants being studied," which may influence or affect the participants by influencing their behaviors and the study's outcome (Creswell & Poth 2018, p. 21). Of added concern, the researcher may inaccurately code a participant's subjective experience, resulting in erroneous or biased data. Therefore, I need to spend as much time with the participants as possible to develop first-hand knowledge of their experiences.

1. Hard to represent/discuss qualitative data through conventional statistics:

Qualitative data refers to non-numerical data such as observations, descriptions, and interpretations. In contrast, quantitative data refers to numerical data that can be analyzed using statistical methods. Representing and discussing qualitative data using conventional statistics may be challenging because traditional statistical methods are designed to analyze numerical data. Conventional statistics use numerical measurements, such as means and standard deviations, to describe and summarize data. These measurements do not apply to qualitative data since they do not involve numerical measurements.

1. More challenging to test a hypothesis in qualitative research:

Proponents of the qualitative research approach believe that "while it is important to test hypotheses, a purely statistical logic can make the development of hypotheses a trivial matter and fail to help in generating hypotheses from data as attempted in grounded theory" (National Institutes of Health, n.d., p. 3). Moreover, the current technique used by qualitative researchers instead of hypothesis testing is to "document their background and acknowledge their relevant ontological assumptions so that readers can evaluate for themselves the extent to which the researcher's assumptions may have influenced the study's findings" (DeRosia & Christensen 2009, p. 2). However, a researcher's acknowledgment of their ontological assumptions does not negate their possible influences.

1. Often misses diverse perspectives or such perspectives are overshadowed:

"Understanding the philosophical underpinnings of qualitative research is essential because it provides a direction for research goals/outcomes, the scope of training/research experiences, and the basis of evaluative criteria for research-related decisions" (Creswell & Poth 2018, p. 21). One of the four philosophical assumptions addresses the ontological issue (i.e., the nature of reality and characteristics). According to Cresswell and Poth (2018), "different researchers embrace different realities, as do the individuals being studied and the readers of the qualitative study" (p. 20). Moreover, the qualitative researcher must identify and accurately interpret/document/record these realities and how each participant might have different experiences. In comparison, I must approach my study aware of my realities but not as overshadowing the participants' realities. Additionally, I must not be so engrossed in observing the participants or participating in an activity that I miss learning about the various perspectives of the study's participants.