Christian Schneijderberg, Oliver Wieczorek & Isabel Steinhardt (2026)
Chapter 4 of: Schneijderberg, Christian/Wieczorek, Oliver/Steinhardt, Isabel (eds.), The Handbook of Qualitative and Quantitative Content Analysis. London: Routledge. Open access, pp. 61-104
Abstract. This chapter introduces the “substantive methods concept” (Schneijderberg, 2023 (https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.3.3994)) for good quality research and provides a step-by-step guide for the entire research process from initial observation to conclusions by focusing on research design, data collection and processing, and analysis and interpretation. The substantive methods concept – composed of discovery, appropriateness-transparency, and iteration and distancing quality conventions – guides deductive, theory-led and inductive, theory-reflexive approaches to research as well as qualitative small and quantitative big data analysis. In addition to differences associated with different methods, the three quality conventions respect particular aspects of data collection and data type (see Chapter 3). For example, ethnographic observations are documented in field notes by researchers, and interviews are conducted according to a manual guiding the interactive communication between two or more subjects. We believe that all particularities (e.g., data collection and processing) of qualitative methods can be addressed by the discovery, appropriateness-transparency, and iteration and distancing quality conventions. The substantive methods concept can also integrate quality conventions specifying methods for data collected by surveys, quantitative data processing, and statistical analysis. Of course, epistemology, that is, how scientific knowledge is created, and methodology, that is, the logical process of applying a method or methods, differ between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research – but not the basic research process.