The ethicality of research methods and the perspectives and potential prejudices of the researcher must also be taken into account during the research and in the presentation of the research (FHI 2003). Some common qualitative research methods other than focus groups include interviews, content analysis, ethnography, evaluation, and semiotics, all of which provide avenues for answering largely different -- and some similar -- questions about the world and its people that simply cannot be answered using numbers, and cannot be simply answered at all (Ereaut 2007). In each of these methods, there is always the potential for bias on the part of the researcher/observer and in some cases in an uncontrollable manner the part of the study participants; all precautions to preserve the objectivity of the observations and the research must be taken, but the remaining possibilities of bias are constitute one of the reasons that the research methods must be divulged in a detailed and comprehensive manner, giving any reader a better opportunity to ascertain validity for themselves (Greenhalgh & Taylor 1997).

The more open a researcher is about their potential biases, and any potential issues with the research methods or the data results, the more meaningful the qualitative research becomes regardless of the ultimate accuracy of the research results. This is because the development of continually improving qualitative...

As qualitative research methods continue to progress and improve, the understanding of the world and society that science is able to develop will grow more certain and more comprehensive.
References

Ereaut, G. (2007). "What is qualitative research?" QSR International. Accessed 27 April 2010. http://www.qsrinternational.com/what-is-qualitative-research.aspx

FHI. (2003). "Qualitative research methods overview." Family health international. Accessed 27 April 2010. http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/etl7vogszehu5s4stpzb3tyqlpp7rojv4waq37elpbyei3tgmc4ty6dunbccfzxtaj2rvbaubzmz4f/overview1.pdf

Greenhalgh, T. & Taylor, R. (1997). "Papers that go beyond numbers." BMJ pp. 740-3. Accessed 27 April 2010. http://ed.isu.edu/SSPE/reading%20qualitative%20researdh.pdf

Myers, M. (2000). "Qualitative research and the generalizability question: Standing firm with Proteus." The Qualitative Report, 4(3/4). Accessed 27 April 2010. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR4-3/myers.html

ORAU. (2010). "Qualitative research methods." Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Accessed 27 April 2010. http://www.orau.gov/cdcynergy/demo/Content/activeinformation/tools/toolscontent/qualitativemethods.htm