Chapter 10: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Ocupational-Stress Research

The chapter examines the ways in which qualitative and quantitative methods support each other in research on occupational stress. Qualitative methods include (a) eliciting from unconstrained descriptions of workers’ experiences, (b) careful first-hand observations at the workplace, and (c) participant-observers describing “from the inside” a particular work experience. The paper shows how qualitative research stimulates theory development, hypothesis generation, and the identification of job stressors and coping responses. The limitations of qualitative research, particularly in the area of verification, are also described.