Types of Qualitative Data


  • Data from structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews; focus groups; oral histories (audio/video recordings; transcripts; notes/summaries; questionnaires/interview protocols)
  • Field notes (including from participant observation or ethnography)
  • Maps/satellite imagery/geographic data 
  • Official/public documents, files, reports (diplomatic, public policy, propaganda, etc.)
  • Meeting minutes 
  • Government statistics 
  • Correspondence, memoranda, communiqués, queries, complaints
  • Parliamentary/legislative proceedings
  • Testimony in public hearings
  • Speeches, press conferences
  • Military records
  • Court records; legal documents (charts, wills, contracts)
  • Chronicles, autobiographies, memoirs, travel logs, diaries 
  • Brochures, posters, flyers
  • Press releases, newsletters, annual reports 
  • Records, papers, directories
  • Internal memos, reports, meeting minutes
  • Position/advocacy papers, mission statements 
  • Party platforms 
  • Personal documents (letters, personal diaries, correspondence, personal papers)
  • Maps, diagrams, drawings
  • Radio broadcasts (audio or transcripts)
  • TV programs (video or transcripts)
  • Print media (magazine, newspaper articles)
  • Electronic media 
  • Published collections of documents, gazeteers, yearbooks, etc.
  • Books, articles, dissertations, working papers 
  • Photographs
  • Ephemera; popular culture visual or audio materials (printed cloth, art, music /songs, etc.)