Type of Qualitative Input

Expert advice on the design and conduct of qualitative research within studies is vital to ensure that data collection and analyses are rigorous and the study findings credible and authentic, thereby meeting the study aims and satisfying requirements for high impact journals.  

If qualitative input is required, the support request should be submitted well in advance to allow sufficient time for the qualitative team to contribute to the project before grant submission. King’s CTU provides different levels of qualitative collaboration: 

Standard Collaboration

This level of collaboration applies to standard studies requiring an estimated 30 individual interviews (or an equivalent of 6-8 focus group discussions) and a thematic or Framework analysis of the data.  The duration will depend upon the study aims, objectives, methodology, methods, setting and study participants, but we recommend approximately 12 months. This is likely to apply to the following types of qualitative study and qualitative research activities: 

  • Intervention design/ development 
  • Feasibility & piloting 
  • End of trial evaluation  
  • Service evaluation 
  • Exploratory experiential study  
  • Meta-ethnography, meta-synthesis, systematic review of qualitative studies 

Resources required: 

  • 5-10% Professor / Reader OR 10% Senior Lecturer / Lecturer to be costed into the grant application  
  • 100% Qualitative Research Assistant / Associate to be costed into the grant application (approximately 12 months)  

Enhanced Collaboration

This level of collaboration applies to more complex study designs involving multiple qualitative methods of data collection. Qualitative data are likely to be collected at different time points and may involve more complex methods of analysis. The duration will depend upon the study aims, objectives, methodology, methods, setting and study participants, but we recommend between 24 and 36 months for the following research activities: 

  • Process evaluation  
  • Realist evaluation  
  • Ethnography  
  • Action research  
  • Longitudinal qualitative study 

Resources required: 

  • 5-10% Professor / Reader OR 10% Senior Lecturer / Lecturer to be costed into the grant application  
  • 100% Qualitative Research Assistant / Associate to be costed into the grant application (approximately 24 -36 months)  

Additional Research Activities

Advisory Role, e.g. fellowship applications 

Resources required: 

  • 5-10% Professor / Reader OR 10% Senior Lecturer / Lecturer to be costed into the grant application. 

Additional qualitative input 

This can be requested for one month periods for specific research activities, including: 

  • Completion of ethics application 
  • PPI advice and organisation  

Resources required: 

  • 5-10% Professor / Reader OR 10% Senior Lecturer / Lecturer to be costed into the grant application  
  • 100% Qualitative Research Assistant / Associate to be costed for an additional 1 month per task.  

More detail of the input provided can be found in the following table:  

  Professor / Reader OR Senior Lecturer / Lecturer Qualitative Research Assistant / Associate
Develop the qualitative components for a clinical trial or other study, including assisting in the preparation of the study protocol             *  
Write the plan for the qualitative data collection analysis in collaboration with the CI              *  
Respond to reviewers' comments              *  
Attend regular TMG meeting              *             *
Supervise collection and analysis of qualitative data             *  
Collect the qualitative data               *
Code the data using qualitative software               *
Analyse the qualitative data               *
Contribute to production of reports to funders              *             *
Lead on primary paper from qualitative data              *             *
Contribute to writing of other study publications              *