Recognizing the design used in a qualitative study is a great step to understanding its report, but you do not want to stop there. Understanding research designs means that you can also use a design’s characteristics to help evaluate a study. We will discuss the details of qualitative data collection and analysis procedures in upcoming chapters, but for now, you can focus on the overall plan described for a study and whether the key characteristics of that plan were implemented. Figure 9.3 provides criteria you can use to assess an author’s discussion of a qualitative research design. In a high-quality qualitative study, the research implements a formal research design that match the purpose, and the methods of collecting, analyzing and reporting the data match this design.