Stay In The Loop.

Qualitative research takes place all the time in social media amongst celebrities and the media, and even the public.  This basically means that the mass media observes what people say and do.  In order to do so, the researcher must go to the people or the setting where the communication actually occurs.  This is done to gain insight into people's attitudes and behaviors, what they are motivated about, what their aspirations are, etc.  A lot of the time, qualitative research is used to inform business decisions and policy formation.

Business professionals can use social media to their advantage to find out directly what celebrities are saying about products or things in general.  It can also study what the general population thinks about a particular topic or celebrity.  What separates this from unobtrusive research is that they cannot just click on their social media page to find out information because they need to actually ask the person questions. In this circumstance, the celebrities would be asked to respond to general questions.  Then, the researcher would formulate additional questions to probe deeper into the celebrities' feelings and responses.

One way that qualitative research can be completed through social media would be through discussion boards or live video chats.  Since these two outlets make it possible to conduct rapid conversations and questionnaires between the researcher and the person being researched, they are very convenient to use.  Although it is much easier and probably more reliable to conduct this research in person, perhaps through a focus group, social media allows for the possibility to perform qualitative research via the Internet.

An example that I present you with about qualitative research and social media in the Entertainment industry is the Celebrity Loop Forum.  This website makes it possible for anyone to post questions or information pertaining to a certain celebrity, person, or media in the Entertainment industry.

Although, as I said previously, it is possible for researchers to conduct qualitative research with those they want to research through social media, it is probably better off sticking with up-close-and-personal research methods instead.