Advantages And Disadvantages Of Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is done to find the accurate facts by evaluating the problems like opinion, behaviour by using numerical data. This research is based on theories, hypothesis, collecting, analysing the data to make the research accurate.

Quantitative Research is using numerical data such as how many minutes, degrees, number of etc. Quantitative research is commonly used to research the number of thing for example there have been 5 members, 2 non-members and 10 monthly members attend a fitness class today.

Collecting Information not involving numbers. Focus on small numbers of people and produce and large amount of information about them.

There are two types of collecting data for research, which are qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research is used to gain a thorough explanation about a phenomena, and ‘is normally recognisable via the use of methods that include, at least, in-depth interview and group-moderation techniques’ (Bailey 2013)

There has probably been more energy spent on debating the difference, advantages and limitations between qualitative and quantitative research methods, it can be said that this issue has been debated to death with many spending years proving which methods is the best.

Quantitative and qualitative methods differ from one another as to their research design elements as listed below:

Quantitative research methods are objective as it uses measurements and analysis of statistical data to answer the study question. The researchers’ opinions do not affect the outcome of the study, ensuring that the study is unbiased. Another advantage is quantitative research uses numbers and statistics which is understood universally (Houser,2008).

Quantitative research involves collection of data using a survey technique from human participants. Major benefit of human participants is that a researcher will be able to collect valid and reliable

“Researchers who use quantitative research method seek objectivity through testable hypotheses and carefully designed studies, and gather date that can be reported in numbers and statistics” (Crawford, 2016, p. 66). According to Crawford (2016, p. 66) “conclusions from this study are drawn from statistics and generalized to populations of interest”. Unlike qualitative that helps to eliminate opinions and thoughts, quantitative quantify opinions and thoughts and they obtain results from a larger sampling population. As I had previously stated on my discussion board “Quantitative researcher’s collection methods include many different kinds of surveys for example; online surveys, paper surveys, online polls, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and etc”(myself). “They use the surveys to measure attitudes, behaviors, and opinions” (myself).

General speaking, quantitative research is thought to be objective, however qualitative research often involves a subjective element. There are differences designs in qualitative research in comparison to quantitative research. Qualitative research involves words, pictures, or objects; Quantitative involves data in the form of numbers and statistics.

A second disadvantage of using interpretivist methods of research is that the results are not representative. Using interpretivist research methods

Quantitative research is gathered using a traditional tactic, that is a calculated way of obtaining data (Polit & Beck, 2017). Data

Quantitative research involves collecting data, which can be expressed numerically. The design is well structured with pre-determined outcomes. It frequently involves testing a hypothesis, which then can be analysed from the data deductively using statistical methods. Using numerical data is easier to analysis mathematical, so larger sample sizes can be utilised compared to qualitative research, therefore giving a better representative of the population; along with simplifying the process of making a generalisation. Another advantage is that studies can easily compare to similar findings (Kruger, 2003). The disadvantages are the results are limited and might not provide a proper understanding of the topic. Also, statistics and leading questions can be used to give a false representation of the data when summarising.

Quantitative data collection involves the use of numbers to assess information. This information can then be evaluated using statistical analysis which offers researchers the opportunity to dig deeper into the data and look for greater meaning. The Quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit varied experiences

(i) Quantitative vs Qualitative Research: Qualitative research methods is based on values and not numbers while quantitative is based on numeric and Quantifiable data to generalize in its conclusion.