Compare And Contrast Qualitative And Quantitative Research

Qualitative research is flexible written form their results are ongoing and their conclusion can be changed while quantitative research is numerical, reliable, specific, data are collected by statistical analysis due to which quantitative are more accurate. Qualitative research uses open questions to find the depth of the information while quantitative research uses closed question, secondary data or experiments due to this it lacks the depth of the information and neglect the effect of the individuals which could be service provider, service users or other staff members.

Qualitative research depicts the attributes and characteristics of something. In Qualitative research, the portrayal is not decreased into numbers just like the case in quantitative research. In any case, this can later be accomplished through encoding process. Qualitative research furnishes the scientist with data about

Qualitative research data is useful to explain to others the outcome of the information whereas quantitative research is difficult to understand at an initial glance. An advantage to quantitative data is that it is easy for you to turn in to quantitative data, which is more aesthetically pleasing for the audience.

According to Wyse (2011) from Snap Surveys, qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides possible answers into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research. Qualitative Research is also used to find trends in

For quite a while there has been some discussion around which method of distinctions between Qualitative research and quantitative research. This has been fired in later years with some thinking that a combination of the two is best practice especially in social

It is common for researchers to compare qualitative and quantitative research methods. Quantitative methods originate from positivist and post- positivist research paradigms. Also, the methods objectively examine statistical data to determine cause and affect and often use generalizable data. There are various methods used in quantitative research such as surveys,

Quantitative research deals with numbers and is measurable. Some examples of quantitative data are cost, number of participants and time. This type of research is systematic and uses the more traditional scientific method of data collection and presentation. Qualitative research has data that is nonnumeric in nature and it is difficult to measure. As the root of the same suggests, it gives a quality description of the data being viewed. It can include descriptions or verbal responses. Qualitative data is subjective in the sense that the answer can be different amongst various people.

A qualitative study addresses the complexity of human experience, focusing on the big picture (Rebar & Gersch, 2015); while a quantitative study breaks a problem down into small pieces and focuses on specific parts to see how they all relate (Rebar & Gersch, 2015). Qualitative methods focus on subjective information, and never try to predict or control the phenomenon of interest (Rebar & Gersch, 2015); on the other hand, quantitative methods focus on statistics and objective information, and can yield predictions and control (Rebar & Gersch, 2015).

The key distinctions between qualitative and quantitative data are qualitative data is subjective, ask What?, Why?, literature review may be done after study is complete, develops theory, focus is complex, facts are biased and values are involved, qualitative data is about discovery, describing, understanding, sharing results to who are concerned about the study. Basic with analysis is part of, the researcher conducting the study is part of the process, and participants are involved, reasoning is dialectic and inductive, describes the meaning of what was discovered in the study conducted, uses communication and observation, and strives for trends and theories easy to understand. Study conducted has a flexible approach in a natural setting, provides information worth counting (Anderson, 2006). Quantitative data provides objectives, ask questions how many?, literature review must be done early in the study, tests theory, focus is

“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.

According to Kothari (2008) qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena which are related to or involve quality or kind. Qualitative research engages the collection and analysis of non-numerical data obtained from experiments, interviews, observations, and other resources involving statements and arguments. Research is conducted into particular context and non-numerical interpretive approach is used to produce narrative description of research data. Unlike quantitative research, this type of research considers the underlying facts behind the establishment of particular behaviors and assumptions. It is commonly used in behavioural sciences where the aim of research is to discover underlying motives of human behaviour.

The quantitative approach often looks at larger groups than the qualitative method and gets a good idea of the major trends among a large sample size. Quantitative research is an effect approach when it is used correctly. People generally put a lot of faith in quantitative research. One of the crucial items when using quantitative data is to decide on what sample size to use and if the sample reflects the population you wish to examine. Senior executives might feel more comfortable relying on quantitative data because it is strictly facts, without interpretation.

“Whilst quantitative research may be mostly used for testing theory it can also be used for exploring an area and generating hypotheses and theory. Similarly qualitative research can be used for testing hypotheses and theories even though it is mostly used for theory generation” (Hughes, 2006). Both of these designs may be similar with testing theory, they are also similar in the tools that they use and how the data is analyzed. “Qualitative data often includes quantification (eg statements such as more than, less than, most as well as specific numbers). Quantitative (ie questionnaire) approaches can collect qualitative data through open ended questions” (Hughes, 2006). These similarities are what make these two study designs compatible for each other.

(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.