Learning Objective : Identify A Business Problem

Qualitative research is subjective data and is often used in the social sciences (Sarantakos 2013, p. 48). Qualitative research is devoted to gathering facts, this can be completed through personal experiences, behaviours, and observations (Sarantakos 2013, p. 46). The purpose of qualitative research is to gather an in depth understanding of human behaviour and the explanations for the behaviour (Martijn & Sharpe 2006, p. 1). An issue with only using a qualitative method is efficacy, qualitative studies cannot address relationships between variables with the degree of accuracy that is required to establish social trends (Sarantakos 2013, p. 46).

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.

Understanding of evidence based practice is key for making clinical decisions. Every day clinicians use pain scales and depression scales. Quantitative research brings understanding to topics such as: primary care outcomes of nurse practitioners, modifiable health risks effect on health care costs, pain management, blood pressure monitoring. Quantitative research is made up of different types of research. Descriptive research is used to describe concepts, identify relationships among variables, or compare and contrast groups. Correlational research examines the strength of relationships among variables. Quasi-experimental studies determine the effect of an independent variable (treatment) on designated dependent variables (outcomes). Experimental studies are done in controlled settings to determine the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable (Gray, Grove, & Sutherland, 2017).

Qualitative research is subject to judgments about the data and synthesizes the findings using specialized approaches such as experimental or non-experimental. Researchers often opt to use non-experimental approaches in studies using surveys, interviews, observations, and case studies. Even though an experimental approach is appropriate in quantitative research, it further enables researchers to find answers and collect data (Bagozzi & Yi, 2012). This approach is unique in its hypotheses and the study of behavior, making it valid and reliable.

In defining quantitative research the term can be dichotomized. Firstly, research refers to creative, systematic work with the intention to increase the knowledge of man and thereby devise new applications (OECD, 2002). In addition Gray (1997) stated that research should improve performance and that the results should be

Quantitative research does not study things in a natural setting or discuss the meaning things have for different people as qualitative research does. Another shortcoming is that a large sample of the population must be studied; the larger the sample of people researched, the more statistically accurate the results will be.

Qualitative data is not numerical and is more likely to take the form of observations or interviews. Obviously, it is very difficult to perform any statistical analysis on this kind of data. A further problem is that another researcher cannot replicate this data and therefore it is difficult to check the validity of what has been written. Researchers using this kind of data must be careful to avoid subjectivity, that is, they must avoid letting their personal beliefs or preferences affect the way they record and interpret the data. The advantage of this form of data collection is that it allows the researcher to answer open-ended questions; consequently, it is more flexible. Qualitative data also provides opportunities to explain the context of an observation and can therefore present a fuller picture (OU, 2001).

In addition, it will allowed me to validate theories or claims with-in the real life situations. According to Leedy & Ormrod (2016) the strengths of a qualitative approach is that it can allow one to explore studies done in the past, can use multifaceted design, validate previous theory, or assumption, enable one to create a new theory related to the context being analyzed, help to uncover obstacles that exist within the context, and it allows to judge the effectiveness of practices, innovations, or a specific guidelines (Leedy & Ormrod, 2016). Therefore, the limitation of qualitative study is that it can’t conclude the cause and effect of what happened. For instance, if conducting this type of research on depress children, I will not be able to conclude to the cause of why these individuals are depress. Or what caused them to be

In health and social care research tends to accept the methods of social science research because the projects often involve investigating people’s feelings, observations and attitudes, which do not lend themselves to investigation by scientific methodology.

Quantitative research is more widely used in psychology, as it is accurate and reliable. It is not concerned with individuality and would not be suitable for this type of research project.

Quantitative studies possess some of advantages and disadvantages when compared with other approaches. Advantages of qualitative studies include a large sample size, objectivity, less time-consuming data collection, and the

Qualitative research comprises of receiving information that gives a verbal expression of the participates, providing more detail and depth than quantitative studies. It can be used to analysis people’s attitudes and emotions towards a topic encouraging them to expand on their answers to explain the reasons behind why they gave a particular response. The drawbacks to this being as it requires more time to collect the data so smaller sample sizes

Quantitative studies are primarily numbers based. They deal with large cohort groups as well as analyze large amounts of data. “A quantitative

the qualitative method of research has low cost so this advantage makes it desirable for use when a researcher has limited founds

Qualitative and quantitative research have several advantages and disadvantages, depending upon the researcher 's aim and area of focus.