Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research Essay

It is an important part of a practitioner’s job to observe and assess children in order to establish where a child is at with regards to their development, health and well being and if they require extra support. The factors that need to be taken into account when assessing development are:

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.

According to Yin (2003), there are two types of research approach. This includes quantitative research approach and qualitative research approach. A quantitative research emphasizes on transforming the data to numbers, quantities and statistics to formulate facts and to uncover patterns in a research. It addresses research purposes through empirical analysis that involve numerical measurement, the relationship between variables and analysis approaches (Zikmund et al., 2010). The sample size being investigated is typically large (Anderson, 2006). Quantitative research mainly uses questionnaires, surveys and other equipment to collect numerical or measurable data (Anderson, 2006). On the other hand, a qualitative research typically emphasizes words more than numbers

In order to improve their work with young children practitioners use their own learning by using ways of work that are non-judgemental, sensitive and positive. Therefore, practitoners through initial on-going training and development need to develop, and demonstrate and continuously improve a number of things in their work. They may have to work with the wider community such as parents and carers and also with other professionals with inside and outside the setting. They may have to improve on their relationships with both the children and their parents and develop a knowledge and understanding of the diverse ways that children can learn in order to support and extend children’s learning across all areas and aspects of learning (Leicestershire County Council).

The researcher must set a clear hypothesis, showing the relationship between independent and dependent variables. In quantitative research tools are used to collect numerical data. The information can be gathered using questionnaires or some type of equipment. Quantitative data is efficient at testing a hypothesis, but can miss contextual detail. In quantitative research, the researcher is often objectively separated from the subject matter. One of the ways quantitative research is different from qualitative research is that quantitative research requires extraction of large amounts of statistical data. Qualitative research is focused in on personal viewpoints and opinions of a smaller number of subjects (typically). Qualitative research can take more time than quantitative research (McCusker & Gunaydin,

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).

Qualitative research uses data obtained through methods such face- to- face interviews, observations, and focus groups. Data is analyzed by looking for trends and patterns. Quantitative research use numerical and statics to process the answer specific questions. Statistics used to support assessment of research. Analysis techniques are used to report are affected by the questions addressed and type of information that is expected in the research discoveries (Wakoff, 2007).

The present work analyses the findings of an interview to a practitioner, with the purpose to find out How do Early Childhood Practitioners use research techniques to develop their understanding of children’s needs and development.

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.

Researchers will gain insight on numerical, statistical data when studying quantitative studies (Polit & Beck, 2017). Whereas, qualitative research will show human behaviors and experiences (Polit & Beck, 2017).

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.

There are also some differences between these study designs, which may cause some problems for the inexperienced researcher. “Quantitative research is objective; qualitative research is subjective. Quantitative research seeks explanatory laws; qualitative research aims at

(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.