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Quantitative And Qualitative Research M

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative and
Quantitative Research Approaches?

Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................................................................................................ 3
2 .Quantitative Research Approach................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Strengths………………………………………………………………………………4 2.2 Weaknesses……………………………………………………………………………4
3 .Qualitative Research Approach ................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Strengths………………………………………………………………………………5 2.2…show more content…
2.1 Strengths:
■ Testing and validating already constructed theories about how and why phenomena occur.
■ Testing hypotheses that are constructed before the data are collected.
■ Can generalize research findings when the data are based on random samples of sufficient size.
■ Can generalize a research finding when it has been replicated on many different populations and subpopulations.
■ Useful for obtaining data that allow quantitative predictions to be made.
■ The researcher may construct a situation that eliminates the confounding influence of many variables, allowing one to more credibly establish cause-and-effect relationships.
■ Data collection using some quantitative methods is relatively quick (e.g., telephone interviews).
■ Provides precise, quantitative, numerical data.
■ Data analysis is relatively less time consuming (using statistical software).
■ The research results are relatively independent of the researcher (e.g., statistical significance).
■ It may have higher credibility with many people in power (e.g., administrators, politicians, people who fund programs).
■ It is useful for studying large numbers of people.
2.2 Weaknesses:
■ The researcher’s categories that are used might not reflect local constituencies’ understandings.
■ The researcher’s theories that are used might not reflect local constituencies’ understandings.
■ The researcher might miss out on phenomena occurring because of the focus on theory or hypothesis testing
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