RESEARCH – METHODOLOGY AND ETHICS
This essay attempts to identify and sum up two research methods (Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods), assess their relative strengths and weaknesses and explain how two ethical issues arise from research. Qualitative and Quantitative research approaches are two of the various methods used in sociological research. The use of these methods can be very important and can normally produce efficient, realistic and logical results.
So what is qualitative research and what is quantitative research? To begin with, we look at the distinctions between the forms of research. Thus, on first consideration, the use of questionnaires as a research technique might be seen as a quantitative strategy, whereas
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Qualitative descriptions can play the important role of suggesting possible relationships, causes, effects and dynamic processes.
Because statistics are not used, but rather qualitative research uses a more descriptive, narrative style, this research might be of particular benefit to the practitioner as she, or he could turn to qualitative reports in order to examine forms of knowledge that might otherwise be unavailable, thereby gaining new insight.
Qualitative research adds flesh and blood to social analysis.
Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have some similarities, for instance, whilst quantitative research may be mostly used for testing theory, it can also be used for exploring 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.
Qualitative data often includes quantification, e.g. statements such as more than, less than, most as well as specific numbers, quantitative, i.e. questionnaire approaches can collect qualitative data through open-ended questions.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
During the designing of questionnaires and the training of interviewers a number of ethical issues need to be taken into consideration. Respondents have a right to be informed about the nature and purposes of the study and how the information will be used prior to data collection. The issue of anonymity,
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
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 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 is using the characteristic of something such as colour, shape, texture, etc. Qualitative research is commonly used to research the quality of a product for example the red T-shirt is soft and fits well.
The theoretical foundations of qualitative and quantitative methods are very different, but many researchers believe both methods should be used in the research study to increase validity and reliability.
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
Researchers are sometimes using Quantitative and Qualitative research methodologies interchangeably, or all three of the methodologies including the mixed approach, Creswell (2009). However, the most distinctive differences between the two is the application used, or the design, using words for qualitative analysis, and
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).
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.
(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.