Research Methods Are Based On Aims And Understanding The World Through Ideas, Beliefs, Practices, And Values

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

Research, no matter what field, is often conducted and analysed in accordance with two basic approaches: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative approach aims to test a hypothesis and examine the relationship through generating numerical data or other information that is than converted into numbers, whereas the qualitative approach is more exploratory, aiming to gain a deeper understanding of the research subject. Through breaking down and examining the key features in each of these approaches it is evident that although they both begin with a problem the researcher aims to understand they fundamentally differ. The table below shows side by side comparisons, highlighting the differences that can be used to differentiate these approaches, described broadly across three main categories.

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).

By contrast, the main purpose corresponded with qualitative research is to make understanding with regard to participants. Moreover, qualitative research has many different ways of collecting information, but the best ways of qualitative research is to approach the sources of information, it is due to make the deeper understanding of the issues (Easterby-Smith et al, 2002; Wood et al., 2010, p. 59). In addition, quantitative and qualitative both were also many researchers debated. For example, quantitative research is mostly experimental and qualitative research is mainly non-experimental (Leeds-Hurwitz, 1995, p.50), (see table 5). While, various researchers also combined two methods for researching, which was called that “mixed-methods”. Creswell, (2003) have stated

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

Rondinelli describes the qualitative research methodology as one that is used when describing and giving meaning to phenomena. In other words, it is useful when researching themes such as a life experience, a process, a health phenomenon, or when more information is desired beyond numerical data. It can help when trying to understand feelings, values, and perceptions that influence behavior. It is useful to generate

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,

According to Schneider, Elliot, LoBiondo-Wood & Haber (2004), qualitative research methods, search for the meaning and understanding of human experiences in a naturalistic setting. A researcher obtains subjective facts in order to explore the experiences of each participant (Schneider, Elliot, LoBiondo-Wood & Haber 2004). As a result, qualitative research is a means in which a researcher gains an insight into the participant's point of view concerning their personal experiences; in order gain an understanding of the information given. Therefore this allows a researcher to collect subjective information to create a description of the phenomenon (Vishnevsky & Beanlands 2004).

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).

Qualitative research is mainly informal to participate in and the outcome changes with the individual’s opinions and feelings. It includes inductive methods, this could be from the participant feelings changing at a later date or their hypothesis could change over time. Qualitative research is normally conducted by words and is more to do with literature such as what and why something has happened; this research is a subjective feeling, personal to yourself and nobody else, and numerical data of numbers to back your research but what you believe what happened. In qualitative research, the types of methods used are generally; Interviews, observations and forums (online or present)

Methods of quantitative research includes surveys and data, which is then presented as statistics. It is then collected by a big group such as the Census. The downfalls of quantitative methods of research include being that it offers less depth in information as they generally place emphasis on a much larger number of cases. The outcomes of quantitative research are more often than not, used to present findings to a wide or whole population (Punch, 1998). Qualitative methods of research is essentially gathering information and data, by creating focus groups, and conducting field research and intensive reviews.

There are quantitative and qualitative methods in the realm of academic research seem to be the most relevant to the domains of professional study at Henley-Putnam University. These methods involve the collection of different types of data to help better understand the world around us. Quantitative research is associated with the hard sciences such as chemistry, engineering, and mathematics such as measuring items quantitatively can consist of observing the distance between planets as they revolve around the sun or recording the pressure within a closed container as heat is introduced to a particular liquid. In other words, quantitative methods allow for measuring one thing to compare against another known or unknown quantity to generate conclusions, sometime confirming hypotheses or creating new ones based on research outcomes. However, qualitative research is applied in the soft or social sciences, such as history, sociology and anthropology. According to Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA), qualitative research seeks out the “why”, not the “how”, of its topic through the analysis of unstructured information. For instance, methodological discussions like how data is collected and analyzed. Qualitative research does not rely on statistics or numbers, which are the domain of quantitative researchers.

Moreover, the quantitative method is used by researches who want to discover statistics and facts by analyzing data in a numerical way. Unlike this article, the qualitative method is used by researches who want to gather data through observations and interviews based on what the participants say or do. The qualitative method seeks to explore and collect opinions and motivations on the research topic instead of collecting numerical data.

Information about the store’s current productivity enhancing program, target market, and other basic yet necessary numerical and qualitative data to develop a conception of the current state of the store

Qualitative and quantitative research methods are two very broad research methods that are used in research to help answer questions that are being researched. Researchers all approach their methods differently and use various ways to determine the way they reach their research study. The differences in how this is done is what makes the study approach unique. Qualitative research for example gathers the information to come to a hypothesis where a quantitative research starts off with a hypothesis. Qualitative is in the form of non-structured in depth interviews and or group discussions. The information from these interviews and or groups observations is then recorded to see what is going on and see if there are patterns being formed. Whereas quantitative research is more structured using things like surveys, questionnaires and observed observations where mass amounts of people can be reached. That information is then input into a computer and statistically analyzed.