Qualitative vs Quantitative

This section is expected to take you approximately 3 hours
The most important decision a researcher has to make when planning a piece of research it to decide which research method(s) or approaches will best address the research question or idea. While the research undertaken will always be constrained by the resources available, the type of research is likely to be determined by answering the following questions:

Question: Has any prior research been conducted in this field?

Answer: No previous research- then descriptive or exploratory research might be needed. If the phenomena to be studied can be measured in some way then a quantitative study would be appropriate. In other situations, qualitative research could assist in providing detailed observation or exploration of the phenomena as a first step to understanding.

Answer: Previous research has been conducted-then you need to establish whether the research has been conducted in the context you are interested in. If not, you might consider establishing the extent to which the research evidence is applicable, or generalisable to your context; this would suggest that a replication or modified replication study might be needed. Through analysing the strength of evidence currently available you can ascertain whether there are any knowledge or method gaps, that need to be addressed, or whether there are hypotheses or problems that can be tested or investigated.

In either case, you would need to determine whether the research tools are sufficiently well developed to address the research idea.

Irrespective as to whether you conduct research that is labelled qualitative or quantitative, the research principles will still apply, even if they have been given different names or terms according to the discipline within which the research takes place.

Qualitative and quantitative research is frequently presented as distinct and polarised choices for a research methodology. Qualitative research is viewed as subjective while quantitative research is said to take an objective viewpoint. Broadly speaking we can say that qualitative research involves analysis of words, pictures or objects while quantitative research involves the analysis of numerical data.

Activity 7: Qualitative vs quantitative methods

Complete the following activity online to receive feedback and in your log book as a record.

Task1

Task 2

Consider the following statements and decide whether they are more applicable to qualitative or quantitative research methodology:

Activity 8: Research approach

This activity is divided into three tasks.

Task 1 requires you to consider how each research approach (qualitative and quantitative research) handles certain issues, such as, the context (or situation) within which the research is conducted, any events and conditions associated with the research, numerical or personal relationships, establishing authenticity and/or truth, and handling current evidence, hypotheses and literature. How are validity, reliability, triangulation, and generalisation and/or transferability accounted for by each paradigm?

Task 2 asks you to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

Task 3 encourages you to read through some research ideas and then, decide which type of research you would choose for the first phase of these studies. How might you carry them out? How would you deal with issues of access, ethics, objectivity, and/or researcher involvement?

Now open your log book and complete Activity

Some General Features of Quantitative Research

Quantitative research tends to:

–emphasizes] measurement and analysis of causal relationships between variables

–be less interested in processes and meanings

–claim that the inquiry is ‘value free’

–be nomothetic- social reality is objective and external to the individual

Some General Features of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research tends to:

–emphasise processes and meanings

–be less interested in measurement

–stress the social construction of reality

–consider the nature of the relationship between the researched and researcher

–consider the context and situations at hand

–acknowledge the value laden nature of inquiry

–be ideographic- importance of the individual case

Matveev, A.V. (2002). "The advantages of employing quantitative and qualitative methods in intercultural research: practical implications from the study of the perceptions of intercultural communication competence by American and Russian managers." in Collected research articles, Bulletin of Russian Communication Association "Theory of communication and applied communication, Edited by I.N. Rozina, Issue 1, 59-67.

The strengths and weakness are listed as:

Quantitative Method

The strengths of the quantitative method include:

Stating the research problem in very specific and set terms;
Clearly and precisely specifying both the independent and the dependent variables under investigation;
Following firmly the original set of research goals, arriving at more objective conclusions, testing hypothesis, determining the issues of causality;
Achieving high levels of reliability of gathered data due to controlled observations, laboratory experiments, mass surveys, or other form of research manipulations;
Eliminating or minimising subjectivity of judgment;
Allowing for longitudinal measures of subsequent performance of research subjects.

The weaknesses of the quantitative method include:

Failure to provide the researcher with information on the context of the situation where the studied phenomenon occurs;
Inability to control the environment where the respondents provide the answers to the questions in the survey;
Limited outcomes to only those outlined in the original research proposal due to closed type questions and the structured format;
Not encouraging the evolving and continuous investigation of a research phenomenon.

Qualitative Method

The strengths of the qualitative method include:

Obtaining a more realistic feel of the world that cannot be experienced in the numerical data and statistical analysis used in quantitative research;
Flexible ways to perform data collection, subsequent analysis, and interpretation of collected information;
Provide a holistic view of the phenomena under investigation;
Ability to interact with the research subjects in their own language and on their own terms;
Descriptive capability based on primary and unstructured data;

The weaknesses of the qualitative method include:

Departing from the original objectives of the research in response to the changing nature of the context;
Arriving to different conclusions based on the same information depending on the personal characteristics of the researcher;
Inability to investigate causality between different research phenomena;
Difficulty in explaining the difference in the quality and quantity of information obtained from different respondents and arriving at different, non-consistent conclusions;
Requiring a high level of experience from the researcher to obtain the targeted information from the respondent;
Lacking consistency and reliability because the researcher can employ different probing techniques and the respondent can choose to tell some particular stories and ignore others.

Example 1: would be best addressed as a sensitive topic through a qualitative approach that would address experiences, feelings and responses. There could be some survey, or specified questions to do with training, resources and support etc. It may be hard to access the veterans but you could use adverts or intermediaries in the services. Interviews are likely to be used- potential for reliving of experiences- protection of the participant. There is a potential for "political" problems and a researcher might need good negotiating skills and empathy. You may also need to consider having access to supportive services for yourself, or the interviewees, should the research prove traumatic to the people concerned. It could be that an "insider" would have an advantage in gaining the trust of the interviewees.

Example 2: would require a quantitative study that identified factors to be measured in relation to infant growth and rates of exposure to the pesticides. You would need a system to select the geographical areas where the study was to be carried out and data on infants. You would need to consider how you gain consent for research on minors. You always need research governance approval for research on people and, depending on the study, you may also need ethical approval.

Example 3: this situation could be a mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches depending upon the purpose of the study- e.g. economic factors, building prices and insurance, lived experiences of the flood, effects upon the community and relationships. Again you may need ethical approval and you will need research governance approval for any study which involves human subjects. You would need to think carefully about the timing of such a study - people's feelings may change with time and could also depend on the purpose of the study - for example with house prices and insurance the effects may be delayed or prolonged.

We have considered qualitative and quantitative approaches as if they are quite distinct. In fact taking such a polarised view may not be helpful. This is a subject that causes controversy amongst researchers. Have a look at the following two links:

http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/gentrans/pop2f.cfm and http://www.markwebtest.netfirms.com/Appendix/App_Qualitative/App_Quant_Vs_Qual.htm which is an appendix of The Instructors' Site for the text Research Design Explained.

Activity 9: Polar or continuous?

This activity requires you to write a few paragraphs in your log book to summarise the debate about the dichotomy, or otherwise, between the two research paradigms and to consider where in this continuum you feel your own, planned research may fall. Now open your log book and complete Activity 9.

In the next section you will take a more in-depth look at qualitative approaches to research design and analysis.

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