Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research

Scientific research adopts qualitative and quantitative methodologies in the modeling and analysis of numerous phenomena. The qualitative methodology intends to understand a complex reality and the meaning of actions in a given context. On the other hand, the quantitative methodology seeks to obtain accurate and reliable measurements that allow a statistical analysis. Both methodologies offer a set of methods, potentialities and limitations that must be explored and known by researchers. This paper concisely maps a total of seven qualitative methods and five quantitative methods. A comparative analysis of the most relevant and adopted methods is done to understand the main strengths and limitations of them. Additionally, the work developed intends to be a fundamental reference for the accomplishment of a research study, in which the researcher intends to adopt a qualitative or quantitative methodology. Through the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, it becomes possible to formulate a more accurate, informed and complete choice.

In this paper, as a practitioner, I describe quantitative and qualitative inquiries. I explain some of their differences and similarities. I emphasize most important differences that researchers should consider when selecting one of the methods or when running a mixed study. I list differences in worldviews, research design, research processes, reliability assurance, and validity assurance. I propose a process flowchart for each type of inquiry. The purpose of the essay is to give researchers and primarily doctorate students a review of differences and similarities between the two methods of inquiry.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, 2013

Carrying out a research paper is concerned to be a simple task. However, in practice it is far more complicated. The most important factor is for the researcher to know the main principles of the research process. It is vital to identify the research methods progression, the meaning and purpose of the research to be carried out, by the formulation of hypothesis, aims and questions, the use of methodology-both quantitative and qualitative-their characteristics and suitability when utilized, and the need of sampling and ethical considerations. By the use of theoretical framework, the current research paper firstly discusses and analyses the principles of bringing about a research paper, and most importantly it emphasizes the advantages and disadvantages of research methodology.

International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR

This article discussed the research methodologies used in social sciences by students, researchers, and lectures. It looked at the qualitative method, quantitative method, and the mixed-method approaches in social sciences researches. The components of each methodology were discussed, including the data collection methods, and ethical issues (Ethical approval form, consent form, voluntary participation form). The article also assessed the overview of the methodologies which help increase knowledge of the facts in the researches. Furthermore, main objectives of conducting research and research motivating factors were also elaborated. The study recommends that teachers should help students' choose the best research methodology for their research and the researchers should read different types of research methodology to know which one best fits their study. We conclude that this paper gives more understanding of quantitative research, qualitative research and mixed research methods approach in researching and it helps understand the various ground root of the methodological framework and which one best fit the kind of research and at what time.

Hossain, D.M. (2011), Qualitative Research Process, Postmodern Opening, Vol.7, No.7, pp. 143-155 (Romania).

This article provides with an overview of the qualitative research methods. Over last few decades, qualitative research is getting very popular in the fields of business, sociology, psychology and others. This article, in its introduction, gives a general idea about the qualitative research. Then it discusses the main differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods. The article also discusses about the ethical issues important for qualitative research. Lastly it discusses about the several approaches and data collection methods of qualitative research.

Rencana ini membincangkan kedua-dua kaedah penyelidikan iaitu kaedah kuantitatif dan kaedah kualitatif Tumpuan perbincangan lebih kepada kekuatan yang dimiliki oleh kedua-dua kaedah dalam mencapai matlamat penyelidikan iaitu pengumpulan sebanyak mungkin data penyelidikan. Kaedah "triangulasi" yang merupakan gabungan kedua-dua kaedah penyelidikan di atas dan politik dalam penyelidikan pendidikan turut diberikan perhatian.

Qualitative research represents a systematic subjective approach used to describe life experiences and to give them meaning. The approach aims at gaining insight, explore in depth and understand the richness and complexity inherent in human behaviours (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). Nkwi et al (2001) describe qualitative research as any research that uses data that do not indicate ordinal value. As such, it deals with data in form of sound, text and images instead of discrete measurable values (units of measure) representing the subject of study. This approach of research seeks to explore the meaning people construct around their world in terms of perception, feelings, experiences and other intangible characteristics of the world around the researcher or the subject of the research (Merriam, 2009).

Methodological Issues in Management Research: Advances, Challenges, and the Way Ahead, 2019

Current paper is an overview of qualitative research. It starts with discussing meaning of research and links it with a framework of experiential learning. Complexity of socio-political environment can be captured with methodologies appropriate to capture dynamism and intricacy of human life. Qualitative research is a process of capturing lived-in experiences of individuals, groups, and society. It is an umbrella concept which involves variety of methods of data collection such as interviews, observations, focused group discussions, projective tools, drawings, narratives, biographies, videos, and anything which helps to understand world of participants. Researcher is an instrument of data collection and plays a crucial role in collecting data. Main steps and key characteristics of qualitative research are covered in this paper. Reader would develop appreciation for methodiness in qualitative research. Quality of qualitative research is explained referring to aspects related to rigor...

The paper covers the following areas: definitions, characteristics, methods of data collection methods of qualitative research, sustaining the validity of qualitative research, judgments of truthfulness, or dependable qualitative research, analyzes of qualitative data, advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research. Qualitative research is about digging into matters, understanding, and developments, responding to questions, by examining and determining and making sense of unstructured data Qualitative research is mainly exploratory utilize to earn understanding of fundamental reasons, impressions, and motivations. It furnishes perceptivenesses into the problems or assists to originate thoughts or hypotheses for possible qualitative research. Qualitative research has the power to investigate or examine into reactions and answers from the participants.. The researcher can obtain information not expected by the researcher

Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum Qualitative Social Research, 2001

UNICAF University - Zambia, 2021

This is an informational and review , the information in this paper is collected from different sources.

Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare, 2019

BACKGROUND Qualitative research is a process of naturalistic inquiry that seeks an in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting. It focuses on the "why" rather than the "what" of social phenomena and relies on the direct experiences of human beings as meaning-making agents in their everyday lives. Rather than by logical and statistical procedures, qualitative researchers use multiple systems of inquiry for the study of human phenomena including biography, case study, historical analysis, discourse analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology. Quantitative methodology is the dominant research framework in the social sciences. It refers to a set of strategies, techniques and assumptions used to study psychological, social and economic processes through the exploration of numeric patterns. Quantitative research gathers a range of numeric data. Some of the numeric data is intrinsically quantitative (e.g. personal income), while in other cases the numeric structure is imposed (e.g. 'On a scale from 1 to 10, how depressed did you feel last week?'). The collection of quantitative information allows researchers to conduct simple to extremely sophisticated statistical analyses that aggregate the data. Quantitative research includes methodologies such as questionnaires, structured observations or experiments and stands in contrast to qualitative research. Qualitative research involves the collection and analysis of narratives and/or open-ended observations through methodologies such as interviews, focus groups or ethnographies. The purpose of quantitative research is to generate knowledge and create understanding about the social world. Quantitative research is used by social scientists, including communication researchers, to observe phenomena or occurrences affecting individuals. Social scientists are concerned with the study of people. Quantitative research is a way to learn about a particular group of people, known as a sample population. Using scientific inquiry, quantitative research relies on data that are observed or measured to examine questions about the sample population. 1-2