KASU/SCE/23/IRL/4018

JOSHUA DANJUMA

ILSCE 401 MAKE-UP TEST: Explain Why Qualitative Research is More Difficult to Carryout than
Quantitative Research

User
7/22/2024

This document critically explains why Qualitative Research is more difficult to carryout than
quantitative research.
Introduction

Researchers often have issues choosing which research method to go with: quantitative or
qualitative research methods? Many incorrectly think the two terms can be used interchangeably.

Qualitative research is regarded as exploratory and is used to uncover trends in thoughts and
opinions, while quantitative research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating
numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics.

At the end of this make-up task, it will be understood why using qualitative research is
more difficult than quantitative research.

What is Qualitative Research? It is a process of real-life inquiry that aims to understand

social phenomena. It focuses on the “why” and “how” rather than the “what” of social
phenomena and depends on the direct experiences of human beings as meaning-making
agents in their everyday lives.

There are varieties of qualitative research methods, which I will list only five types that
are widely used in business, education and government organizational models; namely:

 Narrative Research
 Ethnographic Research
 Historical Research
 Grounded Theory; and
 Case Study

On the other hand, Quantitative research is used to quantify behaviors, opinions, attitudes, and
other variables and make generalizations from a larger population. Quantitative research uses
quantifiable data to articulate facts and reveal patterns in research. This type of research method
involves the use of statistical, mathematical tools to derive results.

When trying to quantify a problem, quantitative data will conclude on its purpose and understand
how dominant it is by looking for results that can be projected to a larger population.

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This data collection method includes various forms of online, paper, mobile, kiosk surveys;
online polls; systematic observations; face-to-face interviews, phone interviews and so on.

Why Qualitative Research is More Difficult

Firstly, Control-sensitive: In quantitative research, the researcher does not have more control
over how the data is gathered and is more distant from the experiment. An outside perspective is
gained using this method.

Secondly, Repeatable: Unlike qualitative research, the study in quantitative can usually be
replicated or repeated, given its high reliability. This kind of advantage is not found in
conducting a qualitative research.

Thirdly, data in qualitative research are not always arranged in simple analytical methods:
Received data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures,
or other non-textual forms.

Additionally, unlike in quantitative research where researchers use tools, such as questionnaires
or equipment to collect numerical data; in qualitative research, researchers go through some
more difficult measures in obtaining data.

Importantly, as quantitative research aims to make predictions, establish facts and test
hypotheses that have already been stated. It aims to find evidence which supports or does not
support an existing hypothesis. It tests and validates already constructed theories about how and
why phenomena occur. In qualitative research, the researcher puts in a lot of effort to achieve the
above with little progress and result.

Conclusion

The task here intended to critically explain reasons why it is more difficult to carry out research
in qualitative than in quantitative. It can be argued that the assignment has met the purpose as it
is concerned with the critical demonstration of why qualitative research is tedious than
quantitative. That notwithstanding, benefits of using qualitative research in research in achieving
deeper insight into designing, administering and interpreting; easy to understand behavior,

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interviewer behaviour, interlocutor behaviour, and cross-cultural influences on behaviour during
the speaking and assessment. Limitations, however, are: Small sample size sometimes makes the
results unreliable and ungeneralizable; and policy makers may not ask for qualitative research.
On the other hand, the study has figured out the advantages of using quantitative research, such
as a larger size of sample and variables that make the testing research trust worthy. The
disadvantages, nevertheless, are: Quantitative research leaves out the meanings and effects of a
particular system—such as, a testing system is not concerned with the detailed picture of
variables. Moreover, the task has found that the dominant method in the language testing and
assessment research is quantitative due to basically its rate of use by the researchers around the
world. Along with the merits and demerits of research methods and approaches, the study has
uncovered that the ethical considerations pertinent to a research project undertaken are very
crucial issues now-a-days, but it indicates that there are not any absolute rules for deciding
whether a particular research practice or method is ethical or not.

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