Difference Between Qualitative And Quantitative Research
By: Arthur Hall
Submitted: 2011-05-18 17:36:09 | Word Count: 691
You may have come across concepts such as qualitative research and quantitative research in social sciences, but do you know what is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research? Continue reading to know more about qualitative vs quantitative research differences...
Research is defined as a process of systematic investigation with the objective of establishing facts. In social science, there are basically two popular methods of research - qualitative research and quantitative research. In some studies, qualitative research has an edge over its counterpart, while in others quantitative research is better. It is very important to understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative research in order to determine which method would be useful to study a particular trend. Read more on research design types.
[ advertisement ]
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Which of these two methods is to be used depends on a range of underlying factors, including the properties of the subject and the objective of the research. Even though you can use both these methods one after another in social science studies, financial or time restraints may not allow you to opt for both. In such circumstances, comparison between the two can help in making the choice easier for you.
Qualitative Research
The objective of qualitative research is to gather in-depth understanding of human behavior, in order to find out the reasons which make the person behave in that particular way. This form of research relies more on quality instead of quantity. When it come to decision making, this method focuses more on answering questions like 'why' and 'how', instead of restricting to questions like 'what'. The number of samples studied in this method are quite less as compared to the number of samples studied in quantitative research. In qualitative research, the end result is more often based on the studies of a few samples, and hypothesis is formed on the basis of these general conclusions. Read more on methods of qualitative research.
Quantitative Research
The objective of quantitative research, on the other hand, is to develop mathematical models and formulate theories, and employ the same to get the end results. This method focuses in the investigation of quantitative properties and the phenomenon, as well the relationship between the two. This form of research relies more on quantity and numbers, than on quality and details. The results in this case are derived from numerical analysis and statistics. Unlike qualitative research, quantitative research has a larger number of samples.
Difference Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research
In terms of comparison between qualitative and quantitative research, the major difference is the fact that the former is restricted to a smaller group but goes into the details, while the later involves an exposure to a large group without going into the details. Most of the other qualitative and quantitative research differences revolve around this very fact. The number of participants in qualitative research is much less than the number of participants in quantitative research, owing to the fact that the investigation in the qualitative research takes much more time as it gets into the details of the matter. This also means the time consumed in qualitative research with a fewer subjects and less analysis is much less as compared to the time consumed for quantitative research which investigates a bigger part of the universe. The results obtained from qualitative research have more chances of being biased as this method of research is open to different interpretations. Some argue that qualitative research is more reliable as the researcher puts in more efforts in compiling the data, while some argue that quantitative method is more reliable as larger part of the universe is subjected to research.
This was brief information about the difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods. As we mentioned earlier, both these methods of market research can even be used one after another. For instance, you can opt for qualitative research method first, and follow the same with quantitative method to verify the results of the first one. Lastly, there do exist cases wherein one method of research has a clear advantage over the other, and hence you can't dismiss either of the two as ineffective.
