QUALITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Qualitative and Qualitative Research

Qualitative and Qualitative Research

Qualitative and Quantitative

Research serves a single purpose that of providing information to assist managers to make better decisions. The design of a research project is critical to its success or failure. The steps involved in designing the project, how they are carried out, and estimating the value of the information that the proposed design will provide.

Quantitative Methods

Because quantitative methods are well defined and easy to validate, it has not been a difficult problem. In quantitative research, observations are reported in aggregate quantitative form. Formal hypotheses are posed that are tested and either accepted or rejected. To conduct quantitative research implies the need for very precise identification and definition of variables and the ability to operationalize them in such a way that numbers can be attributed to them--e.g., age, GRE, opinions on satisfaction, liking, and so on.

Admittedly, this is often difficult because many variables may be relevant. Experts identified more than 200 variables that affect just the online bibliographic search process. However, if the variables of interest have been identified and operationalized and a data gathering scheme has been devised, the researcher can design the study and rely on well established and accepted criteria for judging its validity. In other words, much can be said about the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the study from the design alone. (Smith, 1983, pp.125)

While identifying and operationalizing variables in complex research problems is difficult, once it has been done, the process of data gathering and analysis is well defined and relatively straightforward. Furthermore, unless the study is longitudinal, data collection is generally also relatively fast--i.e., once the study design is determined, the gathering and analysis of data proceed rapidly. In addition, although data for quantitative studies can be gathered in the field, more often data are gathered in-house (through laboratory experiments) or through survey instruments of various types. “In any case, from a pedagogical standpoint, data for a variety of quantitative studies can be gathered "from within the classroom" so to speak.

Given the nature of quantitative research, it is entirely possible to teach a quantitative methods course with dummy data only.” (Caracelli, 1993, pp.18)

Although students invariably question the limited relevance of dummy data in the learning process, many courses are, nevertheless, taught in exactly this way. Of course, this approach lends itself rather well to the time constraints imposed by the academic semester. Pedagogically, the quantitative approach is also well suited to simple examples that can be tackled in a short time. "Dummy" studies (using small data sets and a limited set of variables) can be "conducted" and the results analyzed in class. Thus, students can be given considerable practice over the course of a semester in testing a variety of hypotheses.

Qualitative Methods

Qualitative research, on the other hand, is highly time consuming. The very language of qualitative research suggests an exhaustive process-prolonged engagement, intensive observation, thick description. Good design is, of course, a requisite for any type of ...