QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS

Qualitative and quantitative methods

Qualitative and quantitative methods

Introduction

The objective of social science research is to understand the complexity of human behaviour and experience. The task of the researcher, whose role is to describe and explain this complexity, is limited by his or her methodological repertoire. As tradition shows, different methods often are best applied to different kinds of research. Having the opportunity to apply various methods to a single research question can broaden the dimensions and scope of that research and perhaps lead to a more precise and holistic perspective of human behaviour and experience. Research is not knowledge itself, but a process in which knowledge is constructed through step-by-step data gathering (Pasmore, 2008, 96).

Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Qualitative and quantitative distinctions are grounded in two contrasting approaches to categorizing and explaining data. Different paradigms produce and use different types of data. Early studies distinguished the two methods according to the kind of data collected, whether textual or numerical. The classic qualitative approach includes study of real-life settings, focus on participants' context, inductive generation of theory, open-ended data collection, analytical strategies based on textual data, and use of narrative forms of analysis and presentation. Basically, the qualitative method refers to a research paradigm that addresses interpretation and socially constructed realities (Greenwood, 2008, 98).

The classic quantitative approach encompasses hypothesis formulation based on precedence, experiment, control groups and variables, comparative analysis, sampling, standardization of data collection, statistics, and the concept of causality. Quantitative design refers to a research paradigm that hypothesizes relationships between variables in an objective way (Pasmore, 2008, 12).

Quantitative methods are related to deductivist approaches, positivism, data variance, and factual causation. Qualitative methods include inductive approaches, constructivism, and textual information. In general, quantitative design relies on comparisons of measurements and frequencies across categories and correlations between variables whereas the qualitative method concentrates on events within a context, relying on meaning and process. When the two are used together, data can be transformed.

Essentially, “qualitized” data can represent data collected using quantitative methods that are converted into narratives that are analyzed qualitatively. “Quantitized” data represent data collected using qualitative methods that can be converted into numerical codes and analyzed statistically. Many research problems are not linear. Purpose drives the research questions. The course of the study, however, may change as it progresses, leading possibly to different questions and the need to alter method design. As in any rigorous research, mixed methods allows for the research question and purpose to lead the design.

Mixed Methods Design

Mixed methods is a research orientation that possesses unique purposes and techniques. It integrates techniques from quantitative and qualitative paradigms to tackle research questions that can be best addressed by mixing these two traditional approaches. As long as 40 years ago, scholars noted that quantitative and qualitative research were not antithetical and that every research process, through practical necessity, should include aspects of both quantitative and qualitative methodology. In order to achieve more useful and meaningful results in any study, it is essential to ...