SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL INQUIRY

Qualitative and Quantitative Research



Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Quantitative Research Methods

Quantitative research normally takes a deductive approach which involves reasoning from the 'general' to the particular. Deductive reasoning involves theory generation and hypothesis formulation and testing. Unlike qualitative research ? quantitative methods require that testable hypotheses be formulated prior to the commencement of any research (Johnson and Christensen ? 2000: 17). In addition to the formulation of hypotheses ? the quantitative approach is concerned with defining and measuring variables.

Common quantitative research methods include experiments ? quasi-experiments ? surveys ? sophisticated statistical analysis ? structured interviews and observation. The quantitative researcher will normally set out to either confirm or reject previously formulated hypotheses about the subject under study. Another important aspect to quantitative methodology is the random process used to assign subjects to different experimental groups ? which eliminates the potential for bias (Johnson and Christensen ? 2000: 19). Randomized and controlled experiments are often the way that researchers test the effect of an independent variable or treatment on a dependent variable. As well ? in quantitative research ? the investigator normally assumes the role of an impartial ? detached and objective observer throughout the research process.

Weaknesses

First ? quantitative methods are often viewed as having little contact with the subjects under investigation. Some scholars have attacked the quantitative approach as being too 'positivistic' for failing to focus on the "social and cultural construction of the variables which quantitative research seeks to correlate" (Silverman ? 2000: 5). Quantitative methods are accused of lacking sensitivity to social context. Many qualitative scholars have also accused quantitative researchers of 'elitism' because of their disdain of qualitative methods which seek to draw from social and cultural meanings. Quantitative researchers have referred to their own methods as objective and their tradition as 'hard science.' Those scientists espousing the quantitative tradition ? however ? have referred to qualitative methods as 'soft science.'

The quantitative approach seems to lack the flexibility that is demonstrative of qualitative methods. Quantitative research has been described as using a 'narrow angle lens' and to rely too heavily on structure and that it is not innovative enough. Some scholars ? for instance ? argue that the quantitative approach has an over-reliance on hypothesis-testing and statistical analysis of variables. The excessive dependence on complicated statistical tests by quantitative scientists to explain complex social phenomena has concerned many quantitative scholars. In addition to this problem ? it is widely believed that a purely statistical approach fails to generate potential hypotheses from the data produced in a study (Silverman ? 2000: 7).

Finally ? even the general public is ? at times ? highly suspicious of quantitative research due to its heavy use of statistics. Many people are aware that researchers can use statistics to say anything they want and are familiar with the phrase ? 'there are lies ? damn lies and statistics' (Silverman ? 2000: 2).

Strengths

The most common quantitative research methods include experiments ? quasi-experiments surveys and structured observation. The greatest strength of quantitative research is in its ...