Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research Designs
Understanding the Distinction
For this week, I want to share a little about how to distinguish quantitative from qualitative research designs.
First, so we can all be on the same page, it seems important to start with definitions. So, what is quantitative research? “It can be defined as research that explains phenomena according to numerical data which are analysed (sic) by means of mathematically based methods, especially statistics. From a broader perspective, it can be defined as a type of empirical research into a social phenomenon or human problem, testing a theory consisting of variables which are measured with numbers and analysed (sic) with statistics in order to determine if the theory explains or predicts phenomena of interest” (Yilmaz, 2013, p. 311).
Qualitative research, on the other hand is, “an emergent, inductive, interpretive and naturalistic approach to the study of people, cases, phenomena, social situations and processes in their natural settings in order to reveal in descriptive terms the meanings that people attach to their experiences of the world” (Yilmaz, 2013, p. 312). I wrote about the difference between phenomenology and grounded theory, two qualitative methods, in a pervious post.
As seems evident from the different definitions, quantitative and qualitative research have different purposes, ways of knowing, and as would be expected different methodologies. When thinking about which approach and method might be appropriate for the scholarship you want to do consider the following questions:
(a) Which paradigm or worldview will inform the project design?
(b) Who or what will be studied?
(c) Which scholarly methods or tools will be used to collect and analyze data?
For quantitative research, the worldview is that there is a value-free, logical, reductionistic, and deterministic objective reality separate from the subjects being studied. Variables are both who and what are studied in quantitative research. The strategy used to conduct quantitative research is to be objective by keeping the researcher and the subjects separate and independent. Common research methods in quantitative research are cross-sectional surveys, longitudinal surveys, experimental and quasi-experimental studies, and secondary analysis studies.
Reference
Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions: Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2), 311-325.
