What are the similarities between quantitative research and qualitative research?
Published on April 12, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk. Revised on November 24, 2022. When collecting and analyzing data, quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings. Both are important for gaining different kinds of knowledge. Common quantitative methods include experiments, observations recorded as numbers, and surveys with
closed-ended questions. Quantitative research is at risk for research biases including information bias,
omitted variable bias, sampling bias, or selection bias. Common qualitative methods include interviews with open-ended questions, observations described in words, and
literature reviews that explore concepts and theories. Qualitative research is also at risk for certain research biases including the Hawthorne effect,
observer bias, recall bias, and social desirability bias. Quantitative and qualitative research use different research methods to collect and analyze data, and they allow you to answer different kinds of research questions. Quantitative and qualitative data can be collected using various methods. It is important to use a data collection method that will help answer your research question(s). Many data collection methods can be either qualitative or quantitative. For example, in surveys, observations or case studies, your data can be represented as numbers (e.g. using rating scales or counting frequencies) or as words (e.g. with open-ended questions or descriptions of what you observe). However, some methods are more commonly used in one type or the other. Quantitative data collection methods
Qualitative data collection methods
When to use qualitative vs. quantitative researchA rule of thumb for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is:
For most research topics you can choose a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approach. Which type you choose depends on, among other things, whether you’re taking an inductive vs. deductive research approach; your research question(s); whether you’re doing experimental, correlational, or descriptive research; and practical considerations such as time, money, availability of data, and access to respondents. Research questionHow satisfied are students with their studies?Quantitative research approachYou survey 300 students at your university and ask them questions such as: “on a scale from 1-5, how satisfied are your with your professors?” You can perform statistical analysis on the data and draw conclusions such as: “on average students rated their professors 4.4”. Qualitative research approachYou conduct in-depth interviews with 15 students and ask them open-ended questions such as: “How satisfied are you with your studies?”, “What is the most positive aspect of your study program?” and “What can be done to improve the study program?” Based on the answers you get you can ask follow-up questions to clarify things. You transcribe all interviews using transcription software and try to find commonalities and patterns. Mixed methods approachYou conduct interviews to find out how satisfied students are with their studies. Through open-ended questions you learn things you never thought about before and gain new insights. Later, you use a survey to test these insights on a larger scale. It’s also possible to start with a survey to find out the overall trends, followed by interviews to better understand the reasons behind the trends. How to analyze qualitative and quantitative dataQualitative or quantitative data by itself can’t prove or demonstrate anything, but has to be analyzed to show its meaning in relation to the research questions. The method of analysis differs for each type of data. Analyzing quantitative dataQuantitative data is based on numbers. Simple math or more advanced statistical analysis is used to discover commonalities or patterns in the data. The results are often reported in graphs and tables. Applications such as Excel, SPSS, or R can be used to calculate things like:
Analyzing qualitative dataQualitative data is more difficult to analyze than quantitative data. It consists of text, images or videos instead of numbers. Some common approaches to analyzing qualitative data include:
Frequently asked questions about qualitative and quantitative researchWhat is data collection? Data collection is the systematic process by which observations or measurements are gathered in research. It is used in many different contexts by academics, governments, businesses, and other organizations. Cite this Scribbr articleIf you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Is this article helpful?You have already voted. Thanks :-) Your vote is saved :-) Processing your vote... What are the similarities and differences between quantitative and qualitative research?Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings. Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses. Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.
What are the similarities of qualitative and quantitative observation?In terms of similarities, both qualitative and quantitative observation methods depend on participants and groups in order to gather research variables. As an online data-gathering platform, Formplus can help you to develop and easily administer online surveys as part of the methods of quantitative observation.
What is the similarities of qualitative research and?Qualitative Data
One similarity between qualitative and quantitative research is that raw data is ultimately qualitative. Even though numbers are unbiased, the researcher still has to choose some numbers and disregard others.
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