Everything You Need to Know About Qualitative Vs. Quantitative Research

Students working on their dissertation often get confused about the difference between qualitative and quantitative research approach. Two main differences between these approaches are: (1) the types of data used and (2) how the data are analyzed. Qualitative research deals primarily with text and meaning making, while quantitative research includes the use of with numbers and statistics.

Qualitative Research vs. Quantitative Research

The section highlights the fundamental difference between qualitative and quantitative research designs:

Qualitative Research

• Aim: To obtain an enhanced, in-depth understanding of participants’ underlying experiences, opinions, concepts, or problems, and in some cases theory testing and generation.

• Sample Size: Small sample sizes are needed.

• Expression Unit: Text, dialogue, images, videos, artefacts etc.

• Use Case: Used to gain a better understanding of a topic, situation, or problem using participants’ lived experiences.

• Data Collection Methods: Interviews with open-ended questions, literature reviews, focus groups, ethnography, and observations expressed in narratives.

• Data Analysis Method: Thematic analysis, content analysis, and discourse analysis.

Quantitative Research

• Aim: To generate knowledge, confirm/refute theory, create an understanding of social, psychological and economic processes using numbers. Quantitative studies also aim to increase generalizability of findings.

• Sample Size: Large sample of respondents are required.

• Expression Unit: Numbers, tables, Graphs, etc.

• Use Case: Used to test or confirm a theory/hypothesis

• Data Collection Methods: Experiments, quasi-experiment, surveys with closed-ended questions, observations in numerical form, etc.

• Data Analysis Method: Simple math or advanced statistical analysis is done using software such as SPSS, Stata, R, SmartPLS, or Excel.

There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative research for your dissertation. The best way to decide between the two is to select a method that is most appropriate to help you answer your research questions.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative: What to Use & When to Use?

Based on the information presented in the table above you’ll know that qualitative research is primarily used when the researcher wants to gain an in-depth understanding of a selected topic or problem based on the participants’ lived experiences. Quantitative research, on the other hand, is used to test or confirm a theory or hypothesis of interest.

You can use either qualitative or quantitative research - or even both. Some dissertation projects may benefit from using a mixed method research approach. Be sure to keep this information in mind when deciding on the best approach to use for your dissertation.

Understanding Qualitative & Quantitative Research Approach

To select the right research approach, it is critical to have a clear understanding of each method. Many dissertation students find it challenging to understand the practical use of these methods. Let’s break it down further with the help of an example.

Let’s say you surveyed all customers patronizing a restaurant over a seven-day period using questionnaires. In the questionnaire, you ask the customers how they would rate their overall experience at the restaurant on a scale of 1-5. At the end of the seven-day period, you analyzed the collected data and drew conclusions based on the responses. For example, a possible conclusion from the survey could be that the customers gave an average rating of 4 to the restaurant. This data collection and analysis method falls under the quantitative research method.

If the same example were used for the qualitative research method, a series of interviews using a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured guide would replace the questionnaire used in the quantitative method. Instead of simply asking the customers to rate the restaurant, you would ask questions such as:

• How happy are you with this restaurant’s food?

• What do you love about this restaurant? Why?

• What restaurant food items stand out to you? Why?

• What suggestions would you give to the restaurant owner for further improvement?

You can add more questions, depending on the objective of your research. It is important to note that quantitative data are captured using questionnaires. On the other hand, because of the volume of data common in qualitative research it is important that the interview/focus group sessions be recorded verbatim, with the permission of the participant, to ensure data accuracy for transcription, coding and analysis.

Qualitative research is often used in exploratory studies, where limited data on a particular phenomenon exists and/or for theory development. If a plethora of research has already been conducted on the topic of interest, then a quantitative approach might be best. However, in some cases a combination of the two, mixed methods, may be more effective, depending on your area of focus and research questions.

Mixed Methods: A Qualitative + Quantitative Research Approach

A mixed methods approach is also used in many dissertation studies where both qualitative and quantitative data are collected to better understand a phenomenon of interest. In essence, this approach is about “mixing” of your quantitative and qualitative data to provide a more complete and synergistic picture than would be possible with a qualitative or quantitative design only.

You might be thinking, how would I “mix” both my qualitative and quantitative data for it to provide coherent and meaningful results, right? Well, there are a number of ways to do this. Let’s dig a bit deeper into the three most commonly used strategies.

1. Use qualitative data to support/explore quantitative findings: This method is called the exploratory sequential design and involves two steps. First, a quantitative instrument (e.g., questionnaire) is designed, administered and analyzed. Then, based on the quantitative findings, a qualitative data collection phase is developed. Specifically, an interview/focus group guide is created with questions that builds on the quantitative findings.

2. Use quantitative data to support qualitative findings. The process is similar to that above with the exception that with this approach, qualitative data are collected and analyzed first. Next, based on the qualitative results, a quantitative data collection and analysis phase is developed. In essence this method allows for the quantitative data to support the qualitative findings.

3. Collect both qualitative and quantitative data at the same time. This is called a convergent design. In this case, data from both designs are collected at roughly the same time point; information is assessed based on the design using parallel constructs for both data type; data are analyzed separately; and the results of both the quantitative and qualitative data are compared. Through comparison, the results can be presented in one of three ways: (1) side-by-side comparison in the results and discussion section; (2) converting the qualitative data into quantitative scores (i.e., assigning values to qualitative responses); or displaying results from both the quantitative and qualitative data using a tabular format (i.e., a joint display).

Your choice of a research method should depend on your data requirements. If you want to test or measure an item or series of items, use the quantitative research approach. To understand a research subject or problem more thoroughly, a qualitative research approach is better. If your research questions require both understanding and testing an idea, choose the mixed research approach.

Analyzing Qualitative & Quantitative Data

While data collection is an important part of your dissertation, the analysis will help you in understanding the meaning of the data you collected and your research questions.

If you’re analyzing quantitative data, you will most definitely capitalize on your math and statistics knowledge. But there is no need to worry because you will not be doing any calculations by hand. Quantitative data analysis if often completed through the use of statistical packages such as Stata, R, SPSS, SmartPLS, or other applications. Once the data are analyzed, you will document the findings in the form of graphs and tables, and make inferences based on the findings.

When analyzing qualitative data, you will have to prepare, organize, and review the collected data. Remember, qualitative research typically involves large volumes of data that will require a lot more time to analyze than data collected for quantitative studies. Once all the data are obtained, transcribed verbatim and verified, the researcher reads through all the transcripts to become more familiar with the information shared by the participants and make notes as needed. Next, a data coding system id developed that include codes unique to your study that are assigned to the data. Following these steps will help you identify recurring themes, and where necessary subthemes. Although thematic analysis is most common in qualitative analysis, content analysis or discourse analysis are other data analysis methods used by students and researchers alike.

Because qualitive studies usually have smaller sample sizes, some students use the paper and pen method to analyze their data. However, numerous software packages exists that can aid in the data analysis process including, but not limited to, Dedoose, NVivo, and ATLAS-ti.

FAQs

1. What’s the Basic Difference Between Quantitative & Qualitative Methods?

The quantitative research method deals with numbers, while the qualitative method analyzes text, videos, images, and artefacts. The quantitative research method is used to test or confirm a theory or hypothesis, and the qualitative research method deals with theory development or a better understanding of the selected topic or problem.

2. What is Mixed Method Research?

A mixed method research approach involves the use of both qualitative and quantitative research in the collect and analysis of data, and subsequent findings used to answer research question(s).

3. How do I Choose Between Quantitative and Qualitative Research?

Your choice should be based on your research questions and dissertation project requirements. If your main aim is to measure something, proceed with the quantitative approach. A qualitative approach is best suited for projects that require an in-depth understanding of a specific topic or phenomenon.

4. What is Data Collection?

Data collection is a process of gathering information during the research phase. Primary and/or secondary data are often used in dissertation studies. Primary data refers to the collection of data by the researcher from the source, and can take the form of being structured, semi-structured or unstructured. Primary data are often collected using surveys (i.e., interviews or questionnaires), observations, experiments, quasi-experiments etc. On the other hand, secondary data includes data that have already been collected by other researchers from the primary source and made available to others for use.

5. How Do I Analyze Qualitative Data?

Qualitative data can be analyzed using various methods. The most common qualitative analysis method is thematic analysis where similarities and differences are examined across participants, afterwhich themes are developed based on participants’ experiences. Other common analysis methods include discourse analysis and content analysis method