Differences Between Quantitative

and Qualitative Research

Broad Categories of Research
• Research can be divided into broad categories of
qualitative and quantitative research and a number
of approaches can be identified,some of which are
action research,ethnographic study,case study
,experimental research and participatory research.
• Both qualitative and quantitative researches stem
from different philosophical assumptions.These
assumptions shape the ways researchers look at
problems and analyze gathered data
• Qualitative research is based on an approach
which sees the individual and the world around
him/her as interconnected.It sees social reality as
unique and therefore, human behavior can only be
understood by focusing on the events based on
their meanings for the people involved.It is what
people experience-how they do and perform as
well as think and feel.This type of research is
associated with research methods used in
anthropology,history and other social sciences.
• In addition ,qualitative research has its roots in
positivism(Walker, 2010) a philosophic view
formulated in Europe in the 19th century.Two
beliefs held by positivism are:

• 1.) general principles or laws govern the social

world and
• 2.) observation is the primary source of
dependable knowledge.
• Positivism is considered as a traditional scientific
method which involves hypothesis testing and
objective data gathering.Findings are open to
replication by other researchers.
Similarities of Quantitive and Qualitative
Research,Bachman(2009)
• Empirical research is aimed at creating new knowledge.
• Research creates knowledge by observing phenomena.
• All the entities of interest like attitudes,motives and learning
can be inferred from observing what people do or say in a
given setting.
• All researchers are concerned about the universality of ideas
or expressing an idea in a general statement; that is,they
desire to find meaning for the research results beyond a
particular study.
Qualitative Research
• It is an primarily an exploratory research.It is used
to give an understanding of underlying reasons
opinions and motivations.The investigation
provides insights,into the problem or helps to
develop ideas or hypothesis for potential
qualitative research.It is also used to uncover
trends in thought and opinions and dig deeper into
the problem.
Qualitative Research
• The sample size is typically small.Qualitative research is
more flexible allowing more naturalness and acclimation for
the interaction and collaboration between the researcher
and participant.Further, it is used to create insights into the
problem being investigated.It is a research method most
often used in the analysis of literature.Though,it can also be
utilized for historical review,sociological studies,ethical
experiments and the investigations into personality and
behavior.
Instead of giving a singular definition of qualitative
research you might consider five features according
to (Yin,2011),namely;

1.Studying the meaning of people's lives,under real-

world conditions;people will not limited by
the confines of a laboratory.
2.Representing the views and perspective of the
people or participants of the study in the resultsof
the research mirror the values and meanings of the
people who live them,not by the researcher.
 3.Covering the contextual condition within which
people live tge social institutions and environmental
conditions wuthin which live.They may influence all
human events.

4. Contributing insights into existing or emerging

concepts may help or explain human social behavior
Research can be instances for developing new
concepts.

5. Striving to use multiple sources of evidence is

better than relying on a sungle source alone.
Quantitative Research
• It is more often associated with hard data.This
research is used to quantify -that is to put
numerical equivalents to findings.This type of
research is not limited to mathematics.Although
math and statistics are just the means
uaed,attitudes,opinions and behaviors,even when
they are subjective in nature,can be compared
quantitatively in order to produce results.
Thank You !!!