Quantitative & Qualitative Research

COMPARISON OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

This paper compares and contrasts qualitative and quantitative research methods in three basic areas. These are the of their: epistemological foundations, data collection methods, and data analysis methods. The paper ends with a brief summary of the primary points made.

Gall, Borg and Gall (1996) discuss several similarities and differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods. With respect to similarities, both kinds of research formulate epistemological positions regarding the nature of causation and reality and both comprise a set of methods for designing research, collecting data, analyzing data, and deriving information from data collection and analysis. However, they differ in terms of the epistemological positions they advocate and in the methods they hold to be appropriate for meaningful scientific inquiry.

One primary difference between the two research methods according to Gall, Borg and Gall (1996) involves their epistemological assumptions about the nature that causality. The quantitative method, according to the authors, rests on a view of causation as an external, measurable force that occurs independently of the observer and can be used to explain diverse phenomena. On the other hand, the conceptual foundation of qualitative research holds that causation itself is predominately a human interpretive process.

The foregoing assumptions have implicati

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(1996) further report that some researchers do not believe the two research approaches can actually work together in a complementary fashion; this because of their differing epistemological views of causation and reality -- views which make for not only conceptual but also profound methodological differences. For example, quantitative research stipulates that a researcher must state what can be expected to be revealed by his data analysis based on existing research (hypothesis formulation and testing). Qualitative researchers, however, believe that theories and concepts are only meaningfully derived AFTER the data has been collected. Similarly, the two research types differ in the methods they use to derive meaningful information from the data. Quantitative methods hold that the data should be analyzed statistically while quantitative research holds that it should be analyzed using formal methods of reasoning and interpretation. Gall, Borg and Gall (1996) have also listed some of the differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods in terms of the reports each side outputs following their investigations. In this regard, the authors state that the reports of quantitative research tend to be impersonal and obj

Category: Misc - Q