Researchers Can Perform Statistically Analyses on Qualitative Data. True False

When you lot're conducting research, your data will fall into two categories: qualitative or quantitative. So what's the difference between these two data types?

Well, here's a quick and piece of cake way to call back at least the bones difference: quantitative data deals with quantities of things – numbers and measurable information, like how many people visit a website each day. That's all well-nigh quantity (sounds like quantitative, right?).

On the other hand, qualitative data gives you more than insight into what people think, feel, and believe – the quality of a thing, person, or state of affairs. Alright that one's a bit more of a stretch, only it works.

Now let's get more into the details of qualitative and quantitative enquiry so yous know how to bear each.

What is Qualitative inquiry?

Qualitative inquiry focuses on the human perspective, and usually answers the question "why?" If you want to learn how people perceive their environment, why they hold certain beliefs, or how they understand their bug, you'll conduct qualitative research.

It's also all about context. When you lot're researching a group, y'all want to study them in their natural environment. This gives you insights into their beliefs, beliefs, opinions, and so on.

How do yous conduct qualitative research?

You tin comport qualitative research in a few different means. Doing interviews, setting upward focus groups, giving people open-ended questionnaires, studying photo collections, and observing people in their daily routines are all forms of qualitative information collection.

When you engage with people in these ways, yous're giving the opportunity to give more in-depth, elaborate responses. They're non only responding "yes" or "no" – they're telling you what they think.

Y'all can also brand observations from photographs or from watching people – things like the fashion people are looking at each other lovingly, or how ii old people might hold hands while they watch Tv set.

From these observations, y'all can theorize that those people dearest each other, are close to each other, know each other well and are comfortable around each other, and and so on. Things that are hard to quantify with numbers or mensurate with figures.

What is Quantitative research?

Quantitative inquiry, on the other hand, involves collecting facts and figures and often results in numerical, structured data. Retrieve information yous can put in a spreadsheet and analyze.

Instead of talking to people and getting their opinions, y'all're asking them yes or no questions. Instead of request someone why they practise something, you're finding out what they practise, or how many people do that thing, or how often – and so on.

Real quick - what is structured data?

Let's say y'all're looking at a recipe on your favorite online cooking blog. The structured data are things similar the ingredients, the oven temperature, how many calories a serving has, and how long you lot cook the food. These are all quantifiable (and measurable with numbers/facts) things.

Unstructured data, on the other mitt, would include the food blogger's piffling story about how they discovered or created the recipe, what people have said about how delicious it is, and how much they love the texture of those soft, gooey cookies. Y'all can't mensurate these data – they're opinion and feel-based.

How practise you lot conduct quantitative research?

Y'all can carry quantitative research by looking at statistical information (how many people did x), giving people multiple choice or true/false tests, asking them yes/no questions on a survey, so on.

All in all, you lot're trying to answer the question "what" or "how" – what something is, what's the number of people who order from Amazon every day, how many cars are in that parking lot.

Because of the nature of the data and collection methods, context isn't a factor in this blazon of research.

With quantitative inquiry, yous're interested in gathering information that back up and prove or disprove a hypothesis or theory you already accept.

So instead of observing and talking to people and then forming a theory well-nigh what'south going on, you collect your information, and and so make conclusions nearly the validity of your hypothesis based on that data.

Is Qualitative or Quantitative research better?

Alright, and so yous accept these two methods of research – which is better?

Well, most people would argue that they're better when used together. They're complementary. Each has its pros and cons (which we'll hash out), but each method definitely brings important information to the table.

Before we discuss just how they can work together, let's look at the proficient and the bad of each.

Pros and Cons of Qualitative research

Allow's start with the skilful. Qualitative research lets you lot dig deeper into a problem, situation, or context and run into why things are happening. You get personal insights from your subjects that can't necessarily come up from numbers and figures.

You also have the benefit of context, which can shed light on why a person said certain things or was feeling a certain style (for example if they live in a war zone or in a small hamlet in the middle of nowhere or in the largest city in the globe).

On the other mitt, qualitative inquiry is more than time-consuming and therefore expensive. It takes a lot more than time to interview people or set upwards focus groups than information technology does to send someone a simple yes/no survey.

It can likewise be harder to get people to participate in qualitative research. They might not take the time or free energy (or desire) to share extensively.

Finally, qualitative inquiry is never really definitive. People are always irresolute, as are their perceptions of the earth around them. So while qualitative data can assist inform your hypothesis and fill in gaps in your research, information technology should ordinarily be supported past quantitative data.

Pros and Cons of Quantitative research

Quantitative research produces hard facts, numbers, and other measurable things. Which can be very useful when yous're trying to evidence a theory or understand what you're dealing with.

Information technology'due south as well independent of changeable things, like researcher bias or people's electric current opinions or moods. So quantitative research is repeatable and tin be tested and re-tested again and again.

And, practically speaking, quantitative data analysis can be performed much more apace than qualitative research. You can merely transport someone a survey, collect the response data, and dump that information into a spreadsheet or database. From there, running various queries and analyses is easy (assuming you know what you want to ask).

Still, quantitative research is limiting in sure means. People can't explicate their answers to a multiple choice test or yeah/no survey (once more, lack of context). This means you can't have human factors into account.

And so while you lot have the facts and numbers, yous have to make up one's mind how to translate them and apply them in your research. (This can exist both good and bad.)

How to employ Qualitative and Quantitative inquiry together

Sometimes it'south all-time to beginning with qualitative enquiry – gather data, talk to people, attempt to understand their issues/perceptions/opinions, then class a hypothesis.

Then, once y'all have your hypothesis, use quantitative methods to ostend (or disprove) information technology with information analysis. This will show you whether the issue/problem/state of affairs exists in full general, or was just part of someone's perception.

But qualitative research/insights can also aid circular out your structured data/conclusions – if you've learned that 10 people use your site every day, quotes from people about why they utilize it (as opposed to another company) tin teach you more nigh what'due south working (or not) and why.

Examples of Qualitative and Quantitative research

First example

Say you want to learn more about people who visit Paris on holiday. Y'all could look at flying data, museum access numbers, tourist info to figure out how many people visit Paris each year. Just that won't tell you why they're visiting.

To learn why, you have to inquire people why they wanted to visit Paris, what was their favorite office of the city, what was their experience like every bit a tourist in Paris, and so on. This volition requite you insights into what motivates people to travel there in the beginning place.

Another instance

Permit's say you run an eastward-commerce site that helps people resell their gently used wear.

You can gather data near how many people sell clothes on your site, how many items the average person has sold, how many people visit the site to buy those clothes, and so on. All that's right there in the analytics.

But if y'all want to know why people cull to use your site – either to sell or buy clothes – y'all'd want to start past conducting an open-ended questionnaire or ask for feedback on a survey.

Also, if y'all desire to know what they similar nigh your site, and how that influences their conclusion to use it, you lot could ask them to describe their feel using the site, and then on.

Ultimately, you lot'll want to use both qualitative and quantitative research to become the whole picture. And you won't just use 1, and then but apply the other. You can get back and along between the two methods equally your enquiry evolves and you gather more information.

This will help you get a more complete picture, grade a stronger and deeper hypothesis, and plant both facts nearly and insights into the state of affairs.

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