Qualitative & Quantitative Research Method Differences [Tabular Explanation]

While you are deciding to undertake research, first you need to prepare aims and objectives, research questions for that you need to determine the types of research you want to perform that you can decide on the basis of the nature of the research problem or topic.

Qualitative and quantitative research methods are two different ways to study human behavior. Qualitative research is concerned with the meanings, experiences, and interpretations of people’s lives. Quantitative research tends to focus on objective measurements rather than subjective interpretation. This blog post will discuss some of the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to help you decide which method is right for your needs.

Meaning Of Qualitative and Quantitative Research

There are basic types of study in which researchers generally perform are Qualitative and Quantitative. These are basically two approaches in researches that are utilized for the collection and analysis of information.

Quantitative research is mainly executed for collecting numerical data. Such type of study will allow you to convert data into statistics that can be beneficial in terms of demonstrating a clear outcome. Quantitative research is expressed in numerical form.

Whereas, Qualitative research is being executed for the accumulation of facts related to the topic or subject. It is articulated in words. The qualitative study enables you to develop an in-depth understanding of the problem. By performing the Qualitative techniques you can easily discover the root cause of the problem. Qualitative research will help you in getting answers to your questions.

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Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research

Basis	Qualitative Research	Quantitative Research
Focus	By conducting a qualitative study you can mainly emphasize searching for ideas. You can also formulate new concepts or theories.	It is the type of research that mainly concentrates on testing hypothesis for research.
Use	Students perform such types of research for the collection of facts Or If you want to understand something (concepts, thoughts, experiences)	It is a study that the researcher performs for gathering numerical data. Or If you want to confirm or test something (theory or hypothesis)
Benefits	The important benefit of conducting a quantitative study is that you can gather detailed information about the topic. This research will help you in increasing knowledge about the same.	A quantitative study allows you to make comparisons easily between different types of variables. In order words, by conducting a quantitative study you can easily analyze data and reach a conclusion.
Respondents require	You need to select a large number of respondents to perform Qualitativelystudy.	You need fewer participants for executing the quantitative study.
The technique of data collection	– A technique that you can apply for the collection of facts in qualitative research is Interview: It includes asking questions orally about the topic from participants. Case study research: It involves detailed research of a person or company. Literature review in research: It contains information about the views of different authors on the topic. A literature review is basically secondary data that is collected using books, magazines, articles, etc. Focused group: Discussion among a group of people about a topic to gather opinions. – In relation to interview techniques, you need to ask open-ended questions from participants. – Here, the data collection technique is less structured.	– Methods that you can apply for gathering numerical data about the topic are Surveys: List of closed or multiple-choice questions that are distributed to a sample Experiments: It is the activity that mainly involves manipulation and controlling of data for developing the relationship between cause well as effect. Observation: It includes observing people in the natural environment. Content analysis for research: It includes designing themes for analysis of the pattern of responses. – In the Context of Quantitative study close-ended questions are generally designed. – The method used for the collection of facts is highly structured.
Methods used for data analysis	Content analysis: It mainly includes tracking words. Thematic analysis for research: It involves designing themes on the basis of research questions and answers.	You can apply mathematical and statistical techniques for analyzing data. In addition to this, software like SPSS can be used for computation of average scores, correlation research between different variables, etc
Results	Are descriptive	Results are numeric or less descriptive
Examples	Example of qualitative investigation performed for gathering the information about specific subjects liked by students.	An example of Quantitative data is asking students to rank from 1 to 5 on the basis of the level of knowledge which they have gained by studying a particular subject.

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