Psychology

Quantitative and qualitative are two research designs that are used in social research.  They are similar by the fact that they types of research designs but are different in the approach they use in the process of conducting research. Seale, (2004) in his attempt to describe the two methods reports that, while quantitative research uses numbers and statistics qualitative research uses words and descriptions. Since these two methods are different, it is therefore important to study the characteristics of each method to be in a better position to understand the differences of the two. This paper shall therefore discuss the characteristics of qualitative study as well as the characteristics of quantitative study at the same time shed light on their major differences.

Qualitative research looks at social problems in broader perspective with an aim of getting to know more about the problem. In this research, the researcher is more interested with the deep information about the problem, that is, the questions that the research seeks to answer is how and why (Newman  Benz, 1998). This research is therefore described to as non numerical as it does not use numerical data to describe a particular situation. After collecting enough and considerable information, then the researcher develops a theory and a hypothesis based with the information gathered from the field. During the process of the research, the researcher in qualitative research actually takes part in what is being studied so as to be able to gather the required information thus known as participatory observation (Newman Benz, 1998).

According to Seale, (2004) in qualitative research, purposive sampling method is used such that, the researcher usually looks at where the information required can be easily found. Comprehensive research is done on the case selected so as to understand the problem as well as causes of the problem. In case the researcher identifies a richer source, he can change the sample in the process of the research. After data analysis, which is usually case based, the completion of the research data is usually represented in form of written reports. Report writing is actually done in the process of the research and not until the end of the research.

In quantitative research, the researcher is usually a passive observer and does not take part in what is being studied. The main agenda is actually to study, without being part of the study. This is why questionnaires are mainly used to collect the required data. The data is collected in numerical form thus the quantitative study. To identify research objects, random sampling is used so as to make the research as representative as possible (Seale, 2004). In addition, in quantitative research, the hypothesis is formulated before the beginning of the study such that it is only tested after the process of the research. At the end of the research, the data is recorded as statistics and represented in form of graphs of different types as well as tables. The report actually has to be written after the completion of the study.

Although the two research designs have got one aim of collecting information they are different in their approaches, methodologies used, and also the method of data collection among other, differences. In quantitative research, the researcher formulates the hypothesis even before the beginning of the study while in qualitative study the hypothesis is formulated during the research process (Punch 2005). This basically means that in quantitative study, the problem is actually known and the purpose of the study is actually to test whether what is known is the truth. On the other hand, in qualitative study the researcher only has a rough idea of what the problem is and seeks to determine the cause of the problem as well as other descriptions of the problem.

In quantitative research, researchers are passive because they just observe while in qualitative research researchers actually take part in the activities they are studying (Punch 2005). Further studies reveal that this can be attributed to the fact that both parties have got different assumptions about people in the social world. In quantitative research, the social world is viewed to be natural and real while in qualitative research, it is viewed as unpredictable. This is the reason why researchers in qualitative research must be part of the social world to be able to understand the actions and the cause of these actions while the quantitative researchers only observe what they see for they believe what they are seeing is the truth.

Purposive sampling is used in qualitative research while random sampling is used in quantitative research. In qualitative research researchers according to Punch, (2005) select an activity individual or setting that will adequately answer the research question and solve the problem. The data obtained is more comprehensive as it is usually derived from the right individuals. More over the sample is usually changed in the process of the research in case a richer source is identified. On the other hand, sampling method in quantitative research is usually random sampling as its main aim is usually to obtain data that will represent the whole population. To get a more representative sample study on the population, research must be done to establish the variations so as to make sure that all the samples are almost the same.

There is a great difference between the two methods in data analysis. Studies of Punch, (2005) reveal that, while quantitative research uses statistical tools like computers, tables, and software among others in qualitative study none of the above is used. The actual analysis in qualitative study is based on the variable while it is case-based in the qualitative analysis (Punch, 2005). Mathematical language is mainly used in quantitative study not only in analyzing but also in data representation while in qualitative study mathematical language is actually considered to be useless. This is because in qualitative research data is represented in form of written report in text format.

In qualitative research, the method of data collection is basically use of methods like focus group discussions while in quantitative study there is increased use of questionnaires. The main difference is that, in quantitative study the researcher and the respondent may not even come to contact with one another while in qualitative study they usually meet and discuss. This is because a qualititative study researcher looks even at the behavior of the respondent while a quantitative researcher is only interested with the answer the respondent gives. As Newman  Benz (1998) puts it, qualitative study generally lacks the power of the quantitative study to generalize as it is not as representative as qualititative study.

In conclusion, the main difference between the two methods is in the aim of the study, method of data collection, the process identifying a sample, method of data collection, the method of data analysis and representation among other minor differences. The choice of the method use basically depends with the kind of study one is undertaking. However, each has got its own advantages and disadvantages like in qualitative study one can be writing reports in the process of the study while in quantitative study reports are written after data analysis. In addition, due to the use of random sampling method in quantitive study it is possible to generalize unlike in qualitative where one cannot generalize because the sample is not representative.