Qualitative vs Quantitative Research | Simply Psychology (2023)

FAQs

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research in psychology? ›

Psychologists rely on both quantitative and quantitative research to better understand human thought and behavior. Qualitative research involves collecting and evaluating non-numerical data in order to understand concepts or subjective opinions. Quantitative research involves collecting and evaluating numerical data.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings. Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses. Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

Key takeaways: Quantitative data refers to any information that can be quantified, counted or measured, and given a numerical value. Qualitative data is descriptive in nature, expressed in terms of language rather than numerical values.

Qualitative data is defined as non-numerical data, such as text, video, photographs or audio recordings. This type of data can be collected using diary accounts or in-depth interviews, and analyzed using grounded theory or thematic analysis.

Certainly among the American social sciences psychology is most assertively the quantitative experimental laboratory science.

Quantitative psychologists study and develop the methods and techniques used to measure human behavior and other attributes. Their work involves the statistical and mathematical modeling of psychological processes, the design of research studies and the analysis of psychological data. Date created: 2014.

Common examples of quantitative data in mental health include: Population studies and samples to determine the prevalence of a specific condition. Statistical analysis of trends in mental health. Analysis of the frequency of certain conditions in particular families, populations, locations, and environments.

There are several different types of qualitative research. Five examples of qualitative research include observations, interviews, focus groups, surveys, and secondary research.

The main difference between qualitative and quantitative data is that qualitative data is descriptive while quantitative data is numerical. For example, qualitative data are gender, country, city, nationality, etc. while quantitative data are length, width, height, weight, area, speed, age, etc.

Quantitative research utilizes statistical and analytical statements to get a conclusion whereas the qualitative search depends on the verbal and written data.

What is qualitative research examples? ›

The most frequently used qualitative research methods are one-on-one interviews, focus groups, ethnographic research, case study research, record keeping, and qualitative observation.

Identifying Qualitative Research - Example

This abstract has several indications that this is a qualitative study: the goal of the study was to explore the subjects' experiences. the researchers conducted open-ended interviews. the researchers used thematic analysis when reviewing the interviews.

Qualitative observations are observations that describe “qualities” of something. These would include characteristics such as texture, color, shape, and do not involve counting or measuring. Quantitative observations involve counting or measuring using standard scales.

The main advantage of quantitative data for psychologists is that it is objective - numbers mean the same thing to everyone and you don't need to interpret them personally; this makes quantitative data very reliable and highly scientific. Another advantage is that quantitative data is good for making comparisons.

Qualitative approaches can tell us how patients experience their treatment process, whether their outcome is good or bad. In this way, a qualitative approach not only can fill in the gap regarding what numbers can tell us but can also give rise to a constructive critique of what is measured in quantitative studies.

Quantitative development refers to the changes that children will go through as they gain knowledge and grow larger physically. Qualitative stage are changes that are in the way that the child thinks and behaves.

Generally, qualitative research is concerned with cases rather than variables, and understanding differences rather than calculating the mean of responses. ⁴. In-depth interviews, focus groups, case studies, and open-ended questions are often employed to find these answers.

Simply put, quantitative data gets you the numbers to prove the broad general points of your research. Qualitative data brings you the details and the depth to understand their full implications. To get the best results from these methods in your surveys, it's important that you understand the differences between them.

Quantitative psychology also incorporates the mathematical and statistical modeling of various psychological processes as well as the analysis of psychological data and research studies. Quantitative psychology plays an integral role in all sectors of psychology: education, science, and public interest and practice.

In general, quantitative research seeks to understand the causal or correlational relationship between variables through testing hypotheses, whereas qualitative research seeks to understand a phenomenon within a real-world context through the use of interviews and observation.

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection? ›

As qualitative and quantitative studies collect different data, their data collection methods differ considerably. Quantitative studies rely on numerical or measurable data. In contrast, qualitative studies rely on personal accounts or documents that illustrate in detail how people think or respond within society.

Qualitative research is by definition exploratory, and it is used when we don't know what to expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. It's also used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the problem at hand.

Surveys (questionnaires) can often contain both quantitative and qualitative questions. The quantitative questions might take the form of yes/no, or rating scale (1 to 5), whereas the qualitative questions would present a box where people can write in their own words.

There are three major approaches to qualitative research: ethnography (drawn from anthropology); phenomenology (drawn from philosophy) and grounded theory (drawn from sociology).

Qualitative research studies can provide you with details about human behavior, emotion, and personality characteristics that quantitative studies cannot match. Data from qualitative studies describes the qualities or characteristics of something.

Quantitative research is more preferred over qualitative research because it is more scientific, objective, fast, focused and acceptable. However, qualitative research is used when the researcher has no idea what to expect. It is used to define the problem or develop and approach to the problem.

The primary aim of a Qualitative Research is to provide a complete, detailed description of the research topic. It is usually more exploratory in nature. Quantitative Research on the other hand focuses more in counting and classifying features and constructing statistical models and figures to explain what is observed.

Qualitative Information – Involves a descriptive judgment using concept words instead of numbers. Gender, country name, animal species, and emotional state are examples of qualitative information.

Why would you choose qualitative research? ›

This method is generally used for understanding views and perceptions. It offers visions to different problems and helps in developing concepts or theories for potential quantitative research. With analysis to look deeper into problems, the qualitative approach helps to discover new thoughts and individual views.

In a quantitative study, results are reported in terms of statistical significance of numeric data. If you read a quantitative research study report, you should expect to find data tables, with information about the statistical significances of findings.

Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables – and generalize results from a larger sample population.

What qualitative research is not: Quantifiable: Surveys, even those that include open-ended questions, are never qualitative, neither is putting numbers to frequencies of word occurrences.

There are four main types of Quantitative research: Descriptive, Correlational, Causal-Comparative/Quasi-Experimental, and Experimental Research.

Quantitative data are data about numeric variables (e.g. how many; how much; or how often). Qualitative data are measures of 'types' and may be represented by a name, symbol, or a number code.

While other research frameworks, such as qualitative research, can be subjective, quantitative research is more objective. It studies processes through numbers, and often, the goal of the research is to produce statistics.

Qualitative - It is an observation that describes the object such as in color, shape, relative location and does not include numerical expressions. The wings are 3 cm in length. Quantitative - This observation includes a measurement. The bug has 6 legs.

Samples in qualitative research tend to be small in order to support the depth of case-oriented analysis that is fundamental to this mode of inquiry [5].

What is qualitative change in psychology? ›

What is Qualitative Change? The Qualitative Change (QC) principle states that, when solving a problem, one should strive to transform elements that either create or aggravate the problem, neutralizing them or even converting them to become instrumental to the problem's solution.

Changes are in structure and organization. Piaget, for example, claims that cognition changes in qualitative ways over the course of development because children think in fundamentally different ways as they mature rather than simply acquiring more and more knowledge.

“Growth is the expansion of some object, institution or population which is measurable and is always quantitative whereas development is related to qualitative improvement,” said the Reader of the department of Economics, Mangalore University Prof Shripathi Kalluraya.

The three dominant attributes – associated with context, meaning, and the participant-researcher relationship – are deeply entangled with each other and together cast an effect on the entire array of distinctive qualities in qualitative research.

Many qualitative researchers have successfully used research questions without the use of a hypothesis, because a research question (in the context of qualitative research) is in most cases a hypothesis postulated in the form of a question.

Certainly among the American social sciences psychology is most assertively the quantitative experimental laboratory science.

Common examples of quantitative data in mental health include: Population studies and samples to determine the prevalence of a specific condition. Statistical analysis of trends in mental health. Analysis of the frequency of certain conditions in particular families, populations, locations, and environments.

Quantitative research involves the process of objectively collecting and analyzing numerical data to describe, predict, or control variables of interest. The goals of quantitative research are to test causal relationships between variables, make predictions, and generalize results to wider populations.

Quantitative psychology is a field of scientific study that focuses on the mathematical modeling, research design and methodology, and statistical analysis of psychological processes. It includes tests and other devices for measuring cognitive abilities.

What is the difference between qualitative research and quantitative research Brainly? ›

Quantitative research utilizes statistical and analytical statements to get a conclusion whereas the qualitative search depends on the verbal and written data.

Qualitative research is an important alternative to quantitative research in psychology. It generally involves asking broader research questions, collecting more detailed data (e.g., interviews), and using nonstatistical analyses.

Qualitative approaches can tell us how patients experience their treatment process, whether their outcome is good or bad. In this way, a qualitative approach not only can fill in the gap regarding what numbers can tell us but can also give rise to a constructive critique of what is measured in quantitative studies.

Simply put, quantitative data gets you the numbers to prove the broad general points of your research. Qualitative data brings you the details and the depth to understand their full implications. To get the best results from these methods in your surveys, it's important that you understand the differences between them.

Quantitative research utilizes statistical and analytical statements to get a conclusion whereas the qualitative search depends on the verbal and written data.

Quantitative development refers to the changes that children will go through as they gain knowledge and grow larger physically. Qualitative stage are changes that are in the way that the child thinks and behaves.

Generally, qualitative research is concerned with cases rather than variables, and understanding differences rather than calculating the mean of responses. ⁴. In-depth interviews, focus groups, case studies, and open-ended questions are often employed to find these answers.

Quantitative research is more frequently conducted. It benefits from objectivity, and controls and designs to test theories and produce empirical data evaluating causal relationships between variables with little extraneous variable corruption.

Surveys (questionnaires) can often contain both quantitative and qualitative questions. The quantitative questions might take the form of yes/no, or rating scale (1 to 5), whereas the qualitative questions would present a box where people can write in their own words.

When should qualitative research methods be used? ›

Qualitative research is by definition exploratory, and it is used when we don't know what to expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. It's also used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the problem at hand.

Quantitative studies rely on numerical or measurable data. In contrast, qualitative studies rely on personal accounts or documents that illustrate in detail how people think or respond within society.

The main difference between qualitative and quantitative data is that qualitative data is descriptive while quantitative data is numerical. For example, qualitative data are gender, country, city, nationality, etc. while quantitative data are length, width, height, weight, area, speed, age, etc.

In general, quantitative research seeks to understand the causal or correlational relationship between variables through testing hypotheses, whereas qualitative research seeks to understand a phenomenon within a real-world context through the use of interviews and observation.

Quantitative data are data from a​ population, while qualitative data are data from a sample.

Qualitative research studies can provide you with details about human behavior, emotion, and personality characteristics that quantitative studies cannot match. Data from qualitative studies describes the qualities or characteristics of something.

The Code specifically states that: “Qualitative research includes focus groups, in-depth interviews, case studies, narrative research, and ethnography, among other approaches.