DH450
: The Class
: Research Methods
: Types of Research
: Research Methods
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
The purpose or goal of a research project guides
the design. There are two major approaches to research: Qualitative and Quantitative.
Purpose of Research
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
- Develop theory
- Explore a topic
- Develop a hypothesis
|
- Test theory
- Establish fact
- Show causal or other relationships between
variables
|
Research Approach
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
|
Begins with a vague, general question or a
broad topic
Examples:
- Why do people choose tooth loss instead
of restoration?
- Why do some people do volunteer work? What
determines if one will volunteer?
- What is it like to live with a particular
disease?
|
Begins with a specific hypothesis that addresses
one issue
Examples:
- The daily use of fluoride will reducecaries.
- Frequent professional maintenance will
reduce periodontal disease
|
Qualitative research often leads to quantitative
research. For example, in the tooth loss study mentioned above:
- You may discover through a qualitative research
study, that dental office interactions often impact patient's decisions to
either restore or extract teeth.
- You may want
to design a quantitative study to compare whether a specific dialogue or a
videotape about treatment options has a greater effect on people's decision.
Qualitative
and Quantitative
Qualitative VS. Quantitative
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
- General, flexible
- Evolves during the study
- Setting is natural or in the field
- The researcher has intense contact with
participants over a long period of time
Ex: to discover what is like to
live with a disease, the researcher may actually live with several individuals
who have the disease, then look for patterns, similarities etc.
|
- Structured, formal
- Constant during the study
- Setting is often a lab or clinic
- Researcher observes, measures, doesn't
influence the data by personal involvement with subjects
Ex: researcher may count behaviors
through a one-way mirror
|
Data Generated
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
- Deals with qualities
- Field notes, generalities
- Peoples own words
|
- Counts, numbers
- Statistical
|
Data Analysis
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
- Time consuming
- Ongoing during the study
Methods:
- Coding
- Event listing
- Pattern matching
|
- Quick
- Occurs at the end of the study
Methods:
|
Outcome
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
- Pose a hypothesis
- Grounded theory
- Lengthy
- Descriptive
|
- Answer a question
- Statistical evidence to prove a point
- Brief
|
Strategies
|
Qualitative
|
Quantitative
|
- Ethnography: Describe
culture or aspects
- Phenomenology: Study
from informants point of view, understand
subjective aspects of behavior
- Unobtrusive Observation:Gather
data without influencing
- Participant Observation:Investigator
takes part in participants' world to obtain data
|
- Manipulation: Change
a variable and measure difference it makes
- Control:
Eliminate interfering influence
- Randomization:
Reduce systematic bias
|
Once you have finished the lesson you should:
Go on to Summarize what
you have learned
or
Go back to Types
of Research: Qualitative vs. Quantitative
E-mail Tricia Moore at
Tricia.Moore@nau.edu
or call (520) 523-4012
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Northern Arizona University
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
