Qualitative vs. Quantitative
Research
|
Qualitative |
Quantitative |
|
Methods include focus groups, in-depth interviews, and reviews |
Surveys |
|
Normally used to formulate theories |
Tests pre-selected concepts that creates a theory |
|
Data does not lend itself to generalize |
Able to generalize |
|
Lacks statistical testing |
Statistical tests are used to analyze data |
|
Usually a small number of pre-selected participants |
Usually a large number of participants representing a population of interest that have been randomly selected |
|
Provides awareness into the core reasons of a problem, generating ideas |
Measures views, and opinions (possibly testing the hypothesis created in the qualitative research) |
|
Unstructured or semi-structured response options |
Fixed response options |