Quantitative vs Qualitative Research

Definition of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is one that provides insights and understanding of the problem set. It is an unstructured, exploratory research method that studies highly complex phenomena that are impossible to elucidate with quantitative research. Although, it generates ideas or hypotheses for later quantitative research.

Qualitative research is used to gain an in-depth understanding of human behavior, experience, attitudes, intentions, and motivations, on the basis of observation and interpretation, to find out the way people think and feel. It is a form of research in which the researcher gives more weight to the views of the participants. Case study, grounded theory, ethnography, historical and phenomenology are the types of qualitative research.

Definition of Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a form of research that relies on the methods of natural sciences, which produces numerical data and hard facts. It aims at establishing cause and effect relationship between two variables by using mathematical, computational and statistical methods. The research is also known as empirical research as it can be accurately and precisely measured.

The data collected by the researcher can be divided into categories or put into rank, or it can be measured in terms of units of measurement. Graphs and tables of raw data can be constructed with the help of quantitative research, making it easier for the researcher to analyze the results.

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