Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods

3738 words 15 pages
INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

There are generally two kinds of research: qualitative and quantitative. For any research project the researcher needs to be clear about which type of research will provide the information required. The role of qualitative research is to tell you why; quantitative research tells you how many. The methods are quite different.

Definition of Quantitative research?
"There's no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0"- Fred Kerlinger
Different researchers and educators have given different definitions to “quantitative research.” Below are a few of them:
Quantitative research refers to the numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose
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However, it never goes further to establish a cause-effect relationship. The relationships between and among a number of facts are sought and interpreted to recognize trends and patterns in data. The relationship is expressed by correlation coefficient, which is a number between .00 and 1.00. Data, relationships, and distributions of variables are observed only. Variables are identified and studied closely as they occur in a natural setting but they are not manipulated. In some cases, correlational research is considered a type of descriptive research since no variables are manipulated in the study. Examples: * The relationship between team work and high productivity at the workplace. * The relationship between stress and mental disease * The relationship between obesity and depression * The covariance of smoking and lung disease
Cause-comparative: research
Casual-comparative educational research attempts to identify a causative relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable," according to Professor John Wassen of Minnesota State University. It establishes the cause-effect relationship among variables, compares the relationship, but the cause is not manipulated, such as "age." These types of design are very similar to true experiments, but with some key differences. An independent variable is identified but not

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