Quantitative and qualitative research

Transcription

1 Quantitative and qualitative research Quantitative and qualitative research 1 Qualitative vs quantitative 2 Overview of qualitative research 3 Qualitative research techniques 3 Overview of quantitative research 5 Quantitative research techniques 5 1

2 Qualitative vs quantitative Researchers need different types of data to answer different types of questions and solve different types of problems. In some cases, a researcher will need to know why an event happens and how people feel about it. At other times, they may need to know how many people felt a certain way about an issue and to ensure as far as possible for that information to apply across the entire population. Qualitative research gains insights from peoples about their feelings and motivations. It also touches on emotions, attitudes, reactions and beliefs. It usually requires a smaller sample of respondents and is generally more expensive per person to collect, but on the other hand, generates a larger amount of data per person (which can be correspondingly harder to analyse). Quantitative research involves gathering data from a large number of people to the extent that their responses are representative of the population of concern. It is concerned with numerical measurements, and deals with percentages, proportions, graphs, charts and statistics. Quantitative data is usually cheaper per person to collect but generates a smaller amount of information per person. The essential difference between quantitative and qualitative research is that the former emphasises numbers while the latter provides conclusions in words. Qualitative and quantitative research methods can be combined to provide a higher quality result. 2

3 Overview of qualitative research Qualitative research involves gathering, analysing and interpreting data by observing what people say or do. It involves seeking opinions and feelings about situations. Impressions are reported rather than numbers. Qualitative research techniques Qualitative research aims to gain insight from people about their feelings and motivations. Techniques include: interviews observations focus groups. Interviews Interviews involve an interviewer posing a series of predetermined questions to a respondent(s). They are useful if you want to get detailed information from people about their experiences, thoughts, feelings or opinions about a particular issue. Interview can provide rich qualitative data for the purpose of understanding the motivations and emotions behind people s decisions and/or actions regarding a specific issue. A key skill that the interviewer needs is the skill of probing. To probe is to fully explore an issue raised by a respondent. An interviewer can do this by asking questions such as Why do you say that? and Can you tell me more? Observations Observations involve the researcher examining the behaviour of a participant(s). For example, if your research project was to see how people in your local community use a park, you could note whether people jog, walk, or do another activity (eg roller-blading). There are two main types of observational research: participant observation involving the researcher participating in 3

4 the group and observing from within. Greater disclosure often occurs due to the researcher gaining better access to the group. However, the presence of the researcher and their actions can influence group dynamics. non participant observation involving the researcher observing the group without participating. The researcher can be more objective and it is easier to record the observations. However, an awareness of group members that they are under observation can influence their actions. Different observation methods are used depending on the particular research objectives. Observations can be: structured or unstructured disguised or undisguised natural or contrived. Focus groups Focus groups involve a facilitator obtaining opinions and discussing issues with a group of respondents in a non-structured and natural manner. A researcher can use a direct approach, where respondents know the purpose of the discussion or use an indirect approach, where the respondents are not informed about the purpose or the subject of the interview. The main purpose of a focus group is to gain insights and understanding into the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of consumers. The participants in a focus group are specifically selected to be broadly representative of the population of interest. Information about feelings, motivations, and the like can also be quantitative, when rating scales are used to collect the data and the results can be analysed statistically. A qualitative research method can result in quantitative data. 4

5 Overview of quantitative research Quantitative research involves collecting of a large body of data, usually by survey, and making a statistical analysis of it. Quantitative research is research that can be expressed in numbers. These numbers can show results such as the following: 47 per cent of 1200 people surveyed stated a preference for X over Y. Trains arrive at the city terminal on average 10 minutes 30 seconds late. Between 12 noon and 2 pm the queue of callers averages 3.2 people. While the aim of qualitative research is to stimulate ideas and insights into a problem situation, quantitative research is designed to explain what is happening and how often it is happening. It is normally conducted by using a large sample of research subjects with a more formal and structured research process. Quantitative research techniques Quantitative research relates to quantity. This is used if you need information in relation to amounts. Techniques fall into two major categories: descriptive surveys and observations causal experimentation and test marketing. Surveys Surveys use questionnaires or interviews to ask people for information. The people who participate in a survey are called respondents. Surveys provide a quick and efficient method of assessing information about a population. They can be quite flexible and when properly conducted are extremely valuable to the researcher. There are three major ways of administering surveys: 1 person-administered surveys 2 computer-administered surveys 3 self-administered surveys. 5

6 Using a questionnaire allows a researcher to gather data from a larger number of people. Imagine interviewing 1000 people! This would take much longer than merely sending out 1000 questionnaires and having the people complete it themselves. This method is often used via mail where a large number of people are given questionnaires and asked to complete and return them. One of the drawbacks of this method is that often a large number of people do not complete and return the questionnaire. Also, in an interview if a person says something that could be particularly interesting the researcher is able to pursue that issue and perhaps get some rich data. 6