differentiating between Qualitative Research and Quantitative research methods

 differentiating between Qualitative Research and Quantitative research methods

While undertaking Research, scholars often find themselves in a fix in differentiating between Qualitative Research and Quantitative research methods since, to many, they make a mistake of using the two terms interchangeably, which usually distorts the meaning of the intended message. The two words have different rights from their purpose. Qualitative Research refers to exploratory Research. Most researchers use Qualitative Research to understand any underlying opinions, motivations, and reasons (Firestone, 1987). Therefore researchers use Qualitative Research if they need to have insight into a specific problem or when they need hypotheses or ideas developed for a potential Quantitative Research (Yilmaz, 2013). Quantitative Research, on the other hand, is used when a problem needs to be quantified. Quantification can be done by a generation of numerical data or data which can be used or instead transformed into useful statistics (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). Quantitative Research helps researchers to quantify defined variables such as attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and more (McCusker,& Gunaydin, 2015). It is through the use of measurable data that Quantitative Research helps researchers formulate facts and also uncover specific patterns in Research.

Data

One of the most distinctive differences between Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research is data (Antwi, & Hamza, 2015). Qualitative data cannot be counted since it includes texts, videos, photos, and many more. Quantitative data, on the other hand, can be calculated; hence, it can be referred to as numerical. Research indicates that Qualitative data is mostly unstructured. This means that it is not grouped or ordered in a logical way (Antwi & Hamza, 2015). However, through analytic methods such as coding, qualitative data can be turned into structured data. Quantitative data, on the other hand, is usually structured. Qualitative data is generally collected from smaller sized samples as compared to quantitative data (Bryman, 2017). The reason behind this is Qualitative Research is not bent on seeking statistical significance, but Quantitative Research is. Qualitative Research is very rich in directional insights especially when a researcher needs information on topics such as people’s feelings, thoughts, emotions, and much more Quantitative Research, on the other hand, is more abundant in information such as trends, hence allowing the researcher to be in a position of deriving numerical facts (Hammersley, 2017).

On a lighter note, quantitative Research explains what were the actions of the user, while Qualitative Research helps to learn the reason why the users did it (Brannen, 2017). The methodology used by the two types of Research is different also. Qualitative Research uses methods such as observation of the respondents and interviews supported by privileged witnesses, while Qualitative Research uses structured questionnaires (Brannen, 2017). Quantitative Research requires the use of representative samples, but they are not a necessity in qualitative Research.

Question 2

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders. Depression can be described as a mood disorder that involves a feeling of persistent sadness as well as a loss of interest (Staneva, Bogossian, & Wittkowski, 2015). Research indicates that it is usually different from fluctuations of mood, which is generally experienced as part of a healthy life (Staneva, Bogossian, & Wittkowski, 2015). A difference exists between Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research, so are the findings on a similar research topic (Krumm, Checchia, Koesters, Kilian, & Becker, 2017). Qualitative Research conducted on depression revealed that there were many essential elements regarding depression which could not be uncovered without the use of Quantitative analysis.

One of the discoveries of the qualitative Research on depression was the feelings attributed to it.

Research indicates that depression brings about intense feelings of aggression as well as irritability. This one of the most common symptoms among those suffering from depression. Another discovery was undergoing (Chambers, Cook, Thake, Foster, Shaw, Hutten, & Ricketts, 2015). Research indicated that most of those interviewed showed their overwhelming experience of suffering. The sample also indicated their experience of loneliness as well as isolation. Most of those suffering from depression, too, the research suggests that they were struggling to understand the suffering they were going through (Lascelles, Marzano, Brand, Trueman, McShane, & Hawton, 2019). The Research also indicated that what came last after undergoing all the emotional suffering is seeking therapy.

As the information indicates, the information that surfaced after the qualitative Research was about people’s feelings. This is information that requires no numerical explanation.

Qualitative Research, however, failed to explain some aspects which are essential in understanding more about depression. There is a need, for example, to know how many people in terms of figures are suffering from depression globally. There also need to know percentage of those suffering along age differentiation. Having the data for which gender is most vulnerable is also very important to help treatment procedures (Parkinson, Eatough, Holmes, Stapley, & Midgley, 2016). Numerical data on how progressive the disorder is a long time is essential. This will help discover which years and times were most affected. A statistical chart of how countries are also affected would go a long way to help understand how distributed the disorder is. Depression is mostly as a result of other diseases. As such, there is a need for the Research to figuratively indicate which different conditions are likely to cause depression, at what rate, and how often, which should be all described in terms of figures and charts. All this information was not available in the qualitative Research but can be handy if quantitative Research was conducted.

Firestone, W. A. (1987). Meaning in method: The rhetoric of quantitative and qualitative research. Educational researcher, 16(7), 16-21.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189X016007016

Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions: Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2), 311-325.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ejed.12014

Antwi, S. K., & Hamza, K. (2015). Qualitative and quantitative research paradigms in business research: A philosophical reflection. European Journal of Business and Management, 7(3), 217-225.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hamza_Kasim2/publication/295087782_Qualitative_and_Quantitative_Research_Paradigms_in_Business_Research_A_Philosophical_Reflection/links/56c7587108ae5488f0d2cd62.pdf

Bryman, A. (2017). Quantitative and qualitative research: further reflections on their integration. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 57-78). Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315248813/chapters/10.4324/9781315248813-3

Brannen, J. (2017). Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches: an overview. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 3-37). Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315248813/chapters/10.4324/9781315248813-1

Brannen, J. (2017). Mixing processes: Qualitative and Quantitative Research. Routledge.

file:///C:/Users/pc/Downloads/9781315248813_googlepreview.pdf

McCusker, K., & Gunaydin, S. (2015). Research using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods and choice based on the Research. Perfusion, 30(7), 537-542.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0267659114559116

Hammersley, M. (2017). Deconstructing the qualitative-quantitative divide 1. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 39-55). Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315248813/chapters/10.4324/9781315248813-2

Staneva, A. A., Bogossian, F., & Wittkowski, A. (2015). The experience of psychological distress, depression, and anxiety during pregnancy: A meta-synthesis of qualitative research. Midwifery, 31(6), 563-573.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0266613815001114

Krumm, S., Checchia, C., Koesters, M., Kilian, R., & Becker, T. (2017). Men’s views on depression: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative research. Psychopathology, 50(2), 107-124.

https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/455256

Chambers, E., Cook, S., Thake, A., Foster, A., Shaw, S., Hutten, R., … & Ricketts, T. (2015). The self-management of longer-term depression: learning from the patient, a qualitative study. BMC psychiatry, 15(1), 172.

https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-015-0550-6

Lascelles, K., Marzano, L., Brand, F., Trueman, H., McShane, R., & Hawton, K. (2019). Effects of ketamine treatment on suicidal ideation: a qualitative study of patients’ accounts following treatment for depression in a UK ketamine clinic. BMJ Open, 9(8), e029108.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/8/e029108.abstract

Parkinson, S., Eatough, V., Holmes, J., Stapley, E., & Midgley, N. (2016). Framework analysis: a worked example of a study exploring young people’s experiences of depression. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 13(2), 109-129.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953616307109