Qualitative And
Quantitative
Approaches To Research
KEY DISTINCTIONS IN TERMS OF;
 Q U ES T I O N FO R M AT
 M EA N I N G
 DATA FO R M AT
 G E N E R A L F R A M E WO R K
 F L E X I B I L I T Y A N D S T U DY D ES I G N
 A N A LY T I C A L O B J EC T I V ES
Qualitative approach
Qualitative research is exploratory or interrogative research and tries to get “under the surface”. “The
aim is to gather insights into how people live; what they do; how they use things; or what they need in
their everyday or professional lives.“ (Government Design Service Manual, 2016)
Interviews are a good example of how qualitative research can be. In art, it helps one understand the
attitudes and mindset of a person by asking the “whys” and the “how's” it forces the artist to think of
the motivations and reasons behind their art piece.
(Barnham, 2015) Qualitative research often happens directly on-site. “It can range from a one-hour
face-to-face interview, through following a participant for several days, or even a study over several
weeks or months.” (Government Design Service Manual, 2016)
The gained results are rich, detailed insights of a person’s feelings and thinking. The gathered data is
unstructured, and can be notes, drawings or even pictures. Qualitative research includes a small
selection of participants, based on criteria’s defined by the researcher. The expectation is that this
small selection represents a bigger group. This method does not claim that the results are universal
right, nor statistical correct or can be reproduced. Qualitative research methods can provide deep
insights, and therefore provide the designer with a better understanding for the researched topic.
Quantitative approach
Quantitative research tries to find answers to concrete questions by generating numbers and
facts. “The goal is to establish a ‘representation’ of what consumers do or what consumers
think.” (Barnham, 2015)
It entails measuring variables to obtain numerical values which are used in undertaking
statistical or numerical analysis and interpretation.
Surveys are good example for quantitative research. They ask for the “How much” or “How
many” by a set of clear and predefined questions. Participants then have to choose which
answer (“Yes”, “No”, “Never”, “twice a week”) is the best representation for them.
Quantitative research is conducted indirectly or off-site. It includes large groups of participants
to gather relevant data and the results are numbers or facts.
The cons of these findings is that they can be easily be wrongfully misinterpreted due to lack of
context. There is no control to whether the participant has understood the questions correctly
or what their underlying motive is.
1. MEANING
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
It is a method of inquiry that develops It is a method that is used to generate
understanding on human and social sciences numerical data and hard facts by employing
statistical,
logical
and
mathematical
to find the way people feel.
techniques.
It is an inductive, subjective process of inquiry
It is a deductive, objective process of inquiry
done in natural setting in order to build a where the variables in study are measured in
complex, holistic picture described in words, numbers and analyzed using statistical
including the detailed views of the informants procedures in order to describe/make
are reported informal personal language.
generalizations and reported in formal
impersonal language.
Entails measuring variables in order to obtain
numerical values which
are used
in It is making observations which are later
summarized and deduced in a narrative
undertaking statistical or numerical analysis
report (Gravetter & Forzano 158)
2. GENERAL FRAMEWORK
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Focus: Wide angle lens; it seeks to examine Focus: Narrow angle lens; seeks to test and
and explore the breadth and depth of confirm a specific hypothesis about
phenomena.
phenomena.
Its most common research objectives are;
To explore
To discover
To construct
To examine
To seek
Its most common research objectives are;
 To describe
To predict
To explain
To test
To confirm
2. GENERAL FRAMEWORK
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Instruments use more flexible, iterative style Instruments use more rigid style of eliciting
of eliciting and categorizing responses to and categorizing responses to questions.
questions.
Use highly structured methods such as;
Use semi-structured methods such as;
the interview schedule,
 in-depth interviews,
focus groups,
and participant observation.
It is exploratory/ bottom-up
the questionnaire
It is confirmatory/ top-down
3. ANALYTICAL OBJECTIVES
QUALITATIVE
It identifies:
Patterns
Features
Themes
QUANTITATIVE
It identifies statistical relationships.
To quantify variation.
To predict causal relationships.
To describe variation.
To describe characteristics of a population
To describe and explain relationships.
Variables: Specific variables are studied.
To describe individual experiences.
Group studied: It is larger and randomly
selected.
To describe group norms.
Variables: Study of the whole not variables.
Groups studied: smaller & not randomly
selected
4. QUESTION FORMAT
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Lies on the quality. Problems are answered
without generally focusing on quantity. They
are descriptions (in words) coming from
interviews, discussions/ observations.
Lies on the quantity. However when words
are translated to quality in order to describe /
to generalize, it leads to a quantitative
research.
Open-ended.
Closed-ended.
Require more than one word answers.
List, a few sentences or something longer.
Questions are; what is/ are, why, how.
Answer to a question with only yes/ no
Answer with either a single word or a short
phrase.
Questions are; how much/ how many. It relies
on strength/ association.
5. DATA FORMAT
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Data collection methods vary using Data collection methods are much more
unstructured/ semi-structured techniques.
structured than qualitative data methods.
Forms of data collected;
Individual interviews
Participant observation
Field notes
Focus groups (group discussions)
Type of data collected;
Textual
images
They include various forms of surveys;
Online surveys, Paper surveys, Mobile
surveys, Work surveys, Face to face
interviews,
Telephone
interviews,
Longitudinal studies, Website interceptors,
Online polls and systematic observations.
Type of data collected;
Numbers
Statistics
6. FLEXIBILITY IN STUDY DESIGN
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Design: Some aspects of the study are Design: The study design is stable from
flexible for example addition, exclusion, or beginning to end.
wording of particular interview questions.
Participant responses do not influence or
Participant responses affect how and which determine how and which questions
questions researchers ask next.
researchers ask next.
Study design is iterative in that data Study design is subject
collection and research questions are assumptions and conditions.
adjusted according to what is learned.
to
statistical
LITERATURE
Anderson D. John. Qualitative and Quantitative research. 2016.
Barnham, C. (2015) Quantitative and qualitative research: perceptual
foundations, International Journal of Market Research, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 837.
GOV.UK (2016) Ethnographic research: Getting input into products and services Available
at: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-design/user-research/ethnographicresearch.html (Accessed: 20 March 2016).
Gravetter, Fredrick and Forzano, Lori-Ann. Research methods for the behavioral sciences,
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Library XV. QUALITATIVE VERSUS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH.2008.
Mack N, Woodsong C, MacQueen K, Guest G, Namey E, Qualitative methods in public health: A
Field Guide for Applied Research. Medicine. 2005