Research assignment help on: Qualitative and quantitative methods of research

Introduction

A study will be considered to be incomplete without a proper research. There are various types of research and one can choose the method as per their convenience and requirement of the project. Qualitative and quantitative methods are the most used methods. Many people assume that qualitative and quantitative methods are two different methods but that is not true.  Another popular method that has been used by many is the mixed research method. It can be said that qualitative method and quantitative method are the two extreme ends of the same continuum and mixed research method balances this continuum. Research method should be planned so that it can be used in accordance with the project which is being undertaken (Creswell, 2009).Quantitative research method

Quantitative research method, basically, deals with numbers. This method is trusted by most of the researchers as they believe that anything that has been proven with the help of number cannot be wrong. This is a systematic process and hence, there is no possibility that the research being wrong. Survey and experiment design are two of the most popularly used methods for the purpose of quantitative research.

Types of quantitative research method

There are various methods used by scholars in the name of quantitative research method so that they can arrive at a conclusion. Few of the commonly used methods by scholars for the purpose of conducting quantitative research method are as follows: –

1. Survey Method – In this method a certain population or sample is chosen so that a questionnaire can be distributed to know about their thoughts and opinions on a particular topic. A purpose of the survey needs to be identified before a questionnaire is prepared. The person who is conducting the survey also needs to decide whether they will opt for cross-sectional survey or longitudinal survey. Cross-sectional survey is conducted once and closed but longitudinal survey is conducted over a period of time. In longitudinal survey, the researcher believes that the opinion of the population will change over time. In the survey method, there are three variables, namely, independent variable, dependent variable and control variable. The independent variable will tend to remain independent of the change in other variables. The opinions of the sample can be considered to be independent variable because there will be no influence, of the survey being conducted, on their decision. Dependent variables are dependent on the independent variables as well as the control variable. Control variable can be said to be the number of people who are taking the survey. If the number of people who are taking the survey increases or decreases then there will be a difference in the survey’s result (Creswell, 2009).
2. Experiment research method – This method is different than that of the survey method. In this method, the participants are selected either randomly or a particular interest group is selected. There are two variables present in this research method; one is independent variable and the other is dependent variable. The independent variable can be said to be the personal likes and dislikes of the people who are used in the experiment and the outcome of the experiment can be said to be the dependent variable. The results of the experiment are, generally, produced in the form of a diagram so that the reader can understand the results easily (Creswell, 2009).

Advantages of Quantitative Research

There are various advantages of quantitative research methods and hence, many researchers prefer this method for their research. Few of the advantages of this method are as follows: –The result, which is, derived from quantitative research, is numerical and hence, there is no way for assumptions. If a person wants to prove his thought to be correct then this is better because the solution is accurate and not judgmental.

1. With the help of this method, one can get a clear idea regarding the number of people who holds a particular ideology.
2. This is the only method which can answer questions like that “how many”, “how frequently” or “how soon” thus, allowing the researcher to get an accurate answer. There are only two answers as per this method; it is either 1 or O and there is nothing in between it (Sukamolson).

Disadvantages of Quantitative research

This method cannot be said to be perfect as there are certain flaws as well in it. Few of the flaws in Quantitative research method are as follows: –

1. In the method, the group which has been selected for survey matters the most. If a particular group has been chosen and if that group shares the same value then there are possibilities that the answer which will be drawn from the survey will be partial.
2. If the question used in the survey consists of some sensitive issue then very less people will give an appropriate answer while others will prefer to choose an answer that is diplomatically correct.
3. Location constraint is one of the biggest problems with this method because it is a known fact that people from the same geographical location tend to share the same opinion. If a person tries to get answers via mail then the response will be very low (Sukamolson).

Questions that can be answered by Quantitative research

Quantitative research can answer all the questions that are numeric in nature. It can answer the following questions: –

1. Is there a correlation between parent-child attachment relationships and adolescent addiction to the internet?
2. Can meaningful life change adolescents who are addicted to internet?

Qualitative research method

Qualitative research method is a way by which the results of the research are put into sentences rather than that of numbers. Many researchers state that the researchers have a look at things from their point of view rather than that of the general point of view and hence, the decisions that are arrived are also as per the researcher’s requirement. This method is considered to be the best if the researcher already knows the solution as this method is best suited for collecting proofs to support one’s thought.

Types of qualitative research methods

There are various types of qualitative research methods and hence, the researcher can choose one or more as per his convenience. Few of the types of qualitative research methods are as follows: –Observations – The researcher can observe the things that are related to his research and this is one of the best things because the researcher doesn’t interact with people in the surrounding. In this type, the researcher will have to find an explanation for every behavior of the sample that is being performed.

1. Interviews – The researcher directly communicates with people who can help them to derive at a conclusion. They have a set of questions but the interviewer will not be restricted to the question set only as it may divert as per the answer which the interviewee is giving.
2. Documents – All the research, books, articles and documents which are already written on this topic can be read. Reading various contents will allow the researcher to get a better understanding about the topic on which they are planning to research (Creswell, 2009).

Advantages of qualitative research methods

Few of the advantages of qualitative research methods are as follows: –

1. Qualitative research methods are less expensive than that of quantitative methods because few people need to be met for getting an understanding about the research topic.
2. This method reveals various facts that are related to the research. The researcher need not stop himself with a standard questionnaire as the researcher can talk about all possible things (Morse, B, M, 2002).

Disadvantages of qualitative research method

Few of the disadvantages which need to be considered while using qualitative research method are as follows: –

1. The data collected is completely dependent on the thoughts and behavior of people who are taking up the interview. Many researchers think that this method is based more on assumptions rather than that of reality.
2. A research cannot be completely dependent on the qualitative research method. If the researcher is not sure about how to proceed with the research then they can go ahead with qualitative research to start with the research. (Morse, B, M, 2002).

Questions that can be answered by qualitative research

Quantitative research can answer all the questions that which cannot be without a description. It can answer the following questions: –

1. What past studies were done to find relationships between meaning of life, attachment relationships of adolescents and internet addiction?
2. The prevalence of internet addiction in Hong Kong
3. Understand the problems that are associated with adolescent internet addiction.
4. What are health issues that are associated with adolescent health and mental issues?

Mixed research method

1. Mixed research method is considered to be better if a researcher is willing to collect complete data. Mixed research method means that usage of both quantitative as well as qualitative data. If a person has decided to take up a research topic then they can read a lot of documents so that they can understand the research that has been done till date. Once the researcher gets an understanding about the research then they can go ahead with the survey so that they can get to know about people’s opinion. Reading documents is a qualitative method and taking survey is a quantitative method and this is termed as mixed research method (Creswell, 2009).

Advantages of Mixed research method

Few of the advantages of mixed research method are as follows: –

1. When a person starts with research then he has thrown some light on the previous theories and research and this is possible only with the help of mixed research method.
2. If a research tends to use any one of the methods then there are possibilities that the data collected will be incomplete and hence, usage of both the methods is always recommended.

Disadvantages of mixed research method

Few of the advantages of mixed research method are as follows: –

1. There are possibilities that the researcher will find two different conclusions from quantitative research and qualitative research. This may confuse the researcher regarding the conclusion that can be drawn finally.
2. Usage of both the methods will increase the cost factor involved and hence, mixed research method can be considered to be expensive (Sukamolson).

Questions that can be answered by mixed research

Mixed research is a combination of qualitative as well as quantitative method and hence, it can answer all the questions that have been answered by both the research.

Comparison of quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods

Mixed research method is considered to be the best as the advantages of both the method is used in it but there is always a comparison between the quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Quantitative research method is numerical in nature and hence, the result is very straight as the conclusion is clear. The qualitative research method is descriptive in nature and hence, the researcher gets an opportunity to speak from both the ends rather than any one only.

Qualitative research is recommended by researchers to start up with their project. They get a clear idea regarding the past analysis that has been done about the topic. Quantitative analysis is recommended to carry on with the research. The details which have been collected by way of qualitative research are verified by the researcher with the help of survey and other experiments.

The opinion of the researcher matters the most in qualitative research but the researcher hardly matters in quantitative research. Quantitative research is completely dependent on the data that is collected by way of a survey.

The data, that is, used in qualitative research is words, articles, pictures, books and other researches in the past. Quantitative data collection is completely dependent on numbers and statistics only (Neill, 2007).

ConclusionThe method which the researcher chooses completely depends on the topic of research and hence, the researcher is completely free to do that. Quantitative methods allow the researcher to be relaxed as he knows that the result is completely dependent on the sample which has been chosen. In qualitative method, the researcher needs to read a lot of content so that they can derive at a conclusion and they also have to read in between the lines. A project is incomplete without a research.

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