Ethnography: Participating in a community or organization for an extended period of time to closely observe culture and behavior.Focus groups: Discussion among a group of people about a topic to gather opinions that can be used for further research.Interviews: Asking open-ended questions verbally to respondents.Observations: Observing subjects in a natural environment where variables can’t be controlled.Experiments: Situation in which variables are controlled and manipulated to establish cause-and-effect relationships.Surveys: List of closed or multiple choice questions that is distributed to a sample (online, in person, or over the phone).However, some methods are more commonly used in one type or the other. with open-ended questions or descriptions of what you observe). using rating scales or counting frequencies) or as words (e.g. For example, in surveys, observations or case studies, your data can be represented as numbers (e.g. Many data collection methods can be either qualitative or quantitative. It is important to use a data collection method that will help answer your research question(s). Quantitative and qualitative data can be collected using various methods. Key terms: understanding, context, complexity, subjectivity Key terms: testing, measurement, objectivity, replicability Mainly expressed in numbers, graphs and tables quantitative research Quantitative researchįocuses on testing theories and hypothesesįocuses on exploring ideas and formulating a theory or hypothesisĪnalyzed through math and statistical analysisĪnalyzed by summarizing, categorizing and interpreting Quantitative and qualitative research use different research methods to collect and analyze data, and they allow you to answer different kinds of research questions. The differences between quantitative and qualitative research This type of research enables you to gather in-depth insights on topics that are not well understood.Ĭommon qualitative methods include interviews with open-ended questions, observations described in words, and literature reviews that explore concepts and theories. It is used to understand concepts, thoughts or experiences. Qualitative researchQualitative research is expressed in words. This type of research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a topic.Ĭommon quantitative methods include experiments, observations recorded as numbers, and surveys with closed-ended questions. It is used to test or confirm theories and assumptions. Quantitative researchQuantitative research is expressed in numbers and graphs. Both are important for gaining different kinds of knowledge. When collecting and analyzing data, quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings. Quantitative Research | Differences, Examples & Methods