Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research

Hello, my name is Dr. Christina Quinlan and I work at the Graduate Business School at the Technological University, Dublin. In this presentation, I'm going to talk to you about quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research.

Quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative research is designed to used or to generate quantitative data. Quantitative data is data in a numeric format, data in the form of numbers or data that can be readily coded into a numeric formats. Qualitative research is research designed to use or generate non-numeric data. Qualitative research uses data that is often in the form of language, in the form of, for example, transcripts of interviews of focus groups. Qualitative data can also be visual data.

In this slide we're looking at now you can see the model of the research process. Sometimes, the research design is quantitative and sometimes it's qualitative, and sometimes it's mixed. That means that the researcher is using a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative approaches in their research project. The key issue is the coherence of the research design. All elements of the research project must fit together. The issue of fit is key.

Then, quantitative and qualitative approaches, some pros and cons. To begin with, quantitative, quantitative research typically engages large populations and samples in the research. Data gathering methods usually questionnaires and or scales are designed prior to entry into the fields. Quantitative research can be a very efficient way of gathering large quantities of data. However, quantitative approaches provide very limited opportunities for in depth data gathering. For example, in a quantitative approach using a questionnaire, usually there's no opportunity to probe responses that participants make in data gathering. The focus in quantitative research is on the large group perspectives. It may not be possible or it may be possible depending on how the research is designed to generalize findings to the wider population. In qualitative research, the researcher does not engage large populations or samples in the research. Data gathering methods in qualitative approaches can unfold in the field through the data gathering process. Qualitative research is ideal for in-depth data gathering and such approaches can generate rich data. But focusing qualitative researches on individual views, perspectives, ideas, insights, concerns, dispositions, and so on. In other words, a more in-depth data gathering exercise is possible with a qualitative approach. With qualitative research, it's not possible to generalize to wider populations, but it may be possible to claim that findings are transferable to wider populations.