Research in general can be explained as the pursuit for knowledge or a methodical investigation in search of information to form or support available facts. Research work can be classified into two where; there is basic research that does not go into deep details on the area of study and applied research that does detailed study in the area as it seeks to determine, interpret and advance the methods and systems that are used in the search for human understanding of different matters to do with the society. Research may also seek to advance the scientific and technical levels of knowledge that are applied in the society. Other research encounters may seek to increase the information and knowledge about nature, earth and the universe. Scientific Research as a part of research relies on the application of scientific knowledge and formulated theories to explain the properties of the world and nature in general. Research encounters can further be divided into dissimilar classes depending on the area of application. One of these classes is academic research that seeks to advance the knowledge within the academic field.(Becker 1994, 53-71)
Research methods are the different research techniques that are applied depending on the information required, the role the data acquired should play and the field of research. Research methods can be grouped into explanatory research that attempts to identify problem areas in different aspects of the society, and Constructive research that is the research carried out with the view of developing solutions for societal problems. Empirical research is the research that attempts to check the practicability of questions that need answers that have to do with different aspects of life empirically. (Marsh and Stoker 2002)
Research encounters can also fall within the primary or secondary research levels depending on whether the information to be collected is firsthand or secondhand respectively. From the already discussed research methods and types, the data that is attained from the encounter can either be qualitative or quantitative and this gives the basis for the method either being referred to as qualitative or quantitative.(Creswell 2003)
Qualitative research is a system of inquiry that is used often in academic disciplines especially within the area of social sciences. Qualitative research techniques are also applied in market study, as they shape models that generate in-depth comprehension of social behavior and the conditions that govern these behaviors. Qualitative research methods seek to answer the why question, which attempts to give answers as to why the social phenomena are the way they are. An example of the research questions that can be answered using the why question are those that have to do with the behavior of individuals. Qualitative research methods also answer the how question that attempts to give answers to the way the given behaviors have developed, and why the specific behavior and not any other. Other questions that are answered by qualitative research encounters and methods are; the what, when and where questions that all give information on the conditions that favored the development of the phenomena in question. (Becker 1994, 53-71)
Quantitative research on the other hand refers to the methodological experimental analysis of properties that can be quantified, and phenomena that are expected to have resulted from the relationship they share with the key variable of the research. It goes further to give an explanation of the relationship between these variables and the phenomena in question. The major purpose of quantitative research is to formulate and apply mathematical models, hypothesis and theories related to the given phenomena and the variables. One distinctive aspect of quantitative research is measurement as it provides the basic connection between experimental observations and numerical expression of quantitative relationships. (Creswell 2003)
Quantitative research methods are often used in social sciences like Anthropology, sociology and Political studies. These methods are also used in mathematical sciences like chemistry and Physics but the experimentation in this case is a bit limited. The results from this type of research methods are presented through the use of statistics, graphs and tabulations. However Quantitative research methods have the limitation that they tend to neglect and ignore the non-measurable factors, which may be of great importance to the hypothetical relationships. However this limitation is overcome by using the qualitative research techniques in explaining the quantitative figures that are attained from quantitative methods. This mode of using the two types of research techniques is referred as the Mixed-research technique. (Becker 1994, 53-71)
The term qualitative refers to the fact that the data collected is non-numerical while quantitative on the other hand means that the data collected can be quantified into numbers or numerals. An example of a qualitative research method is one that relates the environment of individuals and the character that develops in them in the long run. The data collected from this research will be presented in terms of explanations where one may hypothesize that, children who are brought up in slums grow up to become deviant adults. The Qualitative cause effect relationship here is between deviance and the slum upbringing. A good example of a quantitative research method is one that seeks to establish the relationships that exist between instances of crime among different age groups living within a certain environment. The key variables in this case are the age and crime instances and will be presented inform of numbers. (Creswell 2003)
Another distinction between quantitative and qualitative research methods is that the role of the researcher determines the results obtained in qualitative research as he plays the role of defining the variables. This is because the process may be affected by personal bias and interpersonal relations that the researcher has with the informant group. In quantitative research the role of the researcher is not of significant importance to the findings collected from the research, as they are in fixed definite quantities that can be verified easily in the case of doubt. Examples of variables in quantitative research include height, weight and distance among others. The other distinction related to this part is that the role of the researcher may be reflected in the data collected and this makes the conclusions from the study biased and faulty. (Marsh and Stoker 2002)
The other difference is that while qualitative statistics analysis can take varied forms, it differs from quantitative research on the basis that the combination of language and meanings with other approaches to analysis prove more useful and holistic than the reductionistic techniques that are used in quantitative analysis. (Creswell 2003)
One of the major differences between the two methods of research is that, qualitative methods are commonly used for the investigative purposes of hypothesis formulation and explaining confusing quantitative results. Quantitative research methods on the other hand have their use often in hypothesis testing. This is the case because qualitative methods are better used in determining content validity and reflecting on the thoughts of the researcher towards the topic. On the other hand quantitative techniques have been known to generate a more representative, accurate and dependable measures through well formulated hypothesis, measurement modes and usage of calculative techniques. (Marsh and Stoker 2002)
Qualitative methods are often applied in policy and program assessment since they are capable of answering the questions of operation and results in details and are more effectively than the quantitative methods. This is usually the case when the researcher wants to determine why and how certain outcomes were attained or not, and not just what was attained. They go further to answer questions of undesired outcomes and impacts of programs or policies. (Creswell 2003)
Qualitative methods can also be attributed to creating allowance for more information in response collection as well as accommodating ideas and answers, that are realized during the study and which can be helpful to the overall success of the research. However this is not the case with quantitative research methods as they constrict the responses to figures that don’t provide room for new ideas. (Creswell 2003)
The other major distinction of the two methods comes in during data presentations where quantitative data is presented by the use graphs, tables and other statistical tools while qualitative data is presented in terms of explanations and descriptions. (Creswell 2003)
From the study it is evident that quantitative and qualitative methods of research are distinct and operate in different ways from one another. The major distinction between the two is the fact that qualitative methods present data in form of explanations while quantitative methods give out data in the form of numerals. However it can be noted that each of these methods works best when supplemented with some aspects of the other.
Reference list
Becker, Howard.1994. The epistemology of qualitative research. University of Chicago Press: 53-71
Creswell, John. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. CA: Sage Publications.
Marsh, David and Stoker, Gerry. 2002. Theory and methods in political science. Palgrave: Macmillan.