best practices _ quantitative technquis

8/11/2019 Best Practices _ Quantitative Technquis

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Quantitative Vs. Qualitative Research When to Use WhichPosted 03.16 .10 byMichaela Mora - A Survey Exp ertin:Best Practices,Most Popular Posts 19 Responses

Now that more and more non-researchers are populating the research

departments at many corporations, I often find myself explaining the

differences between qualitative and quantitative research, since many think they can be used interchangeably.

Qualitative researchis by definition exploratory, and it is used when we dont know what to expect, to

define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. Its also used to go deeper into issues of interest

and explore nuances related to the problem at hand. Common data collection methods used in qualitative

research are focus groups,triads, dyads, in-depth interviews, uninterrupted observation, bulletin boards, and

ethnographic participation/observation.

Quantitative researchis conclusive in its purpose as it tries to quantify the problem and understand how

prevalent it is by looking for projectable results to a larger population. Here we collect data through surveys

(online, phone, paper), audits, points of purchase (purchase transactions), and click-streams.

Here are some guidelines to use both types of research:
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11/13/13 Best Practices | Quantitative Vs. Qualitative Research When to Use Which

www.surveygizmo.com/survey-blog/quantitative-qualitative-research/ 2/6

Ideally, if budget allows it, we should use both qualitative and quantitative research since they provide

different perspectives and usually complement each other. If you are a SurveyGizmo user, you can now

integrate in-depth interviews via iModerate chat sessions with your surveys, which can give the best of both

worlds. This methodological approach is a cost-effective alternative to the combination of in-person focus

groups and a separate quantitative study. It allows us to save on facility rental, recruitment costs, incentives

and travel usually associated with focus groups. Clients still are able to monitor the sessions remotely from theconvenience of their desktops and ask questions to respondents through the moderator.

If you still want to go with traditional methods and can only afford one or the other, make sure you select the

approach that best fits the research objectives and be aware of its caveats. Never assume that doing more

focus groups is a substitute for quantitative research or that a long survey will give you all the in-depth

information you can get though qualitative research methods.

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16 comments

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mecky

qualitative research refers to research method of collecting descriptive (non- numerical)

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a a. ecommon ns rumen use o co ec a a are n erv ew an o serva on, u

quantitative refers to research method of collecting numerical data. the common tools used

to collect data are questionnaires and experimentation.bymhepwa, mecky A.

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fabiano

I did not find what I was looking for

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Christian

Hi Fabiano,

What were you looking for?

ex penseofspirit

Quantitative research advances knowledge; qualitative research gives some people the

feeling they have advanced knowledge.

4 2

Ani ta De lgado

quantitative information pertains to quantity or numbers numeric values or anything you can

add up... qualitative has to do with everything else; for instance colors, or happiness, those

can not be measured by numbers.

Jolo

My research is about Sales Forecasting

I gathered data from an electronics store and they gave me their sales from 2010-

2013(every month)

so which research method I will use?

Ani ta Delgado

numbers= quantity, or quantitative

Biggie

Qualitative is like and adjective; it's descriptive of the information. While Quantative is like a

verb; it show what is happening, and wht is going on.

eleeassang

does the use of qualitative research mean you set out to add to existing literature by creating

or proving a theory? or can it be used to solve practical problems like making

recommendations?

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sgizmo M od

It really depends on the goals of your qualitative research efforts. Qualitative can be

used to add context to quantitative results, can be used to determine options for a

questions in a quantitative study and can be used when you are looking for a "deep

dive" on a specific topic.

I usually do not make large dollar decisions based on qualitative data alone. But I will

decided to move forward with more research studies based on preliminary findings

using qualitative methods.

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habtsh

it's still confusing. which one is the category of questionnaire?

Christian

Hi Habtch,

A questionnaire could be either or both. The type of question on a questionnaire is

going to be more telling in terms of qualt. vs. quant.

For example, an essay box is a naturally qualitative question type because it asks for

an open ended response.

While a radio button or multiple choice question is quantitative becuase you are

reporting on it's frequency and percentage for the entire population.

Does that help?

Kiki

I read this but I still don't have any idea what is the difference...

Awanbor Mar t in

kiki martin here. the difference between them is simply the manner in which data or

information is collected. qualitative is e.g getting ur data's or informations through for

example interviews while quantitative is for example collecting or getting ur

information through the internet, news papers and so on. thanks i hope this helps

jam es kearney

Awanbor Martin, I think you are explaining primary and secondary research

there!

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01/21/2013 Release: Email

Campaign Improvments

@alonkka: Good point. Yes this is

how this is done. I will be sure to update our

documentation with this info and your

Succeeding As an Entrepreneur: 7 Take

Aways From Startup

What a great summary

Sandy! Thank you

The Challenge of Analyzing Open-

Ended Questions

Open-ended questions types

Clean Your Online Survey Data!

Data cleaning helps to

ensure the quality of data and make it more

side mkali

only in only qualitative research is an emergent designe in nature as it does not include pr-

designe

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