wan ealina wahida binti wan din's Differences between quantitative and qualitative research

PHILOSOPHY OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Philosophy of qualitative research is "interpretive, humanistic, and naturalistic" (Creswell, 2007). It places significant importance to the subjectivity. The ontological assumption is that there is no single reality but encompasses multiple realities for any phenomenon (Speziale & Carpenter, 2003). Moreover, every individual perceive, interpret and experience a situation or phenomena of interest from one own point of view, since individual has different experience of reality (Polit & Beck 2008). The epistemological assumption is that knowledge developed from subjective observation, which is at the level of rich description, and in-depth understanding (Speziale & Carpenter, 2003). According to Creswell (2007), qualitative researchers believe that "truth is both complex and dynamic and can be found only by studying persons as they interact with and within their sociohistorical settings" (p. 89). Therefore, qualitative research, phenomena can best understand and sort by embedding researcher in the situation rather than quantifying data that require a construction of a fixed instrument or a set of question (Speziale & Carpenter, 2003). Furthermore, it is context and time bound (Polit & Beck 2008). Qualitative study is generally conducted in the naturalistic setting rather than in the artificial laboratory (Burns & Grove, 2006). Researcher interacts with the participants explore perceptions, feelings, thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and behavior to obtain knowledge about the phenomena of interest so researchers has an active part in the study (Burns & Grove, 2006). This approach encompasses well-planed steps before researcher enters the settings in which observations and inquiries would be made (Speziale & Carpenter, 2003).

PHILOSOPHY OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Quantitative approach is emerged from positivist paradigm. Positivist paradigm places considerable value on "rationality, objectivity, prediction and control" (Burns & Grove, 2006, p. 15). "The ontological assumption is that there is one reality, which exists and can be validated through the senses" (Brink & Wood, 2001, p. 22). Epistemological assumption is that knowledge can be define and explore through careful measurement of the phenomenon of interest. Researchers believe that "all human behavior is objective, purposeful, and measurable" (Brink & Wood, 2001, p. 22). It encompasses the study of research questions or hypotheses that identify prevalence and characteristic of the concept, test the relationship, assess cause and effect relationship between variable and tests for intervention effectiveness (Polit & Beck 2008). The researcher needs to find or develop the instrument or tool to measure the phenomenon of concern while researcher remain detached from the study in order to prevent personal values and biases to influence the study results (Polit & Beck 2008). Research is driven by numerical data collection than it is subjected to statistical analysis. The focus or perspective for quantitative research is usually concise and reductionistic which means whole cannot be studied but it will be broken down into parts so that the parts can be examined (Polit & Beck 2008). Furthermore, "Quantitative research requires control to identify and limit the problem and attend to limit the effect of extraneous or outside variables that are not the focus of the studies" (Burns & Grove, 2006, p. 132). Control, instrument and statistical analyses are used to ensure that the research findings accurately reflect reality and that would help to make the finding generalize (Brink & Wood, 2001). The four quantitative research designs used most often in nursing research are descriptive designs, correlation designs, experimental designs and quasi-experimental designs (Burns & Grove, 2006)The methodology chosen depend on what one are trying to do; researcher purpose and question to investigate rather than commitment to a particular paradigm (Brink & Wood, 2001). Thus, the methodology must match a particular phenomenon of interest.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH REASON

Describes the phenomenon being

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REASON

To explore a phenomenon.

SOME APPROCHES-QUANTITATIVE

Casual comparative

Survey research

Correlational research

Experimental research

Single subject research

SOME APPROCHES-QUALITATIVE

Phenomenology

Narrative research

Ethnographic research

Case study research

Grounded theory

Symbolic interaction

Historical research

COMMON TOOLS-QUANTITATIVE

Telephone surveys

Telephone surveys are administered by trained market research interviewers working under strict quality control guidelines. Telephone data collection remains the most effective means of researching

Online surveys

Online surveys are used effectively with audiences like small businesses, customers or consumers. With online surveys, respondents are emailed a link to take a self-administered survey.

Mobile surveys

Mobile market research is an emerging methodology that is currently used in a very small percentage of all market research studies. As of today, mobile surveys are simply a short survey administered through a mobile device interface; respondents are still recruited by email or phone and simply access the survey on their mobile device.

Analytical techniques

When appropriate Isurus uses specialized techniques to analyze and interpret quantitative data. Examples include conjoint and discrete choice analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, regression, and the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter. We apply our statistical knowledge judiciously by focusing on results that are not only statistically meaningful, but also important from a management and marketing perspective.

COMMON TOOLS -QUALITATIVE

Interviews

The interview is undoubtedly the most common source of data in qualitative studies. The person-to-person format is most prevalent, but occasionally group interviews and focus groups are conducted. Interviews range from the highly structured style, in which questions are determined before the interview, to the open-ended, conversational format.

Focus Groups

Another type of qualitative research technique employs interviews on a specific topic with a small group of people, called a focus group. This technique can be efficient because the researcher can gather information about several people in one session. The group is usually homogeneous, such as a group of students, an athletic team, or a group of teachers.

Observation

Observation in qualitative research generally involves spending a prolonged amount of time in the setting. Field notes are taken throughout the observations and are focused on what is seen. Many researchers also record notes to assist in determining what the observed events might mean and to provide help for answering the research questions during subsequent data analysis