Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Inside the classroom, the teacher made a remark, “You got 75 passing mark!” The teacher
also commented that “Your classmate seems uninterested to the study the lessons.”

There are two different observations the teacher described in her remark. These are “75
passing mark” and “your classmate seems uninterested to study.” These two are examples of
quantitative and qualitative observations, respectively. Quantitative observations are
characterized by a numerical measure such as passing mark of 75. Qualitative observation,
meanwhile, describes a certain phenomenon or event ad can be observed through the
senses. Usually, qualitative data are in words such as the statement made by the teacher that the
student seems uninterested to study the lessons.
Research can be conducted in different ways for different purposes. Thus, you can
classify a research according to how it was conducted (i.e., technique or data collection strategy)
or why it was conducted (i.e., use or purpose of the research).
Every researcher needs data for his or her research. Since research is systematic, a
researcher employs one or more techniques to gather data for the study. These techniques can be
classified into two broad categories- quantitative and qualitative methods.
Quantitative techniques (from the root word quantity) collect data in the form of numbers
(i.e., quantitative observation). Some examples of quantitative data are the height, weight, and
the age of a person; the daily, monthly, or annual income of an employee; and your grades in
our academic subjects.
On the other hand, Qualitative techniques (from the root word quality) collect data in the
form of words or statements (i.e., qualitative observations). Researches that use the qualitative
techniques are classified as qualitative researches while researches that use the quantitative
techniques are classified as quantitative researches.
Study the table below to see clearly the difference between quantitative and qualitative
researches.

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCHES

Qualitative Quantitative

Subjective Objective

Research questions answer what and why Research questions answer how many or
strength of relationship or difference

Literature review may be done as the study Literature review is usually done before the
progresses study
Develops theory Tests theory

Interpretive Measurable

Reports rich narrative, individual Reports statistical analysis

interpretation
Basic element of analysis is numbers
Basic element of analysis is words or ideas

Researcher is part of the process Researcher is separate

Participants Subjects

Context dependent Context free

Reasoning is dialect and inductive Reasoning is logistic and deductive

Describes meaning, discovery Establishes relationships and causation

As shown in the table above, qualitative research usually describes meaning based on the
subjective data collected through interviews and observations. The analysis in this kind of
research is also based on the context of the subjects. Thus is the reason why qualitative research
helps to develop a theory. On the other hand, quantitative research is more objective. The data
collected are usually numerical and based on the assumptions of the hypothesis. Quantitative
research is more structured and is thus useful in testing a theory.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGIES

Quantitative Methodologies Qualitative Methodologies

Preference for precisely describing procedure Preference for narrative/ literary descriptions
of procedures

Data reduced to numerical scores Preference for narrative descriptions

Preference for random sampling for Preference for expert informant samples
obtaining meaningful samples

Preference for statistical summary of results Preference for narrative summary of results

Willingness to manipulate aspects, situations, Unwillingness to tamper with naturally

or conditions in studying complex occurring phenomena
phenomena
 As shown in the table above, one of the significant differences in quantitative and
qualitative methods is the use of language. Note that the data that you can collect through
quantitative methods are numerical scores, while the qualitative method involves verbal and
narrative descriptions. This means that the manner of writing and presenting data in quantitative
and qualitative methods is different. Likewise, the variables studied in a quantitative method can
be manipulated or experimented depending on the nature of the research problem. In qualitative
methods, the subjects cannot be manipulated because you study them based on their natural
setting.

Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is more subjective than a quantitative research. This usually involves
gathering, analysing, and interpreting data base on observations made about the participants of
the study. These data can be in the form of ideas, actions, symbols, metaphors derived usually
from in-depth observations and interviews. Qualitative research aims to interpret meanings,
descriptions, and symbols. The researchers ask the participants to respond to some questions and
further probe the answers by giving follow-up questions to get thorough response to a certain
question. There is no definite number of participants that qualitative research requires.
Below are some examples of qualitative research topics:
1. Students’ images of chemistry
2. Gender and cultural gaps in the classroom
3. Science practices of the Mangyan tribe
Looking at these examples of qualitative research topics, you may infer that the data that can
be gathered will not be numerical data but symbols and verbal descriptions. These set of data can
be best collected through interviews and observations. Take for example the topic “Science
practices of the Mangyan tribe.” These practices can only be known if the researcher observes the
tribe on location. Observing their daily activities on the actual place and interviewing the people
of the Mangyan tribe are the best techniques to help you collect data about the science practices of
the Mangyan tribe.

Quantitative Research
In quantitative research, research questions are usually geared toward measuring hypothesis
using statistical tools. Quantitative research is more objective than qualitative research. The
methods are also predetermined and structured. Good statistical treatments are important in
deciding possible outcomes or conclusions for the success of the research. Quantitative research
follows a certain sample size in the use of the subjects or respondents of the study.
The following are some of the examples of quantitative research topics:
1. Predictors of science performance
2. Growth performance of organic fertilizer
 3. Population rate in Metro Manila in the next 20 years
Looking at these examples, you may say that the kind of data that can be generated is
numerical. The primary data is obtained from an experiment or from an existing document. Like
for instance, population rate, you may get the data from the available statistics and predict the
rate in the next 20 years using statistical formula. Likewise, a numerical data can be obtained if
you are aiming to find the growth performance of organic fertilizer by taking the length of the
leaves or the stem of “experimented” plants.