Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches - Essay Example

The paper "Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches" is an outstanding example of an essay on education. Qualitative research methods are more of interactive methods and seek to expound more on motivating factors, reasons on which various occurrences are based, opinions of the involved parties (Creswell, 2008). When used in problem-solving, qualitative methods provide hypotheses and assumptions on which further quantitative research can be based on. The outcome of this type of these methods help in establishing trends in thoughts, and opinions and commons of motivating factors the get deeper insight into the problem at hand (Noa, 2010). 

Qualitatively data is collected using either structured are partial structure techniques such as organized group discussions, individual and/or group interviews, participatory observation. Usually, the size of the group involved is small in size. During the process, participants are required to respond to general questions. The researcher probes and explores their responses to identify and define the perceptions, opinions, and feelings to come up with the extent of agreement (Noa, 2010).
The quantitative research method seeks to identify and solve the research issues and problems by coming up with quantitative data. Measurement methods are used in generating the data. The measurement tools are perfectly structured, such as questionnaires (Creswell, 2008). They must be objective, quantitative and provide statistically valid results. There is the quantification of behaviors, attitudes, and opinions. The data must, therefore, be expressed in terms of measurable terms so as to assist in establishing a quantitative trend. The size of the research group is usually determined by the use of already established mathematical formulas (Noa, 2010). In summary, therefore, the main differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods are:
Qualitative methods are subjective while quantitative methods are objective
Qualitative methods express findings in descriptive form while quantitative methods use statistical data to express findings. Read More