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Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative study
Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative study
Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative study
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By definition, qualitative research is the study towards social reality and description experiences, feelings, perspectives of human lives. Qualitative research is an empirical research under the non-numeric form, concerned with collecting and analysing information on many forms, words samples. It is likely associated with inductive approach, which generates theories, develops and interprets qualitative data to understand the social world. In qualitative research methods, studies focus deeply on understanding insider of the field, which is beneficial to researchers who examine forms of knowledge. In term of collecting qualitative data, there are three typical ways: interviews, observation from director participating such as participant characteristics, …show more content…
Quantitative is based on empirical research, critical interpretation of data in forms of numbers. Mostly, quantitative research uses deductive approach, which begins with a theory, generalizes and tests theory or hypothesis. Quantitative is suitable for researcher aiming at answering questions, operational definitions, an experiment of time series to see how things are changed in number, casual explanation and deductive reasoning. Quantitative research data is based on questionnaires collected from descriptive information, attitude survey, explanatory survey through an interview, form filling, portal, email. (Sue, 2017; University of Surrey, 2017) In term of similar comparison, though quantitative research focuses more on testing theory, it is possible to explore an area and generating hypothesis, meanwhile, qualitative research can be used for hypothesis or theory testing. Qualitative data also includes qualification studies and quantitative research can collect qualitative data through open investigations. (Sue, 2017; University of Surrey, …show more content…
Data sources can come from interview, participant observation, documents, artefacts. There are four main ways of collecting qualitative data such as interviews, focus group, observation and action research (University of Surrey, 2017). Among those, interview is considered to be more convenient. The interview is better when carried in fairly informal way in which participants have the equal right in the discussion, and the purpose is to collect stories for analysis not answer. In order to have a good conversation, interviewer should know their role, be confident, maintain motivation and well prepare beforehand. Interview can be in various forms from unstructured, semi structured to structured. Structured interview is similar to questionnaires with prepared questions and order, ready-made answer options and open questions. Semi-structured interview includes scope, specific reactions, deep and personal context, experience. It can be open questions on a specific topic, broad questions under investigation. Unstructured interview requires few informants, investigation of history, background in different cases. The discussion can have limited number of topics but great details. Qualitative interview requires careful consideration and planning. (University of Surrey,
Qualitative research is an approach that attempts to situate an activity that locates the observer in the world by providing the study to occur in their natural setting and by attempting to make sense of, or interpret information (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). A characteristic of qualitative research is to use a variety of empirical materials such as personal experience, interviews, and questionnaires. It is imperative to understand the task at hand and how to fully carry out the study when using a qualitative research approach in order to find out the information needed. One view of qualitative research is it involves examining individual’s experiences and documenting those experiences in detail (Jones, 2011). By documenting these observations the researcher is ensuring validity in his or her data and giving the correct creditability to those who participated in the study.
...primary research that gathers vast amounts of information. Quantitative research is a derivative of secondary research and is associated with the gathering of data, as in numbers, height, weight etc. In order for either research to effective, the proper research tool must be used in its right context. If not, the research will prove to be a less adequate one.
Qualitative research seeks to answer the “why” and not the “how” of the research project that is being conducted, this is done through a complex system of analyzing unstructured information such as survey’s , questionnaires, interviews, interview transcripts, open end survey’s, focus groups, observations, emails, notes, video’s, feed back forms and photo’s; most of the time a qualitative report won’t depend on statistical evidence alone it must be accompanied by detailed facts and proven facts and not hypotheses or in accurate data, this can lead to misunderstanding of data findings and can through the whole aim of the research project off and waste valuable time.
According to Smith (1983) quantitative research is to explain, predict and develop laws that can be universally applied and Qualitative research is the interpretation and understanding of what people give to their situation. The researchers clearly stated the purpose of their studies, aim, objectiv...
The article, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Intervention for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: A Preliminary Program Evaluation”, written by Jacquelyn Lee, Stacey Kolomer and Donna Thompson and published in The Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal in 2012, (Lee, Kolomer, Thomsen 2012) reports the results of a study designed to evaluate the use of a preliminary program evaluation designed to address the needs of children exposed to domestic violence.
Research can be quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research is objective and involves measuring the phenomena under investigation. Qualitative research is subjective, explores experiences and feelings, and involves the recording of phenomena that cannot easily be quantified (Toates, 2010, pp. 5-6). Both are empirical since they involve data collection (OU, n.d.).
The limitations of this study are similar to other qualitative studies. I recruited a small sample of women from one geographic area. Selection bias was also a possible limitation to the study because part of the recruitment strategy included outreach through snowball sampling. Current participants in the study were asked to recommend other women to participant in the study. In-person interviews may have made the women feel more comfortable to share their experiences; however, the women may have been more willing to share more information over the telephone. The exclusion of partners also limited the study. The important role partners play in supporting women and encouraging them to seek help through expressed worry and concern is essential
Research in healthcare is used to answer a question or to test a method about how something effects another. Connor (2014) states that research is about investigation, exploration, and discovery. Research is also about creating a dynamic environment for promoting healthcare, health, and wellness. There are two different types of research: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research is a numerical way to collect data and using it to obtain information. Ingham-Broomfield (2014) refers to quantitative research as a means for testing objective theories by looking at relationships among variables and that the word quantitative implies quantity or amounts. Qualitative research is more of a verbal research method. It looks at life experiences and gives meaning to them (Connor. 2014).
Qualitative research allows probing questions on small groups, yet obtains more feedback (McDaniel & Gates, 2007). The moderator or interviewer generally has special skills to deliver the content using exploratory research. By contrast, larger groups use quantitative research methods. The feedback is more limited because of the larger data size. Feedback is more statistical compared to qualitative data that is subjective and interpretive (McDaniel & Gates, 2007). Quantitative research generally relies on computers and databases to distribute the data for analysis later.
On the other hand, Quantitative research refers to “variance theory” where quantity describes the research in terms of statistical relationships between different variables (Maxwell, 2013). Quantitative research answers the questions “how much” or “how many?” Quantitative research is an objective, deductive process and is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables with generalized results from a larger sample population. Much more structured than qualitative research, quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys, personal interviews and telephone interviews, polls, and systematic observations. Methods can be considered “cookie cutter” with a predetermined starting point and a fixed sequence of
This essay intends to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the quantitative and qualitative approaches to research which addresses young people and bullying using two journal articles. The first article (quantitative) aims to “establish the relationship between recurrent peer victimisation and the onset of reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in the early teen years” (Bond et al. 2001, p. 480) while the second article (qualitative) aims to “investigate the nature of teenage girls’ indirect aggression” (Owens et al. 2000, p. 70).The two articles will be critically compared in terms of research design, methods used, approach to data analysis, reported results and the plausibility and appropriateness of the conclusions and recommendations posed. The aim of this essay is thus to evaluate and assess the methods of social science research currently undertaken in published research.
The data obtained during the the research does not have any meaning if it is not processed, analyzed and presented in a systematic manner. Data analysis in qualitative research is inductive and sustainable. Qualitative data analysis is the process of systematically search for and compile the data obtained from questionnaires, interviews, field notes , and other materials so it is easy to understand in order to be informed as result of study (Sahid, 2011).
2. The researcher in Qualitative research doesn't know clearly what he is looking for. And in the Quantitative research, the researcher will be very clear about what he is looking for.
Quantitative Methodology. Quantitative research concentrates on the measuring a certain part of an concern or issue (Tavallae,M. & Abu Talib, M., 2010). Quantitative is a numerical description that measures things as they are. It has objective stances, logic, and numbers focusing on unchanging data and details (Babbie, E.R., 2010). For example, a quantitative method would ask how many people are participating in a program, what are the characteristics of people in a program, and how do the people in the program perform (Leedy, P. & Ormrod, J., 2009). Using a quantitative research method has several advantages for testing the hypothesis. The aim of quantitative research is to classify features, count the features, and construct statistical models to explain what was observed (McNabb, D.E., 2008).
It is the type of research which is concerned with objectivity of the subject, in other words we can say it quantifies the data. The purpose of Quantitative research is to measure the incidence of various views and opinion in sample choices. It is basically used to explore further with proper evidences and logical justifications.