Quantitative
data are used when a researcher is trying to quantify a problem,
or address the "what" or "how many" aspects of a research question. It is data
that can either be counted or compared on a numeric scale. For example, it could
be the number of first year students at Macalester, or the ratings on a scale of 1-4
of the quality of food served at Cafe Mac. This data are usually gathered using
instruments, such as a questionnaire which includes a ratings scale or a
thermometer to collect weather data. Statistical analysis software, such as SPSS,
is often used to analyze quantitative data.
Qualitative reasearch
Qualitative research is concerned with developing explanations of social
phenomena. That is to say, it aims to help us to understand the social world in
which we live and why things are the way they are. It is concerned with the social
aspects of our world and seeks to answer questions about:
· Why people behave the way they do
· How opinions and attitudes are formed
· How people are affected by the events that go on around them
· How and why cultures and practices have developed in the way they have
In a health or social care setting, qualitative research is particularly useful where
the research question involves one of the situations below and people’s
experiences and views are sought:
· exploration or identification of concepts or views
· exploration of “implementability”
· the real-life context
· sensitive topics where flexibility is needed to avoid causing distress
Qualitative research questions
In the examples given, more precise research questions might be developed such
as (a) “what are patients’, carers’, nurses’, GPs’ and receptionists’ views of what
makes care feel “personal” in UK primary care?”1 (b) “do poor women seeking
emergency obstetric care get identified as being in need of financial support, and
if so how; how are decisions made about who receives support, and what
mechanisms (formal or informal) are in place to provide that support?” 2 and (c)
“how do key informants from health and social care
agencies describe dealing with problems they see as arising from older people’s
self-neglect?” 3 Each of these questions is precise enough for a research team to
be able to decide and report on how they will go about answering it. Before
proceeding you may like to check that you agree that the questions are still
within the qualitative arena as described in the previous section: for instance is
the area little researched, are they identifying or
defining new issues in a “real-life” context, do the researchers need to find out
people’s views or experiences of something, and/or might some flexibility be
required while collecting data so as to avoid distress?
Qualitative data describes qualities or characteristics. It is collected using
questionnaires, interviews, or observation, and frequently appears in narrative
form. For example, it could be notes taken during a focus group on the quality of
the food at Cafe Mac, or responses from an open-ended questionnaire. Qualitative
data may be difficult to precisely measure and analyze. The data may be in the
form of descriptive words that can be examined for patterns or meaning,
sometimes through the use of coding. Coding allows the researcher to categorize
qualitative data to identify themes that correspond with the research questions
and to perform quantitative analysis.
Qualitative data: When the data presented has words and descriptions,
then we call it qualitative data. Although you can observe this data, it is
subjective and harder to analyze data in research, especially for
comparison. Example: Quality data represents everything describing
taste, experience, texture, or an opinion that is considered quality data.
This type of data is usually collected through focus groups, personal
interviews, or using open-ended questions in surveys.
Quantitative data: Any data expressed in numbers of numerical figures
are called quantitative data. This type of data can be distinguished into
categories, grouped, measured, calculated, or ranked. Example: questions
such as age, rank, cost, length, weight, scores, etc. everything comes under
this type of data. You can present such data in graphical format, charts, or
apply statistical analysis methods to this data. The (Outcomes
Measurement Systems) OMS questionnaires in surveys are a significant
source of collecting numeric data.
