Quantitative Research Methods
Quantitative research is a research methodology used by researchers to test
theories and hypotheses about the attitudes and behaviors of their people on
the basis of numerical and statistical evidence. Researchers use surveys to
question a large number of people to obtain measurable and bias-free data in
an indirect manner.
In technical terms, quantitative research is mainly concerned with discovering
facts about social phenomena while assuming a fixed and measurable
reality.
Offering numbers and stats-based insights, this research methodology is a
crucial part of primary research and helps understand how well an
organizational decision is going to work out.
For example, suppose your qualitative analysis shows that your customers are
looking for social media-based customer support. In that case, quantitative
analysis will help you see how many of your customers are looking for this
support. If 10% of your customers are looking for such a service, you might or
might not consider offering this feature. But, if 40% of your regular customers
are seeking support via social media, then it is something you just cannot
overlook.
Characteristics of Quantitative Research
Quantitative research clarifies the fuzziness of research data from qualitative
research analysis. With numerical insights, you can formulate a better and
more profitable business decision.
Hence, quantitative research is more readily contestable, sharpens intelligent
discussion, helps you see the rival hypotheses, and dynamically contributes to
the research process.
1. Measurable Variables
The data collection methods in quantitative research are structured and
contain items requiring measurable variables, such as age, number of family
members, salary range, highest education, etc.
These structured data collection methods comprise polls, surveys,
questionnaires, etc. All of them have measurable approaches.
Ensuring that all the variables are measurable calls for in-depth and less
erroneous data that can offer reliable, actionable insights.
2. Sample Size
No matter what data analysis methods for quantitative research are being
used, the sample size is kept such that it represents the target market. As the
main aim of the research methodology is to get numerical insights, the
sample size is fairly large. Depending on the survey objective and scope, it
might span hundreds of thousands of people.
There are different types of sampling methods in quantitative research,
however, it is important to note that the sampling methods are chosen on the
basis of research objectives.
3. Normal Population Distribution
To maintain the data reliability of a quantitative research methodology, we
assume that the population distribution curve is normal. This type of
population distribution curve is preferred over a non-normal distribution as the
sample size is large and the characteristics of the sample vary with its size.
This requires adhering to the random sampling principle to avoid the
researcher’s bias in result interpretation. Any bias can ruin the fairness of the
entire process and defeats the purpose of research.
4. Well-Structured Data Representation
The data analysis methods in quantitative research produce highly structured
data results and are represented in well-formed data assessment tools. Some
common examples include tables, figures, graphs, etc., that integrate and
combine large blocks of data.
So, you can discover hidden data trends, relationships, and differences among
various measurable variables. This helps the researchers understand the
survey data and formulate actionable insights for business decision-making.
5. Can Produce Predictive Outcomes
Quantitative analysis of data can also be used for estimations and predictions
of outcomes. You can construct if-then scenarios and analyze the data for
identification of any upcoming trends or events.
However, this requires advanced analytics and involves complex
mathematical computations. So, it is mostly done via quantitative research
tools that come with advanced analytics capabilities.
Types of Quantitative Research Methods
There can be many ways to collect data via quantitative research methods
that are chosen as per the research objective and scope. These methods
allow you to build your own observations regarding any hypotheses –
unknown, entirely new, or unexplained.
You can hypothesize a proof and build a prediction of outcomes supporting
the same. You can also create a detailed stepwise plan for data collection,
analysis, and testing.
1. Survey Research
Surveys are the easiest, most common, and one of the most sought-after
quantitative research techniques. The main aim of a survey is to widely gather
and describe the characteristics of a target population .
Surveys are the foremost quantitative method preferred by both small and
large organizations.They help them understand their customers, products, and
other brand offerings in a proper manner.
Surveys are of two types:
• Cross-sectional Survey: This type of survey is conducted specifically
on a target population for a given amount of time, such as retail store
surveys, health care trade, etc.
• Longitudinal Surveys: This type of survey is conducted at different
time durations, such as applied sciences and medicine surveys.
Some common survey-based quantitative research examples include:
• How frequently do you answer your calls while driving?
• How many texts do you send per day on average?
• How often do you respond to your texts while you are at work?
2. Descriptive Research
This research methodology aims to explain the current status of an identified
and measurable variable.
So, via descriptive research, you can explain and interpret many things, such
as:
• Current status of customer satisfaction
• Settings
• Conditions
• Events
In this methodology, it is not mandatory for the researcher to have a
hypothesis right from the start. However, once the data is collected, they
might form a hypothesis as well to give a proper direction to the research.
Here, the data is assorted systematically, and researchers have to choose the
units of measurement of every variable in a careful manner.
Some common examples of descriptive research include:
• Elementary teachers using math manipulatives
• Global warming description for Scientists
• Description of physical activities organized in schools, etc.
3. Correlational Research
This research method is used when you have to establish a relation between
two close business entities and figure out how one of them impacts the other.
You need at least two separate samples or population groups for correlational
research.
This type of research helps you discover trends and patterns in data, but it
does not observe the different patterns. As no variables are manipulated
during the process, this methodology is often considered a type of descriptive
research.
Some common examples of Correlational research are:
• Relationships between the types of activities done in a particular
class and the achievement of students resulting from them
• Relationship between diet and anxiety disorders
4. Experimental Research
This is one of the unique types of quantitative research methods as it is based
on one or more theories. It is also termed true experimentation and can use
the scientific method for establishing the cause-effect relation over a group of
research variables.
You can use multiple theories for conducting this research, and its different
components are:
• A comparison group of randomly selected customers or respondents
as experimental and control groups
• An independent variable called experimental variable, which can be
applied over the experimental groups
• A dependent variable, also called the effect or post-test variable that
you can measure identically for all the groups
Some common examples of experimental research include:
• Testing the long-term and short-term effects of a new drug
• Checking who uses social media more for maintaining relationships
– men or women
5. Questionnaires
You can use quantitative research questionnaires to collect data for market
research as well as for anthropological and social research.
A questionnaire has a list of questions or items that you can use to gather
research data from respondents. This data can be about their experiences,
attitudes, or opinions.
The questionnaires are of two types:
• Self-administered: They are shared online, easy to administer for
large and small groups, and cost-efficient. However, they can also
lead to irrelevant data collection as you might make a mistake while
setting questions or while aiming at a particular customer segment.
• Researcher-administered: They are planned and created by proper
researchers and ensure better results. They help you ensure that the
respondents are representative of your target audience and there are
no unclear or ambiguous questions in the list.
Common examples of quantitative questionnaires are:
• Open-ended questions
• MCQs
• Ranking questions
• Yes/No questions
6. Interviews
The interviews are one-on-one interactions where the researchers ask
questions to the respondents directly. Apart from in-person interviews, the
researchers can also have telephonic or online interviews where the
respondents don’t have to be physically present.
The interviews can be a better approach towards gathering data as the
researchers have a direct line of contact with the respondents and can take
note of the expressions, voice modulations, and behavior as well.
The researcher can decide how genuine and motivated a particular
respondent is based on all these things. Further, many times the respondents
are not able to mark a proper response as they are not able to understand a
question completely.
In such cases, researchers can help them in arriving at a conclusion.
Some common examples of the interviews for qualitative research include:
• How would you choose a suitable subject for your next semester?
• What do you mean when you say that Math is hard?
Next, we discuss two excellent quantitative research methods examples that
you can observe to understand how the entire process is done.
Sampling Methods in Quantitative Research
Sample is a subset of the population and is supposed to be a representative
of the population. It refers to the number of people or target group that you
wish to conduct research on. While qualitative studies have small groups, 6 to
10 people only, quantitative studies gain their reliability from large data
sets. Hence, the sample size is large, which also results in normal curves for
data analysis purposes.
1. Probability Sampling
This sampling method uses the theory of probability to create samples, which
means choosing the respondents or samples from the target population.
Random selection methods are utilized to choose the participants of a sample
or group. This ensures that every member of the target population has an
equal opportunity to be chosen for the sample group.
Probability sampling is of four types:
• Cluster Sampling: The main segment gets divided into clusters by
using geographic and demographic segmentation parameters.
• Simple Random Sampling: Here, the elements or participants of a
sample are selected randomly, and this technique is used in studies
that are conducted over considerably large audiences.
• Systematic Sampling: In this method, only the starting point of the
sample is randomly chosen. All the other participants are chosen
using a fixed interval. Researchers calculate this interval by dividing
the size of the study population by the target sample size.
• Stratified Random Sampling: In this method, the entire population is
divided into strata or groups, and the sample members get chosen
randomly from these strata only. It is always ensured that different
segregated strata do not overlap with each other.
2. Non-Probability Sampling
In this sampling method, the researchers create the samples as per their
knowledge and experience. As the samples are not randomly chosen, not
everyone in the target population has an equal probability of getting to be a
part of a sample.
Non-probability sampling is of five different types:
• Consecutive Sampling: The researchers can opt for a single
participant or a group of samples to conduct quantitative research in
a consecutive manner for a significant period of time. Once this is
over, they can conduct the research from the start over some other
samples.
• Convenience Sampling: This sampling method resembles
consecutive sampling as the elements or participants are chosen on
the basis of their nearness to the researcher. The people in close
proximity can be studied and analyzed easily and quickly, as there is
no other selection criterion involved.
• Judgmental Sampling: In this method, samples are formulated purely
on the basis of the skill and experience of the researcher.
• Quota Sampling: Here, researchers leverage their knowledge of target
traits and personalities to select elements and form strata. Next, the
researchers again use their knowledge to compile samples by
choosing members from various strata.
• Snowball Sampling: This sampling method is used where the target
audiences are difficult to contact and interviewed for data collection.
It also works well where it is difficult to get them all together at one
place for research.
Once the samples are formed, and data is collected via different types of data
collection methods in quantitative research, the researchers move on to the
next phase of analyzing this data.
Let us find out how this is exactly done and what processes are involved in
this step.
Quantitative Data Analysis
Before the researchers begin the process of data analysis, they perform data
cleaning to remove the errors, duplicate records, whitespaces, etc. Once this
is done, the data is ready for analysis whereby the researchers use
quantitative research tools to interpret and make sense of the collected data.
This process finally brings the results that you wanted – the data-driven
actionable insights that help you in decision-making and strategizing.
There are various data analysis methods for quantitative research that we will
discuss next.
1. Diagnostic Analysis
This analysis looks for answers to the “Whys,” like “Why did this not happen?”
or “Why are people doing this?”
This method is generally used after the Statistical analysis to dig into similar
patterns that were present in previous researches. Afterwards, the
researchers can use the previous solutions to overcome the present or current
challenges.
2. Predictive Analysis
This analysis focuses on the “What” aspects of the research, such as “What
are your customers hating or loving about your product?“
Here also, the researchers use patterns from older research as well as current
findings, to predict future events.
While 100% accurate forecasting is not feasible, if the researchers have plenty
of detailed information and skills to complete the data analysis thoroughly,
they can improve the accuracy as much as they want.
3. Prescriptive Analysis
This analysis combines the elements from all the other analysis methods.
This technique is perfect for research cases where one type of analysis
method is not producing wholesome results.
This method allows you to factor information about:
• Possible scenarios
• Past performances
• Available resources
• Current performance
Based on this information, the prescriptive technique suggests the right
strategy or course of action that you can follow. The technique uses ML for
this purpose, and also uses predictive analytics to determine the outcomes in
near-future.
Some ideal use cases for prescriptive analysis are:
• Hospitals – Improving patient outcome by evaluating the official
clinical methods
• Airlines – Automated adjustment of ticket prices and availability
depending on various factors to ensure high profitability
4. Statistical Analysis
This approach aims at finding the answers to “What happened?” questions
and comprises data collection, analysis, modelling, followed by data
interpretation and presentation.
This method is further divided into two sub-categories:
• Descriptive Analysis: This method works perfectly for complete
selections of summarized numerical data sets. It shows means and
deviations in continuous data sets and frequencies and percentages
in categorical data sets.
• Inferential Analysis: This method is used where samples are derived
from complete research data. The researchers can choose different
samplings and might reach different conclusions even when they
analyze the same comprehensive data set.
5. Text Analysis
This is one of the most unique data analysis methods in quantitative research
and is becoming increasingly popular with the emergence of ML and AI-based
data analytics technologies. It is also called data mining and uses data mining
tools as well as databases to uncover hidden patterns in large data sets.
It helps businesses make sense of raw data in the form of chats, messages,
feedback, reviews, etc, and gather important business insights from them.
This is also considered the most direct method of research data analysis.
Advantages of Quantitative Research Methods
Quantitative research data is often standardized and can be easily used to
generalize findings for taking crucial business decisions and uncover insights
to supplement the qualitative research findings.
Here are some core benefits this research methodology offers.
1. Direct Result Comparison
As the studies can be replicated for different cultural settings and different
times, even with different groups of participants, they tend to be extremely
useful. The researchers can compare the results of different studies in a
statistical manner and arrive at comprehensive conclusions for a broader
understanding.
2. Replication
Researchers can repeat the study by using standardized data collection
protocols over the well-structured data sets. They can also apply tangible
definitions of abstract concepts to arrive at different conclusions for similar
research objectives with minor variations.
3. Large Samples
As the research data comes from large samples, the researchers can process
and analyze the data via highly reliable and consistent analysis procedures.
They can arrive at well-defined conclusions that can be used to make the
primary research more thorough and reliable.
4. Hypothesis Testing
This research methodology follows standardized and established hypothesis
testing procedures. So, you have to be careful while reporting and analyzing
your research data, and the overall quality of results gets improved.
Disadvantages of Quantitative Research Methods
Quantitative methods presume that the research data is controlled and
measured no matter your research objective and scale. They also tend to keep
the target audience fairly large to facilitate better fact accumulation and
cause determination.
Hence, the results might be statistically significant and reliable, but they don’t
serve well when it comes to the “human” sentiment. This is why primary
research tends to use both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Below, we share some other disadvantages of the quantitative approach of
research.
1. Superficial Approach
Having highly restrictive and precise operational definitions might not be able
to represent complex concepts in an adequate manner.
For example, when it comes to human emotions and behavioral
characteristics, quantitative research might simply attach a number to it.
However, such aspects are better explored with qualitative methodologies as
they help in broadening the scope of research.
2. Narrow Focus
As the researchers have many preset notions about the data sets, data
collections, sample, and even sample formulation, they might never approach
the research with an open mind.
They make assumptions to assign a number to everything, while this can
affect the overall outcome or research results.
3. Structural Bias
Quantitative methods are also subject to the structural bias of different types,
such as missing data, inaccurate sampling techniques, and imprecise
measurements.
When the researcher has to use their skills and experience to form samples, it
is highly probable for them to arrive at wrong conclusions because of
sampling biases.
4. Lack of Context
This research methodology has professional or unnatural settings, such as
labs or computerized offices. Hence, the researchers tend to ignore the
historical and cultural aspects that influence the responses of participants.
This can also lead to errors in data collections, and hence, the results.
