Research approaches are plans and the procedures for research that span the steps from broad

assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This plan
involves several decisions, and they need not be taken in the order in which they make sense to
me and the order of their presentation here. The overall decision involves which approach should
be used to study a topic. Hence, this academic writing is going to discuss when to use each type
of a research design, that is, qualitative, quantitative and multiple methods.

According to Gerring (2001) qualitative research is an approach for exploring and understanding
the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. The process of research
involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s setting,
data analysis inductively building from particulars to general themes, and the researcher making
interpretations of the meaning of the data. The final written report has a flexible structure. Those
who engage in this form of inquiry support a way of looking at research that honors an inductive
style, a focus on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering the complexity of a
situation.

Qualitative research methods focus on discovering and understanding the experiences,

perspectives, and thoughts of participants, the approach is used when the researcher wants to
explore meaning, purpose, or reality (Elman, 2006). In other words, qualitative research is a
situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material
practices that make the world visible.

Qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that
qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or
interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Goertz, 2013).

This approach is also used when researcher wants to construct theories or hypotheses,
explanations, and conceptualizations from details provided by a participant. Embedded in this
approach is the perspective that researchers cannot set aside their experiences, perceptions, and
biases, and thus cannot pretend to be objective bystanders to the research.

On the other hand, quantitative research is an approach for testing objective theories by
examining the relationship among variables (Ragin, 2013). These variables, in turn, can be
measured, typically on instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical

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procedures. The final written report has a set structure consisting of introduction, literature and
theory, methods, results, and discussion.

Like qualitative researchers, those who engage in this form of inquiry have assumptions about
testing theories deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for alternative
explanations, and being able to generalize and replicate the findings.

Quantitative research methods are used when trying to attempt to maximize objectivity,
replicability, and generalizability of findings, which are typically interested in prediction.
Integral to this approach is the expectation that a researcher will set aside his or her experiences,
perceptions, and biases to ensure objectivity in the conduct of the study and the conclusions that
are drawn.

According to Collier (2005) the main reason of using this approach in research is its key features:
key features of many quantitative studies are the use of instruments such as tests or surveys to
collect data, and reliance on probability theory to test statistical hypotheses that correspond to
research questions of interest. Hence, quantitative methods are frequently described as deductive
in nature, in the sense that inferences from tests of statistical hypotheses lead to general
inferences about characteristics of a population.

Quantitative methods are also frequently characterized as assuming that there is a single truth
that exists, independent of human perception. Geddes (2003) defined quantitative research
design as the glue that holds the research project together. Therefore, this design is used when
structuring the research, to show how all of the major parts of the research project the samples or
groups, measures, treatments or programs, and methods of assignment work together to try to
address the central research questions.

In contrast, multiple methods research is an approach to inquiry involving collecting both

quantitative and qualitative data, integrating the two forms of data, and using distinct designs that
may involve philosophical assumptions and theoretical frameworks (Collier, 2005). The core
assumption of this form of inquiry is that the combination of qualitative and quantitative
approaches provides a more complete understanding of a research problem than either approach
alone.

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Geddes (2003) have argued that the fundamental principle of multiple methods research is that
multiple kinds of data should be collected with different strategies and methods in ways that
reflect complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses, allowing a multiple methods
study to provide insights not possible when only qualitative or quantitative data are sued.

While multiple methods research combines qualitative and quantitative methods in ways that
draw on the strengths of both traditions of inquiry, it is a clear step away from the boundaries
and practices of those traditions, especially those linked to quantitative methods. According to
Johnson and Lijphart (2017) this approach is used where the researcher mixes or combines
quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, approaches, concepts or language into
a single study. This is so because this approach also is an attempts to legitimate the use of
multiple approaches in answering research questions, rather than restricting or constraining
researchers’ choices. It is an expansive and creative form of research, not a limiting form of
research. It is inclusive, pluralistic, and complementary, and it suggests that researchers take an
eclectic approach to method selection and the thinking about and conduct of research (Ragin,
2013).

Lastly, the difference between these approaches is that qualitative research is primarily
exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and
motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for
potential quantitative research. Qualitative Research is also used to uncover trends in thought and
opinions, and dive deeper into the problem. Qualitative data collection methods vary using
unstructured or semi-structured techniques.

While quantitative research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data
or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions,
behaviors, and other defined variables and generalize results from a larger sample population.
Quantitative Research uses measurable data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research.
Quantitative data collection methods are much more structured than Qualitative data collection
methods. 

But a multiple approach involves qualitative and quantitative methods that are relatively
complete on their own, and used together to form essential components of one research project.

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 References

Collier, D. (2005). The comparative method. Washington, DC: American Political Science
Association.

Elman, C. (2006). Qualitative research: recent developments in case study methods. Annual
Review of Political Science.

Geddes, B. (2003). Paradigms and Sandcastles: Theory Building and Research Design in
Comparative Politics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Gerring, J. (2001). Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Goertz, G. (2013). Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.

Lijphart, A. (2017). Comparative politics and the comparative method. American Political
Science Review, 65.

Ragin, C. C. (2013). The Comparative Method: Moving beyond Qualitative and Quantitative
Strategies. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.