What are the main features that differentiate Qualitative research from Quantitative research?

https://nurseamygdala.wordpress.com/2017/07/16/what-are-the-main-features-that-differentiate-qualitative-research-from-
quantitative-research/

With respect to ontology, epistemology, axiology, rhetoric, logic, generalizations and causal linkages, there exist differences
between quantitative and qualitative research and both approaches have their inherent strengths and weaknesses
(Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005). The main features that distinguish qualitative study from quantitative are the approach, goal,
setting, sampling, data collection and data analysis.

Photo Credit: Yale Global Health Leadership Institute

Approach
In qualitative research, the researcher is concerned with process, context, interpretation, meaning or understanding the
phenomenon of interest through inductive reasoning while in quantitative research, the researcher is concerned with
outcomes, generalization, prediction and causal relationships using deductive reasoning (Yilmaz, 2013).
Goal
The goal of qualitative research is the discovery of depth of knowledge and to generate hypotheses while in quantitative
research it is the breadth of new knowledge which is a fundamental concern and the testing of hypotheses.
Setting
Qualitative research can be undertaken in naturalistic settings where the researcher engages in fieldwork such as in people’s
homes while quantitative research can be done in a controlled laboratory or clinical settings (Polit & Beck, 2017). An example
could be an entire community (e.g., Aguinaldo, Ifugao) or an institution (e.g., all hospitals in Dumaguete City).
Sampling
Purposive sampling is often used in qualitative research while random sampling is commonly used in quantitative research.
Data Collection
Interviews, Focus Groups, and observation tools are used in qualitative research while in quantitative studies survey
questionnaires are very common.
Data Analysis
Iterative interpretation is utilized in the data analysis of qualitative studies while statistical tests are used in quantitative
research.
Both quantitative and qualitative studies have their place in the world of research. Quantitative research as a hard science
contributes knowledge through the scientific method while Qualitative research as a multidimensional science contributes
knowledge through the underpinning philosophical and theoretical methods. Therefore, I do not agree with the thinking that
qualitative research is not real science. It has its own rigours that enhance the authenticity of findings that must contribute to
the body of knowledge in nursing science.
Qualitative and quantitative research differ in their aims and designs too. The purpose of quantitative research is to examine
the relationship between variables as seen in the study of Hu et al. (2014) which was to determine the rates of urinary retention
and Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) after early catheter removal. This is one example of a quantitative
research study that used a prospective trial design instituting an early urinary catheter removal protocol (Hu et al., 2014). On
the other hand, the purpose of qualitative research is to explore the meaning of people’s experiences, cultures, and a particular
issue such as in the study of Kongsuwan (2011) that explored the phenomenon of caring for persons who had a peaceful
death in ICU in Thailand. The design of the study utilized a phenomenological approach that was modeled from a previous
research study that employed a grounded theory method.