Qualitative vs.

quantitative research

Published on April 12, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk. Revised on February 15, 2021.

When collecting and analyzing data, quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics,
while qualitative research deals with words and meanings. Both are important for gaining
different kinds of knowledge.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research is expressed in numbers and graphs. It is used to test or confirm theories and
assumptions. This type of research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a topic.

Common quantitative methods include experiments, observations recorded as numbers, and

surveys with closed-ended questions.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research is expressed in words. It is used to understand concepts, thoughts or experiences.

This type of research enables you to gather in-depth insights on topics that are not well understood.

Common qualitative methods include interviews with open-ended questions, observations

described in words, and literature reviews that explore concepts and theories.

The differences between quantitative and qualitative research

Quantitative and qualitative research use different research methods to collect and
analyze data, and they allow you to answer different kinds of research questions.

Qualitative vs. quantitative research

Quantitative research Qualitative Research

Focuses on testing theories and hypotheses Focuses on exploring ideas and formulating a theory or
hypothesis

Analyzed through math and statistical analysis Analyzed by summarizing, categorizing and interpreting

Mainly expressed in numbers, graphs and tables Mainly expressed in words

Qualitative vs. quantitative research

Quantitative research Qualitative Research

Requires many respondents Requires few respondents

Closed (multiple choice) questions Open-ended questions

Key terms: testing, measurement, objectivity, Key terms: understanding, context, complexity,
replicability subjectivity

Data collection methods

Quantitative and qualitative data can be collected using various methods. It is important
to use a data collection method that will help answer your research question(s).

Many data collection methods can be either qualitative or quantitative. For example, in
surveys, observations or case studies, your data can be represented as numbers (e.g.
using rating scales or counting frequencies) or as words (e.g. with open-ended
questions or descriptions of what you observe).

However, some methods are more commonly used in one type or the other.

Quantitative data collection methods

 Surveys: List of closed or multiple choice questions that is distributed to

a sample (online, in person, or over the phone).
 Experiments: Situation in which variables are controlled and manipulated to establish
cause-and-effect relationships.
 Observations: Observing subjects in a natural environment where variables can’t be
controlled.

Qualitative data collection methods

 Interviews: Asking open-ended questions verbally to respondents.

 Focus groups: Discussion among a group of people about a topic to gather opinions
that can be used for further research.
 Ethnography: Participating in a community or organization for an extended period of
time to closely observe culture and behavior.
 Literature review: Survey of published works by other authors.

When to use qualitative vs. quantitative research

A rule of thumb for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is:
  Use quantitative research if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or
hypothesis)
 Use qualitative research if you want to understand something (concepts, thoughts,
experiences)

For most research topics you can choose a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods

approach. Which type you choose depends on, among other things, whether you’re
taking an inductive vs. deductive research approach; your research question(s);
whether you’re doing experimental, correlational, or descriptive research; and practical
considerations such as time, money, availability of data, and access to respondents.

Quantitative research approach

You survey 300 students at your university and ask them questions such as: “on a scale
from 1-5, how satisfied are your with your professors?”

You can perform statistical analysis on the data and draw conclusions such as: “on
average students rated their professors 4.4”.

Qualitative research approach

You conduct in-depth interviews with 15 students and ask them open-ended questions
such as: “How satisfied are you with your studies?”, “What is the most positive aspect of
your study program?” and “What can be done to improve the study program?”

Based on the answers you get you can ask follow-up questions to clarify things. You
transcribe all interviews using transcription software and try to find commonalities and
patterns.

Mixed methods approach

You conduct interviews to find out how satisfied students are with their studies. Through
open-ended questions you learn things you never thought about before and gain new
insights. Later, you use a survey to test these insights on a larger scale.

It’s also possible to start with a survey to find out the overall trends, followed by
interviews to better understand the reasons behind the trends.

How to analyze qualitative and quantitative data

Qualitative or quantitative data by itself can’t prove or demonstrate anything, but has to
be analyzed to show its meaning in relation to the research questions. The method of
analysis differs for each type of data.

Analyzing quantitative data

Quantitative data is based on numbers. Simple math or more advanced statistical
analysis is used to discover commonalities or patterns in the data. The results are often
reported in graphs and tables.
Applications such as Excel, SPSS, or R can be used to calculate things like:

 Average scores
 The number of times a particular answer was given
 The correlation or causation between two or more variables
 The reliability and validity of the results

Analyzing qualitative data

Qualitative data is more difficult to analyze than quantitative data. It consists of text,
images or videos instead of numbers.

Some common approaches to analyzing qualitative data include:

 Qualitative content analysis: Tracking the occurrence, position and meaning of words or
phrases
 Thematic analysis: Closely examining the data to identify the main themes and patterns
 Discourse analysis: Studying how communication works in social contexts

Independent and dependent variables

Published on May 20, 2020 by Lauren Thomas. Revised on April 19, 2021.

In research, variables are any characteristics that can take on different values, such as height,
age, species, or exam score.

In scientific research, we often want to study the effect of one variable on another one. For
example, you might want to test whether students who spend more time studying get better exam
scores.

The variables in a study of a cause-and-effect relationship are called the independent and

dependent variables.

 The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables in your study.
 The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the independent variable.

Examples of independent and dependent variables

Do tomatoes  The type  The rate of
grow fastest of light the growth of
under tomato the tomato
fluorescent, plant is plant
incandescent, or grown
natural light? under

What is the  The type  Your blood

effect of diet and of soda sugar
regular soda on you drink levels
blood sugar (diet or
levels? regular)

How does phone  The  Number of

use before amount of hours of
bedtime affect phone use sleep
sleep? before bed  Quality of
sleep

How well do  The  Plant

different plant amount of growth
species tolerate salt added  Plant
salt water? to the wilting
plants’  Plant
water survival
rate

Independent and dependent variables in experiments

In experimental research, the independent variable is manipulated or changed by the
experimenter to measure the effect of this change on the dependent variable.

Experiment exampleYou are studying the impact of a new medication on the blood pressure of
patients with hypertension.

To test whether the medication is effective, you divide your patients into two groups.
One group takes the medication, while the other group takes a sugar pill placebo.

 Your independent variable is the treatment that you vary between groups: which type of
pill the patient receives.
 Your dependent variable is the outcome that you measure: the blood pressure of the
patients.
 The independent variable is usually applied at different levels to see how the
outcome differs.
  You can apply just two levels (e.g. the new medication and the placebo) in order
to find out if the independent variable has an effect at all.

 You can also apply multiple levels (e.g. three different doses of the new
medication) to find out how the independent variable affects the dependent
variable.

Variables in other types of research

Outside of an experimental setting, researchers often cannot directly manipulate or
change the independent variable that they’re interested in.

Instead, they must find already-existing examples of the independent variable, and
investigate how changes in this variable affect the dependent variable.

Research exampleYou are interested in whether a higher minimum wage impacts employment rates.

You can’t control the minimum wage yourself. Instead, you look at a state that raised its
minimum wage last year, and compare it to a neighboring state that did not.

 Your independent variable is the minimum wage.

 Your dependent variable is the employment rate.

By comparing the difference in outcomes between the two states (and accounting for other
factors), you can investigate whether the change in minimum wage had an effect on employment
rates.
In non-experimental research, it’s more difficult to establish a definite cause-and-effect
relationship, because other variables that you haven’t measured might be influencing
the changes. These are known as confounding variables.

In types of research where the exact relationship between variables is less certain, you
might use different terms for independent and dependent variables.

Other names for independent variables

Sometimes, the variable you think is the cause might not be fully independent – it might
be influenced by other variables. In this case, one of these terms is more appropriate:

 Explanatory variables (they explain an event or outcome)

 Predictor variables (they can be used to predict the value of a dependent variable)
 Right-hand-side variables (they appear on the right-hand side of
a regression equation).

Other names for dependent variables

Dependent variables are also known by these terms:

 Response variables (they respond to a change in another variable)

 Outcome variables (they represent the outcome you want to measure)
  Left-hand-side variables (they appear on the left-hand side of a regression equation)

Visualizing independent and dependent variables

Researchers often use charts or graphs to visualize the results of their studies. The
norm is to place the independent variable on the “x”or horizontal axis and the dependent
variable on the “y” or vertical axis.

For instance, how might a graph look from our example study on the impact of a new
medication on blood pressure?

Developing strong research questions

Published on April 16, 2019 by Shona McCombes. Revised on March 22, 2021.

A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, project or thesis. It pinpoints
exactly what you want to find out and gives your work a clear focus and purpose. All research
questions should be:

 Focused on a single problem or issue

 Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
 Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
 Specific enough to answer thoroughly
 Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
 Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

In a research paper or essay, you will usually write a single research question to guide your
reading and thinking. The answer that you develop is your thesis statement — the central
assertion or position that your paper will argue for.

In a bigger research project, such as a thesis or dissertation, you might have multiple research
questions, but they should all be clearly connected and focused around a central research
problem.

There are many types of research question that correspond to different types of research.

How to write a research question

The process of developing your research question follows several steps:

 Choose a broad topic
 Do some preliminary reading to find out about topical debates and issues
 Narrow down a specific niche that you want to focus on
 Identify a practical or theoretical research problem that you will address
When you have a clearly-defined problem, you need to formulate one or more
questions. Think about exactly what you want to know and how it will contribute to
resolving the problem.

The way you frame your question depends on what your research aims to achieve. The
table below shows some examples of how you might formulate questions for different
purposes.

Describing and  What are the

exploring characteristics of  X?
 How has X changed over
time?
 What are the main factors
in X?
 How does X experience Y?
 How has X dealt with Y?

Explaining and  What is the relationship

testing between X and Y?
 What is the role of X in Y?
 What is the impact
of  X on Y?
 How does X influence Y?
 What are the causes of X?

Evaluating and acting  What are the advantages

and disadvantages of X?
 How effective is X?
 How can X be achieved?
 What are the most
effective strategies to
improve X?
 How can X be used in Y?

Depending on the scope of your research, you may identify just one question or several.
You may also have one primary research question and several secondary questions or
sub-questions that relate to the same problem.

The teachers at school X do What practical techniques

not have the skills to can teachers at school X use
recognize or properly guide to better identify and guide
gifted children in the gifted children?
classroom.

Under-30s increasingly What are the main factors

engage in the “gig that influence young
economy” instead of people’s decisions to engage
traditional full-time in the gig economy? What do
employment, but there is workers perceive as its
little research into young advantages and
people’s experiences of this disadvantages? Do age and
type of work. education level have an
effect on how people
experience this type of
work?

Statistical tests: which one should you use?

Published on January 28, 2020 by Rebecca Bevans. Revised on December 28, 2020.

Statistical tests are used in hypothesis testing. They can be used to:

 determine whether a predictor variable has a statistically significant relationship with an

outcome variable.
 estimate the difference between two or more groups.

Statistical tests assume a null hypothesis of no relationship or no difference between groups.

Then they determine whether the observed data fall outside of the range of values predicted by
the null hypothesis.

If you already know what types of variables you’re dealing with, you can use the flowchart to
choose the right statistical test for your data.

What does a statistical test do?

Statistical tests work by calculating a test statistic – a number that describes how
much the relationship between variables in your test differs from the null hypothesis of
no relationship.

It then calculates a p-value (probability value). The p-value estimates how likely it is

that you would see the difference described by the test statistic if the null hypothesis of
no relationship were true.

If the value of the test statistic is more extreme than the statistic calculated from the null
hypothesis, then you can infer a statistically significant relationship between the
predictor and outcome variables.

If the value of the test statistic is less extreme than the one calculated from the null
hypothesis, then you can infer no statistically significant relationship between the
predictor and outcome variables.
When to perform a statistical test
You can perform statistical tests on data that have been collected in a statistically valid
manner – either through an experiment, or through observations made using probability
sampling methods.

For a statistical test to be valid, your sample size needs to be large enough to
approximate the true distribution of the population being studied.

To determine which statistical test to use, you need to know:

 whether your data meets certain assumptions.

 the types of variables that you’re dealing with.

Statistical assumptions
Statistical tests make some common assumptions about the data they are testing:

1. Independence of observations (a.k.a. no autocorrelation): The observations/variables

you include in your test are not related (for example, multiple measurements of a single
test subject are not independent, while measurements of multiple different test subjects
are independent).
2. Homogeneity of variance: the variance within each group being compared is similar
among all groups. If one group has much more variation than others, it will limit the test’s
effectiveness.
3. Normality of data: the data follows a normal distribution (a.k.a. a bell curve). This
assumption applies only to quantitative data.

If your data do not meet the assumptions of normality or homogeneity of variance, you
may be able to perform a nonparametric statistical test, which allows you to make
comparisons without any assumptions about the data distribution.

If your data do not meet the assumption of independence of observations, you may be
able to use a test that accounts for structure in your data (repeated-measures tests or
tests that include blocking variables).

Types of variables
The types of variables you have usually determine what type of statistical test you can
use.

Quantitative variables represent amounts of things (e.g. the number of trees in a

forest). Types of quantitative variables include:

 Continuous (a.k.a ratio variables): represent measures and can usually be divided into
units smaller than one (e.g. 0.75 grams).
 Discrete (a.k.a integer variables): represent counts and usually can’t be divided into
units smaller than one (e.g. 1 tree).
Categorical variables represent groupings of things (e.g. the different tree species in a
forest). Types of categorical variables include:

 Ordinal: represent data with an order (e.g. rankings).

 Nominal: represent group names (e.g. brands or species names).
 Binary: represent data with a yes/no or 1/0 outcome (e.g. win or lose).

Choose the test that fits the types of predictor and outcome variables you have
collected (if you are doing an experiment, these are the independent and dependent
variables). Consult the tables below to see which test best matches your variables.

Choosing a parametric test: regression, comparison, or correlation

Parametric tests usually have stricter requirements than nonparametric tests, and are
able to make stronger inferences from the data. They can only be conducted with data
that adheres to the common assumptions of statistical tests.

The most common types of parametric test include regression tests, comparison tests,
and correlation tests.

Regression tests
Regression tests are used to test cause-and-effect relationships. They look for the
effect of one or more continuous variables on another variable.

Simple  Contin  Contin What is the effect

linear uous uous of income on long
regressi  1  1 evity?
on predic outco
tor me

Multipl  Contin  Contin What is the effect

e linear uous uous of income and mi
regressi  2 or  1 nutes of exercise
on more outco per
predic me day on longevity?
tors

Logistic  Contin  Binary What is the effect

regressi uous of drug dosage on
on the survival of a
test subject?

Comparison tests
Comparison tests look for differences among group means. They can be used to test
the effect of a categorical variable on the mean value of some other characteristic.
T-tests are used when comparing the means of precisely two groups (e.g. the average
heights of men and women). ANOVA and MANOVA tests are used when comparing the
means of more than two groups (e.g. the average heights of children, teenagers, and
adults).

Paired t-  Catego  Quantit What is the

test rical ative effect of two
 1  groups different
predict come test prep
or from programs on
the the average
same
exam
populati
scores for
on
students
from the
same class?
Independ  Catego  Quantit What is the
ent t-test rical ative difference
 1  groups in average
predict come exam
or from scores for
differen students
t
from two
populati
different
ons
schools?

ANOVA  Catego  Quantit What is the

rical ative difference
 1 or  1 in average
more outcom pain
predict e levels amon
or g post-
surgical
patients
given three
different
painkillers?
MANOVA  Catego  Quantit What is the
rical ative effect
 1 or  2 or of flower
more more species on p
predict outcom etal
or e length, petal
width,
and stem
length?
Correlation tests
Correlation tests check whether two variables are related without assuming cause-
and-effect relationships.

These can be used to test whether two variables you want to use in (for example) a
multiple regression test are autocorrelated.

Pearson Continu Continu How

’s r ous ous are latitude and temperature 
related?

Choosing a nonparametric test

Non-parametric tests don’t make as many assumptions about the data, and are useful
when one or more of the common statistical assumptions are violated. However, the
inferences they make aren’t as strong as with parametric tests.

Spearman’  Quantit  Quantita (Pearson’s 

s r ative tive r)

Chi square  Categor  Categori (Pearson’s 

test of ical cal r)
independe
nce

Sign test  Categor  Quantita (One-

ical tive sample t-
test)
Kruskal–  Categor  Quantita (ANOVA)
Wallis H ical tive
 3 or
more
groups

ANOSIM  Categor  Quantita MANOVA)

ical tive(
 3 or  2 or
more more
groups outcom
e
variable
s

Wilcoxon  Categor  Quantita (Independ

Rank-Sum ical tive ent t-test)
test  2  groups
groups come
from
different
populati
ons

Wilcoxon  Categor  Quantita (Paired t-

Signed- ical tive test)
rank test  2  groups
groups come
from the
same
populati
on