PRR REVIEWER

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Qualitative research is descriptive in nature, because it generally deals with non-numerical and
unquantifiable things.

Quantitative research is much more numbers-driven. The emphasis is on the collection of numerical
data.

PERCEIVED BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH APPROACHES

A. Paradigm/Worldview (assumptions)
• Positivism – an epistemological position that advocates the application of methods of the natural
sciences to the study of social reality and beyond (Bryman 2008, 697)
• Realism – an epistemological position that acknowledges a reality independent of the senses that is
accessible to the researcher’s tools and theoretical speculations.

B. Research Purpose (rationale)

• Numerical descriptions – it refers to frequency distribution, percentage, and measures of central
tendencies (mean, median, mode).
• Causal Explanation – it relates to the meaning of causality concerned with establishing causal
connections rather than mere relationships (Bryman 2018, 691).

• Prediction – It is a statement about future based on facts

C. Ontology (nature of reality)

• Nature of social reality – this refers to what and how things can be known.
Epistemology (theory of knowledge)

• Dualist / Objectivist – it refers to the notion or general knowledge that reality is objective, out there,
singular, and apart from the researcher.

E. Methodology (aims of scientific investigation)

• Experimental / Manipulative – the researcher manipulates one variable and control or randomize the
rest of the variables.

F. Research Methods (Technique and tools)

• Empirical examination – it is generally referred to as information that is derived through observation
and experiment.

• Measurement – it is the procedure of assigning symbols, letters, or numbers to quantify variables.

• Hypothesis testing - sometimes also referred to as significance testing is a method for testing a claim
or hypothesis about a parameter in a population, using data measured in a sample.
• Randomization – In experimental research designs, randomization methodsbare used to randomly
assigned participants to either a treatment group or a control group.
• Research Protocols – it is the sequence of manipulations and measurements, followed by the
sequence of manipulations of the independent variables and the subsequent measurement of changes
in the dependent variables (Bryman 2008, 697)
• Questionnaires – A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the
purpose of gathering information from respondents.

ASSUMPTION

ONTOLOGICAL

• Ontology, the philosophical study of being in general, or of what applies neutrally to everything that is
real.

Qlr- reality is subject

Qnr-reality is object

EPISTEMOLOGICA

• Epistemology, the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge.

Qlr-Researcher interact with the subject of research.

Qnr-Researcher is independent from the subject of research.

AXIOLOGICAL
• Axiology is the study of value. Its goal is to answer questions related to both ethics and aesthetics.
QLR- Value-laden and biased.
QNR- Value-free and unbiased.
RHETORICAL

• Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing effectively.

QLR- Informal; evolving decisions; personal voice;
QNR- Formal; based on sets of definitions; impersonal voice;

METHODOLOGICAL

• Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and
analyze information about a topic.

QLR
-Inductive Process (specific to general)
- Patterns and theories developed for understanding(Theory-building)

QNR
-