Last week we looked at the uses of qualitative research methods and how important they are to the scientific process. Recall that qualitative research looks to make general statements about observed behaviors as opposed to making general statements and then testing to see if the observed behaviors validate the statement. This process of making a statement (hypothesis) first and then testing your statement with experiments is what is referred to as quantitative research. This method can be most easily described by the use of “if, then” statements; i.e. if my theory x holds true, then I should observe the following y traits in my experiment.
As an engineer, I am far more comfortable with this type of research method than qualitative methods due to the fact that all of the research and projects I did during my undergraduate studies fell under the quantitative methods. Also, one could argue that most things in life can be quantified and measured using numbers. I completely agree and would further argue that everything in life/the world can be explained with a mathematical equation; just some equations are simpler than others. What is often the challenge (especially in social sciences) is being able to convert observed behavior into a numerical data set for mathematical interpretation, with the data set being the raw information of the experiment. Another challenge when using quantitative methods in social sciences is that most quantitative methods require the testing of a single variable at a time and trying to isolate that single behavior can be next to impossible. Due to this, studies often simplify the reality of the project, which can alter the results. Additionally, you must be able to ask very precise and definitive questions in order to extract the needed information from the subject. Assuming you can find the right questions, interpreting the response to the question can be just as challenging.
With these limitations aside, there are still distinct advantages to quantitative research within the social studies; largely that if you can overcome the hurdles associated with quantitative research, the results you obtain can be very good. Some of the hurdles just referred to include ensuring the correct question is asked (hypothesis), that your research methodology is best suited to test your hypothesis, and that your data collection method will result in unbiased and unambiguous data. Regardless, I would rather perform quantitative vice qualitative research any day.
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