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Resarch Methods: Qualitative vs. Quantitative

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Please discuss two different research methods and state whether those methods are qualitative or quantitative.

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Qualitative vs. Quantitative:
Qualitative research uses more than one method and it is considered to be very interactive and humanistic (Pershing, Stolovitich & Keeps, 2006). A quantitative method uses more statistical models and it deals with numbers that are turned into those statistical models in an attempt to explain what they have observed. Let's first discuss the features and differences of each method.

Qualitative:
- Is looking for more of a complete and detailed description.
- Most researchers have a good idea in advance what they are actually looking for.
- This type of research should be done in the beginning phases of a project.
- The actual design of this study will emerge as it unfolds.
- Your researcher is the one who collects the data.
- The data will either be in the form of objects, words or pictures.
- This type of research is more subjective. This means that an individual's interpretation of events is very important. You will use more participant observations or even more in-depth interviews (Pershing, Stolovitich & Keeps, 2006).
- This type of data can be more time consuming and it will be harder to generalize.
- Your researcher can become subjectively immersed in the subject matter at hand.

Quantitative:
- The major aim of this type of research is to classify features, count them and then you can construct your statistical models in order to try and explain what was observed.
- In this type of research your researcher will know exactly what they are looking for.
- You would want to do this type of research during the final phases of a project.
- You will have all aspects of the study designed before you collect any data.
- Your researchers will use questionnaires or different types of equipment that can collect numerical data (Miller, 2010).
- All data will be statistical in the form of numbers.
- This type of research is considered objective because it seeks precise measurement and analysis of what ...

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