How does qualitative research differ from quantitative research?

The decision to conduct qualitative or quantitative research is based on the research problem, gap, purpose, and research questions. Qualitative “explores” the how, why, or what associated with a phenomenon, while quantitative “examines” the relationships or differences among known and measureable variables (often initially determined via qualitative research).

Further, both methods require data collection and analysis; however, these also differ; wherein, qualitative data collection involves interviews, observation, focus groups, and artifacts for open-ended data, while quantitative primarily involves surveys and secondary closed-ended data. Qualitative data analysis applies thematic coding to identify common/recurring themes, while quantitative applies inferential statistical analysis to reject, or not, the null hypotheses.

In conclusion, there are many differences between qualitative and quantitative research and those planning their doctoral research should be fully familiar with both, along with the factors that determine which should be applied.

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