Dr. Ayaz

Muhammad

Khan

QUALITATIVE VS. QUANTITATIVE

RESEARCH

General Difference between Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Introduction Scientific research can be classified under

two broad categories: Qualitative research and Quantitative research.

Quantitative research relies on statistical tests and can be easily replicated. It is the preferred type of research in

the physical sciences.Qualitative research takes place in the real world, as

opposed to the laboratory, and deals with how people give meaning to their own experience.

Followed by an attempt to interpret the behaviour and the meanings that people have given to their experience.

The objective of qualitative research is to describe and possibly explain events and experiences.

Aim, Purpose and Approach Qualitative research

Quantities research

Its purpose is to understand social life

Aims at theory building

Uses a dynamic approach

Aims at theory testing

Its purpose is to explain social life

Uses a rigid and static approach

Qualitative Focus group In-depth interviewReview of documents

for types of themeTriangulation

Survey Structured interview

& observation Review of record or

documents for numeric information

Methods

Quantitative

ProcessQualitative Inductive process used

to formulate theory. Employs a flexible

process

Quantitative Deductive process

used to test pre-specified concept construct and hypothesis that make up a theory.

Employs an inflexible process

Qualitative Employs theoretical

samplingSelect people/sites who can

best help us understand our phenomenon

That might be “useful: information

That might help people “learn” about the phenomenon

That might give voice to “silenced” people

Employs random sampling

Select Representative individuals

To generalize from sample to population

To make claims about the population

To build/test “theories” that explain the pop’n

Sampling

Quantitative

QualitativeSome form of analysis

usually takes place at the same time data is being collected

Analyzed through 3 strategies:

reducing the data coding the data synthesizing the data

Statistical tables and charts

Universal: applicable to all

Mainly deductive reasoning: everything is known before conclusions can be drawn

Result interpretation and analysis

Quantitative

Feature Quantitative Methodology

Qualitative Methodology

Nature of reality Objective; simple; single; tangible sense impressions

Subjective; problematic; holistic; a social construct

Causes and effects

Nomological thinking; cause – effect linkages

Non-deterministic; mutual shaping; no cause – effect linkages

The role of values

Value neutral; value-free inquiry

Normativism; value-bound inquiry

Feature Quantitative Methodology Qualitative Methodology

Natural and social sciences

Deductive; model of natural sciences; nomothetic; bases on strict rules

Inductive; rejection of the natural sciences model; ideographic; no strict rules; interpretations

Methods Quantitative, mathematical; extensive use of statistics

Qualitative, with less emphasis on statistics; verbal and qualitative analysis

Researcher’s role Rather passive; is the ‘knower’; is separate from subject – the known: dualism

Active; ‘knower’ and ‘known’ are interactive and inseparable

Generalizations Inductive generalizations; nomothetic statements

Analytical or conceptual generalizations; time-and-context specific

Paradigm of Quantitative Research

Paradigm The design of a research study begins with

the selection of a topic and a paradigm. A paradigm is essentially a worldview, a

whole framework of beliefs, values and methods within which research takes place. It is this world view within which researchers work.

Researchers from different disciplines [traditions?] may have different paradigms There are competing paradigms in education research

Significance of Paradigm in Research Within the research process the beliefs a

researcher holds will reflect in the way they research is designed, how data is both collected and analyzed and how research results are is presented.

For the researcher it is important to recognize their paradigm, it allows them to identify their role in the research process, determine the course of any research project and distinguish other perspectives.

Components of paradigmPhilosophy Ontology Epistemology Methodology

Quantitative Quantitative study, consistent with the

quantitative paradigm, is an inquiry into a social or human problem, based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory hold true."

EmpiricismPositivismPost positivismCritical RealismPragmatism

Outline

Empiricism, originated by Philinos of Cos and Serapion of Alexandria, and they claimed that all knowledge arises out of one’s own observations, the observations of others and analogical reasoning (Psillos 1999).

Empiricism took its modern form with John Locke (1632-1704), who argued that all knowledge comes from experience (Locke [18941 1974).

Empiricism argues that only that which can be experienced through the senses may be known to be real.

Empiricism

Criticism knowledge cannot be achieved by relying on

experience alone, they have disagreed over its exact limits and the role of observation in understanding social reality.

PositivismQuantitative purists (Positivists):

Believe that social observations should be treated as entities in much the same way that physical scientists treat physical phenomena.

Contend that the observer is separate from the entities that are subject to observation.

Maintain that social science inquiry should be objective.

That time- and context-free generalizations (Nagel, 1986) are desirable and possible, and

Real causes of social scientific outcomes can be determined reliably and validly.

Positivist research gained dominance in the natural sciences and was later adopted in social sciences.

They believe that Human behaviour is both rational and predictable.

Cont.

Positivism has received a wide range of criticism, attacking not only its epistemological and ontological basis but also claims that it has been responsible for many social problems.

Its critics have contested the mechanical view of science that logical positivism is thought to promote, where interpretation, values, ethics and expression of uncertainty and ambiguity have no place.

The idea that knowledge is objective and value-free has been defeated on both theoretical and empirical grounds

Criticisim on Positivist

They believe that reality is independent of our thinking about it, and that observation and measurement are at the core of a scientific endeavor.

They refute the belief that observation sets the epistemic foundation of all knowledge, in that observation is laden with theory, beliefs and values that can be accepted by all sides of a theoretical divide

They recognize that observation can contain error, stressing the need to be critical about making statements about social reality with certainty.

Post positivism

Postpositivists accept that researchers are inherently biased by their cultural and social/political positioning and experience, and argue for objectivity that relies on ‘the rational pursuit of inquiry’ (Hammersley 2005: 149

Postpositivists argue, a natural selection theory of knowledge occurs, leading to the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory.

researchers look for disconfirming evidence rather than focusing on confirming their hypothesis.

Researcher test the null hypothesis rather than the alternative hypothesis, and confirming the alternative hypothesis only when the null hypothesis has been rejected

Cont.

Social reality has an anthropocentric basis by being tied to human perception and language/discourse.

In postpositivism, epistemology (what is to be known) and ontology (what it is) are tangled.

Criticism of Postpositivism

Realism is located within the postpositivist tradition.

The critical realists have expressed criticisms against a natural science framework to understand social reality, they accept that a scientific understanding of the world is desirable as long as it ‘affords only a particular angle.

Realists argue against universally occurring regularities or sequences of cause and effect, stressing that events are often determined by multiple influences

Critical Realism

The critical realism is critical because researchers accept that their investigations are fallible, and stress the importance of a critical examination of values and facts.

Knowledge is gained through neither induction nor deduction but by a process of explanation of a phenomenon at deeper levels.

As we gain knowledge, we constantly revise previous knowledge and understandings.

Cont.

The pragmatists attributed a practical, utilitarian function to knowledge.

For pragmatists, knowledge is theory- and value-laden and capable of shaping human values.

Pragmatists hold that truth is not absolute but relative to the time, place and purpose of an inquiry.

Inquiry does not offer guaranteed knowledge based on past experience but rather a sufficient knowledge to make predictions regarding present action

Pragmatism

Pragmatism have attempted to disengage quantitative research from its positivist tradition by accepting the value of causal relationships in addition to interpretive approaches to meaning-making.

Cont.

Summary

Item Positivism Post Positivism Critical Theory, et al

Constructivism(learning theory)

Ontology Naïve realism—“real” reality but apprehend able

Critical realism—“real” reality but only imperfectly and probabilistically apprehend able

Historical realism—virtual reality shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic, and gender values; crystallized over time

Relativism—local and specific constructed realities

Epistemology Dualist/objectivist; findings true

Modified dualist/ objectivist; critical tradition/community; findings probably true

Transactional/ subjectivist; value-mediated findings

Transactional/ subjectivist; created findings

Methodology Experimental/ manipulative; verification of hypotheses; chiefly quantitative methods methods

Modified experimental/ manipulative; critical multiplism; falsification of hypotheses; may include qualitative

Dialogic/dialectical Hermeneutical/ dialectical

Paradigm in Qualitative Research

A qualitative study is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting.

Qualitative paradigm

Emphasize the cultural and social context that surround people’s live.

Help to understand the society.Social Reality is constructed by the individuals

who participate in it.

Social Constructivisim

Meta physics Understand through human activity

Epistemology Knowledge is human product i.e. socially and culturally constructed.Create their own subject through interaction of their environment.

In constructivist educational research researcher empower the participant perspective and ideas, obtained rich description of the context.

Their finding rely on interpretation of multiple perspective as they are constructed in the context of social interaction.

Educational research of social constructivisim

Critical thinking is skilled and active interpretation and evaluation of observations and communication, information and argumentation. (Fisher and Scriven, 1997, p.21)Paulo Freire wrote Pedagogy of Oppressed in which he criticized the so called prevailing banking Concept of Education.Education for critical consciousnessIra shore’s book Empowering Education

Critical Thinking

Critical theory originates in the European Marxist tradition known as Frankfurt School. A critical theory is from a traditional theory to the extent that it seeks human emancipation, to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them.

Critical theory provides the descriptive and philosophical framework for social inquiry.

It is base on Explanatory, practical and normative principles. It must explain the factors that work against emancipation in society, identify the actors to change it and provide clear norms for criticism and achievable goals for social transformation.

Critical theory

They argue for the importance of first and second person understanding from a technocratic view of social inquiry , purpose to solve the practical problems.

In research the theory start with agent’s own pre theoretical knowledge and self understanding.

People are a product of the society in which they live. Hence this implies that their is no such thing as an objective fact that can be known outside of structure.

Cont

Habermas and Freire main proponantsEmancipator research is seen as operating

within a critical theory paradigm.It is mainstream research, produced

theoretical understanding that are not always relevant to empowering of individual.

It often has political agenda and focus on issue of social justice.

Example of Emancipator research is multi cultural educational research.

Emancipatory Research

Describe culture and experience from the perspectives of a group being studied.

Develop counter narratives to mainstream accounts and narratives.

Assume that scientific knowledge should enhance justices and equality with in society.

View scientific knowledge as having both subjective and objective component.

Characteristic

They argue that humans are not simply constrained by structure, culture or social economic, they play an active role in in producing these structures.

In structural analysis the cultural and linguistic tool are defined by the rules that are set for an activity of which the behavior under investigate.

The post structuralism challenge as the structure themselves should become the subject of investigation.

Structuralism and post structuralisim

Modernism has its roots in the enlightment, which promoted the advancement of knowledge through scientific observation.

Post modernism question the rationality of human actions, the use of positivist epistemology, and human endeavor (e.g., science) that claims a privileged position with respect to the search for truth or that claims progress in the search for truth.

Post modernism has raisin as a response to the loss of faith in traditional religious and politics.

The nature of knowledge is to be practical.

Post modernism