What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods?

Answer 1

Quantitative methods involve collecting numbers or codes, such as likert scales or physical weights. Quantitative methods are basic statistics such as t-tests and regression models. These are the statistics where we analyze or compare values or numbers.

Qualitative methods are open-ended questions collected in interviews. The researcher asked questions such as "How do you feel about the political climate?" and they allow the subject to use their own words to describe their opinions. Then the data is collected and processed through software and coded to analyze the percentage of common responses. Brene Brown studied what makes people happy and conducted thousands of qualitative interviews to discover vulnerability was a large common factor contributing to happiness and fulfillment. Qualitative methods also can involve simply observing interactions and finding common themes to record. The data is initially not a number, but can eventually be described and presented as results and findings.

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