Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Subject Area

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Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

In quantitative research, focus is on the quantity, the amount or number of the material in terms of measurements or estimates. There is a need to quantify the data be it attitudes, behaviors, opinions and other variables. The data used for this research is one that can be formulated or presented using patterns. In addition, this data can be manipulated by use of formulae. The results can work as input in usable statistics. Qualitative research, on the other hand, is used in an appreciative or exploratory way. It dwells into problems with the aim of developing trends, ideas or hypothesis for a research question. Quality is used to refer to an attribute or something that cannot be measured like color, texture, reason, opinion, motivation and others (Yilman, 2013). Quantitative data gathering methods are more planned and organized than qualitative data gathering methods due to the nature of the data being handled.

If I had to conduct a study, I would select the quantitative. It is easier to gather data for the quantitative research since the majority of the methods used here follow an organized and planned format. Gelo, Braakmann and Benetka (2008) agree that it is easier to present the results from this research by use of statistics and graphs which are easier to be interpreted by other people.

If I had to conduct a qualitative study I would select the following title, ’Physical activity in pregnancy: beliefs of overweight and obese pregnant women.’ The objective of this research would be to find a way of making these women get an interest in involvements that can be used to encourage physical activity. The research would be used to show them the importance of physical activity in pregnant women.

References
Gelo, O.,