PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Lesson 3: Qualitative Research and its Importance in Daily

Life

QUALITATIVE VS. QUANTITATIVE

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Deals with traits of respondents
• Uses little to no statistical analysis
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• Uses quantitative procedures
• Respondents’ traits are translated numerically

Prepared by: Ms. Jannille Abbie S. Escarilla

Teacher’s Note: This handout is intended for students of Bogota,
Caracas, David, Ecuador, Florida, and Kingston.
NATURE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Investigates the quality of relationships, activities,
situations or materials
(Fraenkel, 2007)
• Does not intend to generalize the conclusion about
an entire group of people, but to develop an in-
depth explanation of phenomenon. (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2011)

Prepared by: Ms. Jannille Abbie S. Escarilla

Teacher’s Note: This handout is intended for students of Bogota,
Caracas, David, Ecuador, Florida, and Kingston.
USES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
1. Draws meaningful information about beliefs, feelings,
values and motivations that supports behavior.
2. Learn directly from people and what is important to
them.
3. Provides context required to elicit quantitative results.
4. Identify variables important for further studies.
5. Determine one’s genre as a primary step to develop
a quantitative survey; and
6. Assess the usability of websites, databases, or other
interactive media/services.

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. Its direct source of data is natural setting and the
researcher is the key instrument.
2. Data collected are in the form of words or illustration
rather than numbers.
3. Concerned with the process as well as the product.
4. Analysis of data is taken inductively.
5. Deals with how people make sense out of their lives.

STRENGTHS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. Provides in-depth information on individual cases.
Prepared by: Ms. Jannille Abbie S. Escarilla
Teacher’s Note: This handout is intended for students of Bogota,
Caracas, David, Ecuador, Florida, and Kingston.
2. Unravels complex phenomena embedded on local
context.
3. Describes rich phenomena situated in some
exceptional environments.
4. Relays subjects’ experiences and perspectives in
unusual details.
5. Conveys setting factors related to the situation of
interest.
6. Enables data to be collected in natural settings;
7. Determines possible causes of events in a perspective
different from quantitative

WEAKNESSES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. Data gathering is often time-consuming.
2. Analysis of data takes longer time than the
qualitative analysis.
3. Interpretation of results may be biased because it is
influenced by the researcher’s perspective.
4. Conclusions are not generalizable because the
subjects are few and sometimes possess unique
characteristics compared to typical respondents.

Prepared by: Ms. Jannille Abbie S. Escarilla

Teacher’s Note: This handout is intended for students of Bogota,
Caracas, David, Ecuador, Florida, and Kingston.