QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

Qualitative Research
- naturalistic research method of investigation that addresses the problem of
human complexity by directly exploring it (Polit and Beck, 2008).
- emphasizes human complexity and man's ability to determine and construct his
or her own experience.
- focuses on gaining knowledge and understanding of an individual's experience
and interpretation of events.
- gathers knowledge through techniques such as interviews and participatory
observation.
- not constrained by current theories but rather open-minded to new concepts and
perspectives.
Comparison between Quantitative and Qualitative Research
QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE
Subjective Objective
Research questions answer “what” and Research questions answer “how many”
“why”. Involves processes, feelings, and or “strength or relationship or difference”.
motives and produces an in-depth and Aims to characterize trends and patterns
holistic idea
Develops theory Tests theory
Uses either unstructured or semi- Uses structured research instruments like
structured instruments questionnaires or schedules
Interpretive Measurable
Reports rich narrative, individual Reports statistical analysis. A basic
interpretation. A basic element of analysis element of analysis is the number
is words and ideas
The researcher is part of the process The researcher is separate
Uses small sample sizes chosen Uses large sample sizes that are
purposely representatives of the population
The reasoning is dialectic and inductive The reasoning is logistic and deductive

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

1. Qualitative research is conducted systematically and rigorously.
2. It usually follows an iterative process, which means that data collection and analysis
occur simultaneously.
3. It focuses on gathering information from people who can provide the richest insights
into the phenomenon of interest. As a result, small samples are commonly used. Study
participants are usually selected in a purposive manner.
4. Data collection is continuous until saturation.
5. Qualitative data collection examines everyday life in its natural context.
Common Types of Qualitative Research
1. Phenomenological Study – examines human experiences (lived experiences)
through the descriptions provided by subjects or respondents. The goal of this
study is to describe the meaning that experiences hold for each subject.
Example: What are the common experiences encountered by a person
with a spouse who is undergoing rehabilitation?
2. Ethnographic Study – involves the collection and analysis of data about cultural
groups or minorities. The researcher immerses with the people and becomes a
part of their culture. During the immersion process, the researcher talks to the
key persons and personalities called key informants who provide essential
information.
Example: What are the demographic profile and migratory adaptations of
squatter families in Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City (Dela Cruz, 1994)?
3. Historical Study – this study is concerned with the identification, location,
evaluation, and synthesis or data from past events. This is not only limited to
 obtaining data from the past, but it also involves relating their implications to the
present and future time.
Example: What were the roles of women in the Katipunan?
a. Documents – printed materials that can be found in libraries, archives, or
personal collections.
b. Relics and artifacts – physical remains or objects from a certain historical
period.
c. Oral reports – information that is passed on by word of mouth. The validity
of materials used in the study are assessed through the following processes:
4. Case Study – is an in-depth examination of an individual, groups of people, or
an institution. Some of its purposes are to gain insights into a little-known
problem, provide background data for broader studies, and explain socio-
psychological and socio-cultural processes.
Example: How do HIV positive individual look at life?
5. Grounded Theory Study – the method involves comparing collected units of
data against one another until categories, properties, and hypotheses that state
relations between these categories and properties emerge.
Example: Ten school counselors were given structured interviews to help
determine how their professional identity is formed.
6. Narrative Analysis – the primary sources of data for this type of research are
individuals' life accounts based on their personal experiences. The purpose of
the study is to extract meaningful context from these experiences.
The common types of narrative analysis are as follows:
a. Psychological – this involves analyzing the story in terms of internal thoughts
and motivations.
b. Biographical – takes the individual's society and factors like gender and class
c. Discourse analysis – this studies the approach in which language is used in
texts and contexts.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Research
Strengths
1. Requires a few cases or participants.
2. It is useful for describing complex phenomena.
3. Issues can be examined in detail and in-depth.
4. It provides individual case information.
5. Cross-case comparisons and analysis can be conducted.
6. It provides an understanding and description of people’s personal experiences of
phenomena.
7. The researcher usually identifies contextual and setting factors as they relate to
the phenomenon of interest.
8. Data are usually collected in naturalistic settings in qualitative research.
9. Responsive to local situations, conditions, and stakeholders’ needs.
10. Qualitative data in the participants' words and categories lead themselves to
explore how and why particular phenomena occur.
Weaknesses
1. The knowledge produced might not apply to other people or other settings.
2. Inflexibility is more challenging to maintain, assess, and demonstrate.
3. It is sometimes not as well understood and accepted as quantitative research
within the scientific community.
4. The researcher’s presence during data gathering, which is often unavoidable in
qualitative research, can affect the subjects’ responses.
5. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality can present problems when presenting
findings.
6. It is more difficult to test hypotheses and theories with large participant pools.
7. It might have lower credibility with some administrators and commissioners of
programs.
8. It generally takes more time to collect the data compared to quantitative
research.
9. Data analysis is often time-consuming.
10. The results are more easily influenced by the researcher’s personal biases and
idiosyncrasies.