TYPES OF RESEARCH

There are different types of research based on different aspects:

Process

Outcome

Purpose
Different types of research under process: 1. Qualitative
Different types of research under process: 2. Quantitative
Qualitative Research
• Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical
data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or
experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem
or generate new ideas for research.

• Qualitative research is commonly used in the humanities and social

sciences, in subjects such as anthropology, sociology, education, health
sciences, history, etc.
Qualitative data can take the form of texts, photos, videos and audio. For example, you
might be working with interview transcripts, survey responses, fieldnotes, or recordings
from natural settings.
Most types of qualitative data analysis share the same five steps:
1.Prepare and organize your data. This may mean transcribing interviews or typing up field
notes.
2.Review and explore your data. Examine the data for patterns or repeated ideas that emerge.
3.Develop a data coding system. Based on your initial ideas, establish a set of codes that you
can apply to categorize your data.
4.Assign codes to the data. For example, in qualitative survey analysis, this may mean going
through each participant’s responses and tagging them with codes in a spreadsheet. As you
go through your data, you can create new codes to add to your system if necessary.
5.Identify recurring themes. Link codes together into cohesive, overarching themes.
Approach When to use Example
Content analysis To describe and categorize common A market researcher could perform
words, phrases, and ideas in content analysis to find out what kind
qualitative data. of language is used in descriptions of
therapeutic apps.
Thematic analysis To identify and interpret patterns and A psychologist could apply thematic
themes in qualitative data. analysis to travel blogs to explore
how tourism shapes self-identity.

Textual analysis To examine the content, structure, A media researcher could use textual
and design of texts. analysis to understand how news
coverage of celebrities has changed
in the past decade.

Discourse analysis To study communication and how A political scientist could use
language is used to achieve effects in discourse analysis to study how
specific contexts. politicians generate trust in election
campaigns.
 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research is the process of collecting and analyzing numerical
data. It can be used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test
causal relationships, and generalize results to wider populations.
Once data is collected, you may need to process it before it can be
analyzed. For example, survey and test data may need to be transformed
from words to numbers. Then, you can use statistical analysis to answer
research questions.
Descriptive Statistics will give you a summary of your data and include
measures of averages and variability. You can also use graphs, scatter plots
and frequency tables to visualize your data and check for any trends or
outliers.
Using inferential statistics, you can make predictions or generalizations
based on your data. You can test your hypothesis or use your sample data
to estimate the population parameter.

Advantages of Quantitative research

•Replication
•Direct comparisons of results
•Large samples
•Hypothesis testing
Disadvantages of Quantitative research

•Superficiality
•Narrow focus
•Structural bias
•Lack of context

Quantitative research is widely used in financial

analysis,psychology, economics, demography, sociology, marketing,
community health, health & human development, gender studies,
and political science; and less frequently in anthropology and history. 
Quantitative research
Focuses on testing theories and
hypotheses
Analyzed through math and statistical
analysis
Mainly expressed in numbers, graphs
and tables
Requires many respondents
Closed (multiple choice) questions
Key terms: testing, measurement,
objectivity, replicability
Qualitative Research
Focuses on exploring ideas and
formulating a theory or hypothesis
Analyzed by summarizing, categorizing
and interpreting
Mainly expressed in words
Requires few respondents
Open-ended questions
Key terms: understanding, context,
complexity, subjectivity