STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES,

AND IMPORTANCE OF
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
ACROSS FIELDS and
DIFFERENT VARIABLES IN
QUANTITATIVE AND THEIR
USES
 Strengths and Weaknesses of
Quantitative Research
Strength Weakness
• Study findings can be • Many kinds of information
generalized to the are difficult to obtain
population about which through structured data
information is required. collection instruments,
particularly information on
sensitive topics such as
domestic violence or income.
 Strength
• Samples of individuals, • Many groups such as drug
communities, or
organizations can be
selected to ensure that the
results will be
representative of the
population being studied.
Weakness
users, illegal immigrants,
squatters, and ethnic
minorities are always difficult
to reach, but the problems
are often greater for
quantitative data collection
methods.
 Strength Weakness
• Structural factors that • Self-reported information
determine how inequalities obtained from
(such as gender questionnaires may be
inequalities) are produced inaccurate or incomplete.
can be analyzed.
• Estimates of the • There is often no information
magnitude and distribution on contextual factors to help
of impacts can be interpret results or to explain
variations in behavior between
obtained. households with similar
economic and demographic
characteristics.
 Strength Weakness
• Estimates of the costs and • The administration of a
benefits of the structured questionnaire
interventions ca be creates an unnatural
obtained. situation that may alienate
respondents.
• Clear documentation can be • Studies are expensive and
provided regarding the content time- consuming, and even
and application of the survey preliminary results are usually
instruments so that other not available for a long period
researchers can assess the of time.
validity of the findings.
 Strength
• Standardized approaches
permit the study to be
replicated in different areas or
over time with the production
of comparable findings.
• It is possible to control the
effects of extraneous variables
that might result in misleading
interpretations of causality
(although this can be
challenging in the natural
settings of evaluations).
Weakness
• Research methods are
inflexible because the
instruments cannot be
modified once the study
begins.
• Reduction of data numbers
results in lost information.
Strength Weakness
• The correlations produced
(e.g., between costs and
benefits, gender, and access
to services or benefits) may
mask or ignore underlying
causes or realities.
• Untested variables may
account for program impacts.
• Errors in the hypotheses
tested may yield
misimpressions of program
quality or influential factors.
Strength Weakness
• Errors in the selection of
procedures for determining
statistical significance can
result in erroneous findings
regarding impact.
 Importance of Quantitative Research
Since quantitative research is about numeric data and statistics, it
is very beneficial in various aspects of life such as the following:

1. It is useful in generating large amounts of data

and in identifying the patterns of behavior of
various sectors in different settings.
Analysis of quantitative data will determine dissimilarities and
similarities among the identified patterns which will provide new
patterns. Discovering patterns of behavior gives us an idea of what
people think, want, and value. These are rich sources of data for
future-related interventions.
 Importance of Quantitative Research

2. If you are after objectivity, then quantitative

research may be adopted because it is less prone to
bias as the findings are expressed in terms of
numbers.
Quantitative analysis permits the researcher to organize
data for a clear data dissemination. Results are analyzed in
percentages and statistics and are presented in graphs and
charts.
 Importance of Quantitative Research

3. Quantitative research is adopted by some

researchers instead of the qualitative approach due
to the following reasons:
a. It is more reliable and objective;
b. It uses statistics to generalize a finding;
c. It reduces and restructures a complex problem to a
limited number of variables;
d. It looks at relationships between variables and can
establish cause and effect in highly controlled
circumstances;
 Importance of Quantitative Research

3. Quantitative research is adopted by some

researchers instead of the qualitative approach due
to the following reasons:
e. It assumes that a sample is representative of the
population;
f. The subjectivity of the researcher is recognized less; and
g. It is less detailed that qualitative research.
Different Types of Variables
In terms of level of measurement:
Categorical Variable Characteristics:

Example
A variable that is
Variable gender is made up of different
made up of two types or categories of
categories, male a phenomenon
and female.
Different Types of Variables
In terms of level of measurement:

Quantitative Variable Characteristics:

Example
A variable that varies
Variable annual in degree or amount
income varies from of phenomenon.
0 to a very high
level of income.
Different Types of Variables
Roles of Variables
Independent Variable Characteristics:

Example
A variable that is
Amount of studying presumed to cause
(IV) affects test changes in another
grades (DV) variable; causal
variable.
Different Types of Variables
Roles of Variables
Dependent Variable Characteristics:

Example
A variable that
Amount of studying changes because of
(IV) affects test another variable; the
grades (DV) effect of outcome
variable.
Different Types of Variables
Roles of Variables
Mediating Variable
Example
Amount of studying leads to
input and organization of
knowledge in one‘s long-
term memory (mediating
variable) which affects test
grades (DV)
Characteristics:
A variable that comes
in between other
variables; helps to
delineate the process
through which
variables affect one
another.
 Different Types of Variables
Roles of Variables
Characteristics:
Moderator Variable
Example
A variable that
Perhaps the relationship delineates how a
between studying (IV) and relationship of interest
test grades (DV) changes changes under different
according to the level of use
conditions or
of a drug such as Ritalin
(moderator variable) circumstances.