Speaker 1: So in this video I want to talk about differences between qualitative and quantitative research. Since I've seen comments more than once saying that I talk too much in some of my videos I decided to make it short this time. The goal was to call the video a five-minute definition of qualitative and quantitative research but I decided it's not realistic for me so let's try to make it in seven minutes. I'll consider 10 a success as well. Okay so let's start. I'll give you first I'll give you an example of a hypothetical study and then based on that example I'll compare several aspects of qualitative and quantitative research. So our example will involve a study of jaywalking. Jaywalking so basically crossing a street illegally in a place where you're not supposed to cross the street. So imagine that there is this busy street in your city and it is known for for this fact that people cross constantly cross the street there but there is no crossing they're not supposed to do that but yet they do. And of course this is very dangerous so we want to conduct a study. So you have a qualitative and quantitative researchers looking at that situation and both deciding to conduct a study of this phenomenon. Of course their study will be completely different so let's imagine the qualitative researcher first. The qualitative researcher will probably not be interested in a very large sample. In a minute I'll go to these actual elements and distinctions between the two types of research but he or she won't be interested in a large sample but rather will probably pick you know 15 or 20 or 30 people and will mainly focus on these people's opinions and beliefs and perceptions. So we'll most likely ask them why they cross the street here. So he or she will want to generate an in-depth understanding of a selected group of participants beliefs and reasons for why they do what they do. And the quantitative researcher on the other hand will probably want to collect a large sample. So we'll observe or maybe we'll distribute a questionnaire among a large sample of people, a large group of people who cross the street every day at different times of the day, in different days of the week and different weather maybe. So the goal will be to generate, to have a large sample, large group of people to generate a lot of numbers, a lot of statistical data and then analyze that data. So looking at that data perhaps look for different different trends and patterns, trying to understand perhaps the reason why they cross the street or even predict how many will cross the street in this year. So to make a case that it's a dangerous place and perhaps you know a crossing for pedestrians is needed, a quantitative researcher may actually predict the future in a way which is quite interesting. So based on the numbers from the past, from the present, they can predict what will happen in the next month and the next year. So you can see there are completely different kinds of studies. Both are interesting and both are needed. Okay so now let's compare separate specific elements of qualitative and quantitative research. So first the first element, the first difference that I want to discuss between qualitative and quantitative research is the general focus. So the focus of qualitative research is of course on quality. But what does it mean quality? So quality as in the exact nature of a given experience. So they want to understand, they want to generate an in-depth understanding of a given experience, of a given phenomenon or whatever it is they are investigating. So in our case they would want to understand probably why people cross the street. Their personal reasons or beliefs, maybe they would something would emerge from that. So maybe some suggestions that there in fact this crossing in this place is needed. But the focus is on that nature of that experience as seen by individual participants. And on the other hand the focus of quantitative research is on quantity. So again on numbers, on frequencies. So like I said with our example, so rather than understand the individual perspectives of a small group of people who cross the street in that place, the quantitative researcher will want to generate a bigger larger data set based on numbers and frequencies. So to show how many people cross the street, when they do it and this kind of thing. Not necessarily why they do it. And this is very similar to the next element which is the goal of investigation, the goal of inquiry. So the goal of quantitative researchers is to test, test hypothesis sometimes, if they have a hypothesis, to measure, to predict and to control. So again this is a very controlled environment. So they can separate in their data analysis, they can separate different variables, they can investigate, they can investigate different relationships between variables, which means characteristics. So for example from the top of my head it could be investigating the relationship between, let's say, the status or professional situation or educational status of those who cross the street there. Or maybe the relationship between the different times of the day and something else. So generally you can take these different elements, these different characteristics and run a number of tests to see whether there is a correlation between these characteristics. And the goal of qualitative researcher research in general is to understand, generally to understand. As I said before, to generate an in-depth understanding of situation, of beliefs or attitudes. An in-depth understanding and sometimes it can be to generate hypothesis. So the focus of quantitative research is to have having this hypothesis to test it. The focus of qualitative research may be to generate a hypothesis. So based on the findings, maybe based on what the participants tell you, you can put forward a possible hypothesis, which maybe a quantitative researcher will test with their study that has of course a bigger number of participants, so they will actually be able to test that hypothesis. Because you can't really do it with a small group of people. This also leads us to the general approach. So the approach of qualitative research is inductive, which means you're not working with the previously established hypothesis in mind. You're building the findings from the data. You're letting the findings emerge from the data. So you're entering the field with a relatively blank mind. And the goal is to generate understanding based on what you find. So this is induction, is an inductive approach. And in quantitative research the approach is usually deductive, which means that you have something, a previously established or formulated hypothesis. So a starting point and from there you want to see whether you're right or wrong. You want to test that hypothesis. The sampling techniques is another element. Sampling and qualitative research is usually purposeful, which means that you are selecting a group of participants with a specific purpose in mind. So in our example of Jay Walken it may be not that obvious, but generally if you are a qualitative researcher, let's say you're going to a particular school and you want to investigate the points of view of a particular group of teachers because you believe they have certain experience or characteristics that are useful for your study, for your main goal of the study, to answer the research questions. And sampling and quantitative research is usually random, which means that you want to have a big group of people. You want that sample to be representative, ideally, of a larger population. So of course if you want to make claims about the preferences of, let's say, British people, you won't ask, you won't distribute a questionnaire among all the British people. But if you have a large enough sample that is representative, which means that the group of a thousand or five hundred people who represent the patterns in the population of British people, this means that this sample is representative. So you can, based on your findings, you can put forward some claims about British people in general. And now philosophical assumptions. So qualitative research is based on interpretivism, on constructivism. So generally, I do have another video in which I explain in more depth, in more detail, the differences between positivism and interpretivism. But generally, qualitative researchers, they believe, tend to believe that individual, the world is constructed by us, by how we see it. So generally, in a nutshell, it's important to understand individual perspectives. If you want to understand the world, you need to understand individual perspectives of individual people. And quantitative approaches tend to be based on positivism, which is the other way around. So positivists perceive the world as a more stable structure, not necessarily depending on what we think about it. For this reason, people's opinions generally get in a way of real science and real knowledge. So if you want to know about the world, you need to study it objectively and scientifically, rather than ask people about their opinions. So in our example, of course, it's quite evident. If you are a qualitative researcher, you want to ask people why they are doing what they are doing, why they are crossing the street. You believe that what they tell you will be very important, in fact. And it probably will. And quantitative researchers, on the other hand, in our example, they will think that it is more important to generate a large data set to, as I said, to compare these different variables and characteristics, to compare the patterns, frequencies, rather than ask people about their opinions. Because at the end of the day, what is more important is to generate this numerical data and this statistical data. Of course, they are right as well. So it will depend on what approach you believe is right for your study. But there is no right or wrong approach in general. Because both of them are right in some way, to some extent. And finally, of course, the most, arguably, the most obvious difference between these two qualitative and quantitative traditions are their design and their methods. So first, the design tends to be, some call it, some refer to it as flexible design in qualitative research. Because in fact, it tends to be quite flexible, meaning that sometimes new methods are added during the study. So you may, based on your initial findings, you may decide to develop additional method, to add additional method, to generate more understanding. So it's very dynamic, a very dynamic process sometimes, and very flexible. And the design of quantitative studies tends to be fixed or structured. So of course, if you want to conduct a proper, valid study based on these complex statistics and numbers, you do have to plan it well in advance. And usually, for this reason, the design is much more fixed. Simply because it needs to be fixed, it needs to be planned very, very well. And finally, methods. Of course, methods are different. Again, I won't go through all the methods in this video, but the methods in qualitative research are the methods that will enable you to understand individual perspectives. So they are, they can be interviews, focus groups, diaries, observations. So something that will help you understand individual perspectives. And of course, usually these methods involve you talking to participants, because that's the best way to know what they think, of course. And in quantitative research, the methods, of course, are different. Usually there are surveys, questionnaires. So methods that, again, help you gather some observations as well, but more different types of observations and more structured observations. So generally, methods that will help you generate this numerical statistical data again. So that you have a large data set and a lot of different variables, a lot of different characteristics that I mentioned. So the methods, because of the different goals, because of the different philosophical traditions and assumptions, the methods, of course, are completely different in these studies as well. So that's all in terms of differences between qualitative and quantitative research. I have no idea how I did in terms of my timing. 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