C. Qual and Quan approaches in Research(B)_20 Feb 2025.pdf

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1. JMM 7204: Media and Communica3on Research Methods
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
APPROACHES IN RESEARCH

2. Summary
What is Research?
Types of research
Quan5ta5ve research Defini5on, ra5onale, and main characteris5cs
Qualita5ve research – Defini5on, ra5onale, and and main characteris5cs
Main concerns in repor5ng results
Design procedures within your approach
Use of quan5ta5ve or qualita5ve approach

3. Research
• Research is an objec5ve and systema5c search for relevant
informa5on on a par5cular subject or topic.
• Research is concerned with defining problems, formula5ng
hypotheses, sugges5ng solu5ons, collec5ng, organizing and
analyzing facts and informa5on, making deduc5ons and reaching
conclusions.
•  It is aimed at finding answers to ques5ons by implemen5ng
scien5fic procedures – i.e. it discovers truth that is hidden or not
yet revealed.
Search for Knowledge

4. Types of Research
• Produces insights and understanding of
the problem at hand
Qualita3ve
Research
• Quan5fies the data and generalizes the
results from the sample to target
popula5on
Quan3ta3ve
Research

6. • When the phenomenon is expressed in
quan5ta5ve terms, it calls for
quan5ta5ve research.
• It is a type of methodology that tries to
quan5fy the data and establish cause
and effect rela5onship between
variables with the help of sta5s5cal or
mathema5cal methods.
Quan3ta3ve Research
• For instance: Research carried out to
know the sells of various toothpaste
brands in a quarter, by different
companies of an industry, is a
quan5ta5ve research.
• Data obtained through quan5ta5ve
research is measurable and comparable
in nature, and it can be presented in
the form of tables, charts, graphs...

7. Defini3ons: Quan3ta3ve Research
• Quan5ta5ve research methods emphasize objec5ve measurements and
the sta5s5cal, mathema5cal, or numerical analysis of data collected through
polls, ques5onnaires, and surveys, or by manipula5ng pre-exis5ng sta5s5cal
data using computa5onal techniques.
• Quan5ta5ve research focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it
across groups of people or to explain a par5cular phenomenon.
• The final wriOen report has a set structure consis5ng of introduc5on,
literature and theory, methods, results, and discussion.
(Babbie, 2010; Muijs, 2010; Creswell 2013)

8. Ra3onale for using Quan3ta3ve research
• Your goal in conduc5ng quan5ta5ve research study is to determine the
rela5onship between one thing [an independent variable] and another [a
dependent or outcome variable] within a popula5on.
• Quan5ta5ve research designs are either descrip5ve [subjects usually
measured once] or experimental [subjects measured before and a\er a
treatment].
• A descrip5ve study establishes only associa5ons between variables; an
experimental study establishes causality.
• Quan5ta5ve research deals in numbers, logic, and an objec5ve stance.

9. Quan3ta3ve research focuses on numeric
and unchanging data and detailed,
convergent reasoning rather than divergent
reasoning [i.e., the genera5on of a variety of
ideas about a research problem in a
spontaneous, free-flowing manner].
The overarching aim of a quan5ta5ve
research study is to classify features, count
them, and construct sta5s5cal models in an
aOempt to explain what is observed.

10. Main characteris3cs of Quan3ta3ve research
• The data is usually gathered using
structured research instruments.
• The results are based on larger sample
sizes that are representa5ve of the
popula5on.
• The research study can usually be
replicated or repeated, given its high
reliability.
• The researcher has a clearly defined
research ques5on to which objec5ve
answers are sought.

11. … Main characteris3cs of Quan research
• All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.
• Data are in the form of numbers and sta5s5cs, o\en arranged in tables, charts,
figures, or other non-textual forms.
• Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or
inves5gate causal rela5onships.
• The researcher uses tools, such as ques5onnaires or computer so\ware, to collect
numerical data.

12. Repor3ng the results of a Quan study
1. Explain the data collected and their sta5s5cal treatment as well as all relevant
results in rela5on to the research problem you are inves5ga5ng. Interpreta5on of
results is not appropriate in this sec5on.
2. Report unan3cipated events that occurred during your data collec5on.
• Explain how the actual analysis differs from the planned analysis.
• Explain your handling of missing data and why any missing data does not undermine the
validity of your analysis.
3. Explain the techniques you used to "clean" your data set.
4. Choose a minimally sufficient sta3s3cal procedure; provide a ra5onale for its use
and a reference for it. Specify any computer programs used.

13. 5. Describe the assump3ons for each procedure and the steps you took to ensure
that they were not violated.
6. When using inferen5al sta5s5cs, provide the descrip3ve sta3s3cs, confidence
intervals, and sample sizes for each variable as well as the value of the test
sta5s5c, its direc5on, the degrees of freedom, and the significance level [report
the actual p value].
7. Avoid inferring causality, par5cularly in nonrandomized designs or without
further experimenta5on.
8. Use tables to provide exact values; use figures to convey global eff. Keep
figures small in size; include graphic representa5ons of confidence intervals
whenever possible.
9. Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figures.

15. • Helps in gaining knowledge of the problem
under study. It is based on qualita5ve
phenomenon.
• It involves quality or kind, i.e. the research is
to be made on human behavior, aftude's,
cultures and experiences, on the basis of
observa5ons and interpreta5on, the
research is said to be qualita5ve.
Qualita3ve Research
• For instance: Marke5ng research conducted
to collect data regarding consumer’s taste,
preferences and choices, by analyzing their
buying behavior is a qualita5ve research.
• The data obtained in qualita5ve research can
be in the form of words, pictures, objects...
• It is conducted to find out underlying mo5ves
and desires.

16. Defini3on: Qualita3ve Research
• The word qualita5ve implies an emphasis on the quali5es of en55es and on
processes and meanings that are not experimentally examined or measured in
terms of quan5ty, amount, intensity, or frequency.
• Qualita5ve researchers stress the socially constructed nature of reality, the
in5mate rela5onship between the researcher and what is studied, and the
situa5onal constraints that shape inquiry.
• Such researchers emphasize the value-laden nature of inquiry. They seek answers
to ques5ons that stress how social experience is created and given meaning.
Denzin & Lincoln, (2005)

17. Defini3on of Qualita3ve Research (cont’d)
• In contrast, quan5ta5ve studies emphasize
the measurement and analysis of causal
rela5onships between variables, not
processes.
• Qualita5ve forms of inquiry are considered
by many social and behavioral scien5sts to
be as much a perspec5ve on how to
approach inves5ga5ng a research problem
as it is a method.
Denzin & Lincoln, (20

18. Characteris3cs of Qualita3ve Research
The three key elements that define a
qualita5ve research study and the applied
forms each take in the inves5ga5on of a
research problem:
1. The Design
2. The Collec5on of Data
3. The Analysis

19. The Design:
• Naturalis3c -- refers to studying real-world situa5ons as they unfold naturally; non-
manipula5ve and non-controlling; the researcher is open to whatever emerges [i.e.,
there is a lack of predetermined constraints on findings].
• Emergent -- acceptance of adap5ng inquiry as understanding deepens and/or
situa5ons change; the researcher avoids rigid designs that eliminate responding to
opportuni5es to pursue new paths of discovery as they emerge.
• Purposeful -- cases for study [e.g., people, organiza5ons, communi5es, cultures,
events, cri5cal incidences] are selected because they are “informa5on rich” and
illumina5ve. That is, they offer useful manifesta5ons of the phenomenon of interest;
sampling is aimed at insight about the phenomenon, not empirical generaliza5on
derived from a sample and applied to a popula5on.

20. The Collec5on of Data
• Data -- observa5ons yield a detailed, "thick
descrip5on" [in-depth understanding];
interviews capture direct quota5ons about
people’s personal perspec5ves and lived
experiences; o\en derived from carefully
conducted case studies and review of
material culture.
• Personal experience and engagement --
researcher has direct contact with and gets
close to the people, situa5ons, and
phenomenon under inves5ga5on; the
researcher’s personal experiences and
insights are an important part of the
inquiry and cri5cal to understanding the
phenomenon.

21. The Collec5on of Data… (cont;d)
• Empathic neutrality -- an empathic stance in
working with study respondents seeks
vicarious understanding without judgment
[neutrality] by showing openness, sensi5vity,
respect, awareness, and responsiveness; in
observa5on, it means being fully present
[mindfulness].
• Dynamic systems -- there is aOen5on to
process; assumes change is ongoing, whether
the focus is on an individual, an organiza5on, a
community, or an en5re culture, therefore,
the researcher is mindful of and aOen5ve to
system and situa5onal dynamics.

22. The Analysis
• Unique case orienta3on -- assumes that each case is special and unique; the first
level of analysis is being true to, respec5ng, and capturing the details of the
individual cases being studied; cross-case analysis follows from and depends upon
the quality of individual case studies.
• Induc3ve analysis -- immersion in the details and specifics of the data to discover
important paOerns, themes, and inter-rela5onships; begins by exploring, then
confirming findings, guided by analy5cal principles rather than rules.
• Holis3c perspec3ve -- the whole phenomenon under study is understood as a
complex system that is more than the sum of its parts; the focus is on complex
interdependencies and system dynamics that cannot be reduced in any
meaningful way to linear, cause and effect rela5onships and/or a few discrete
variables.

23. The Analysis…. (cont’d)
• Context sensi3ve -- places findings in a social, historical, and temporal context;
researcher is careful about the possibility or meaningfulness of generaliza5ons
across 5me and space; emphasizes careful compara5ve case study analysis and
extrapola5ng paOerns for possible transferability and adapta5on in new
sefngs.
• Voice, perspec3ve, and reflexivity -- the qualita5ve researcher owns and is
reflec5ve about her or his own voice and perspec5ve; a credible voice conveys
authen5city and trustworthiness; complete objec5vity being impossible and
pure subjec5vity undermining credibility, the researcher's focus reflects a
balance between understanding and depic5ng the world authen5cally in all its
complexity and of being self-analy5cal, poli5cally aware, and reflexive in
consciousness.

24. Quan3ta3ve Designs and Uses
Experimental
Research
Correla3onal
Research
Survey
Research
Explaining whether an
interven3on influences
an outcome for one
group as opposed to
another group
Associa3ng or
rela3ng variables
in a predictable
pabern for one
group of individuals
Describing trends for
the popula3on of
people

Interven3on
Research
Non-Interven3on
Research

25. Qualita3ve Designs and Uses
Ethnographic
Research
Grounded Theory
Research
Narra3ve
Research
Exploring the shared
culture of a people
group
Exploring common
experiences of
individuals to
develop a theory
Exploring individual
stories to describe
the lives of people

26. Combined Designs and Uses
Mixed Methods
Research
Ac3on
Research
Combining quan3ta3ve and
qualita3ve data to best
understand and explain a
research problem.
Using quan3ta3ve and
qualita3ve data for individuals
to study problems that they
face in their seeng

27. Choosing between the Quan or Qual approach
• Match the approach to the
problem
• Fit the approach to your
audience
• Relate the approach to your
experiences