Quantitative vs. Qualitative

1
Quantitative vs. Qualitative

• Experimental
• Laboratory-like control
• Logical Positivism

• Field research
• Ethnography or phenomenology
• Constructivist
• Both are empirical!

2
Reductionistic vs. Constructivistic

• Seeks facts and causes apart from individual
  states
• How is experience shaped by the world?

• Seeks to understand a phenomenon from within an
  individuals state of being
• How is the world experienced?

3
Role of Measurement

• Creates variables that are amenable to
  statistical analysis
• External, easily verifiable

• Uses discourse as data, long descriptive text
  using peoples own words and dialogues.
• Seeks techniques to explore a phenomenon from
  under the skin of another

4
Deductive vs. Inductive

• Variables are conceived a priori
• Research question/Hypothesis comes first

• No preconceived assumptions/ suspend your beliefs
• Patterns emerged from the collected data after
  the fact

5
Interventions vs. Naturalistic

• Interventions are seen as a way of discovery
• Manipulate the environment and measure changes

• Sensitive to the effects of the research(er) on
  the population studied
• Try to develop trust in the population being
  studied

6
Role of the Researcher

• Researchers judgement essential before and after
• Researcher should be absent during experiment

• Researcher becomes the instrument
• Tries to suspend any predispostions and assume it
  is being experienced for the first time

7
Reduction vs. Holist

• Truth is to be found incrementally, one small
  tweak after another
• Science has always found out about phenomena
  little at a time

• Humanistic perspective urges a holist approach
• When we reduce people to variables, we lose the
  larger understandings possible

8
Science vs. Art

• Quantitative Approach
• Once you understand the basic rules, anyone can
  do it.

• Qualitative Approach
• Takes a lot of practice to do it well.