I am embarking on a qualitative research assignment, i want to investigate the acceptance of qualitative and quantitative researchers' on the use of Big Data analysis tools in their research.
My question is what would be the best method to do so...
Hossam - at the end of the day - you can pretty much always investigate anything that includes human participants qualitatively. Big Data might suggest, to many, an automatic quantitative approach - but what if you want to investigate researchers experiences of using Big Data?
The best method to use, qualitatively, would depend on many factors - and that probably requires a seperate question with more detail.
Do you want yes/no, to what extent, preferences or other type questions that can be answered with measurable/countable responses? If yes than a quantitiave survey would be a good method to use.
On the other hand, if you are looking to explore detailed descriptive responses on researchers apprasial of why and /or why not they accept/ use/ have confidence in etc., than a qualitaive study would be used.
Hossam - at the end of the day - you can pretty much always investigate anything that includes human participants qualitatively. Big Data might suggest, to many, an automatic quantitative approach - but what if you want to investigate researchers experiences of using Big Data?
The best method to use, qualitatively, would depend on many factors - and that probably requires a seperate question with more detail.
It depends on the approach you want to apply. The qualitative paradigm always provides more in-depth explanations about the object of study, while the quantitative paradigm allows extrapolating the results to other contexts. As Dean points out, I think that in your case qualitative would be the best option.
I suppose that if you want to know the researchers' reasons to use Big Data analysis or don't, a qualitative approach could be fine. You can use in-depth interviews, focus groups,...
It is true that a quantitative description is more precise than a qualitative description (e.g. a person measuring his body temperature by a thermometer & finding out that it is 38 oC is scientifically more precise than a person putting his hand on his forehead & saying that he thinks that he has a fever).
The above case cannot be generalized. Acceptance of an idea necessitates thorough in-depth study of the case & this implies qualitative analysis. Gathering "Big Data" will end up with facts & figures but all of it will, eventually, be subjected to discussion after which conclusions are made. The culmination of an assignment or a project has to be sound & reasonable and this requires a good quality depiction before & at the finale.
Dear Hossam,
Qualitative researches are aimed at soliciting for the views, perspectives and attitudes of people toward phenomena to be studied. If your study aims at finding out the acceptance of researchers on the use of Big data tools, then the tools (FGDs, Observation, Interviews) in the qualitative paradigm will be the best. Best regards
Dickson Adom
Qualitative approach will do just fine for the task you wish to perform
Qualitative research will tell you the experiences of people with big data research. It will not give you percentages of acceptance, but it will help understand why the people you interview accept or reject big data.
Whether this is satisfactory for your research depends on whether it answers your research questions.
Qualitative analysis helps explain/interpret what numbers cannot tell. It’s fine to complete your research using both if possible.
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