Is it all about your personal liking based on which you choose qualitative, quantitative or mixed method or is it primarily due to the gap that you identify demand a certain methodology to be employed?
For instance, if you are an interpretivist and the gap suggests to employ quantitative methodology, would you still study the phenomenon or rather look for an alternative within your personal interest (which is qualitative methodology)?
What is the update on the topic in 2017?
I am in support of what Michael said above. According to David Silverman, methods have no intrinsic values. Thus, a method should not be a matter of choice or preference, but of purpose. What you want to achieve, your research questions, etc. Should determine your methods.
its depend on the kind of problem, objective, or research questions you are dealing with or what you want to explore. all three methods have their own benefits, however, personally I prefer mix methods as it allow you to have the benefits of both, and also help to deal with certain generalization problem.
In philosophy and religion, you need mixed methods. To give an example, epistemologists (theorists of knowledge) would say that I know X if X is true, I believe X, and I am either warranted or justified in believing X. Now warrant is an internalist matter of whether my cognitive faculties properly functioning generate X. Assessing warrant therefore requires a qualitative approach, since you can't get inside somebody else's mind to measure their cognitive faculties. But justification is an externalist matter of the quality of evidence objectively existing outside of myself. Assessing justification therefore requires a quantitative approach, namely, a conditional probabilistic measure of how likely X is given the evidence.
I agree with recommendations above that selection of methods depends upon problems and objectives of research. If you have to search some historical facts, qualitative methods are good. But when we to know about relationship between family size and opportunity for higher education, quantitative methods suits.
I fully agree with all previous responses. Method selection is depend upon the research question and hypothesis.
Which methodology will be preferred, it will depend on our data and design. It is not our choice.
Quantitative leads for more accurate results but if you use both Quantitative and qualitative I think it is better.
Best regards
There should be no straightjacket in scientific methodology. Applying science for economic production means methodical quantification; concerning epistemological progress, e.g. in the quality of medical treatments, this methodical imperative can impede new and decisive knowledge. The scientific assembly line can only function over quantitative methods, but economic production is not equal to scientific progress, i.e. scientific creativity should not be limited down to the methodical favor of special interest groups.
It depends on the research question some one is interested to answer and the context in which you are working!
For the purpose of talking about sampling strategies or data analysis strategies, taking advantage of multiple strategies to enhance credibility is recognized by professionals. In short, the combination or integration of research strategies (qualitative and quantitative) in any and all research conducted is a common feature of all good research.
Dear, Thanks for sharing. Particularly, I prefer the qualitative method. However, depending on the problem I am investigating, I also use the mixed method.
I work mostly with quantitative, but done a lot using mix methods.
Check this publication as well.
Dear Hussin Jose Hejase,
Many thanks for sharing the article on triangulation and mixed methods.
Regards.
Quantitative research uses numbers to test hypotheses and make predictions by using measured amounts, and ultimately describe an event by using figures. By using numbers, the researcher has the opportunity to use advanced and powerful statistical tests to ensure that the results have a statistical relationship and are not just a fluke observation.
Dear Colleagues.
It some time personal choice of the researcher and some times it is the requirement of the the type of research problem, research question , and research hypothesis to use quantitative, qualitative or mixed method. We used all the three in our different studies but I always prefer mixed method.
Good luck
Quantitative research uses numbers to test hypotheses and make predictions by using measured amounts, and ultimately describe an event by using figures. By using numbers, the researcher has the opportunity to use advanced and powerful statistical tests to ensure that the results have a statistical relationship and Qualitative research describes the kind and quality of a subject, while interpreting and attempting to understand an event. the purpose of qualitative research is to give someone a mental picture of what the researcher is seeing. Due to the nature of qualitative research, it is difficult to use statistical procedures to measure kinds and qualities, and this research typically focuses on a few individuals or just a single person.
Qualitative research is dependent on a researcher's personal view and description of a situation. This leads to a certain level of bias and subjectivity in the description.
The methodology depends on the subject, the available information and the research question
It depends on the research aims. In addition, accuracy of results are easier to get if any of these "methodological paths" are designed in reproducible formats (e.g, Rmarkdown, Sweave). Though I can't imagine how to reproduce qualitative-interpretive results that do not depend on computational procedures, but on the analyst's point of view....
Quantitative Method Quantitative methods emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques.
iit's totally based on your research question. We can't say which one is the best or which one prefer
Qualitative has a important role but to demonstrate the results we need quantitative.
I'm in agreement with previous suggestions, the gap identified, research question, aims and objectives should determine the way you approach your study, not your personal philosophical stance. That said many researchers will adopt a position consistent with their own world view. However, as a researcher you should be able to stand apart from your personal philosophical perspective which is in itself a source of bias. (other researchers may disagree). The nature of your research inquiry is what is most important and should therefore drive the decisions you make throughout your research.
The research questions or research hypotheses -- and how they are operationalized -- drive the choice of methodology, which must be appropriate to answer the research questions or to support a decision about the hypotheses.
The concepts in research questions/hypotheses can be operationalized in many different ways. The researcher's choice and rationale then drive methodology decisions.
I love mixed methodologies. Qualitative to explain the why and how and build and develop theories, quantitative to test the theories validity and explore the commonness of the phenomenon's occurrence. I find that quantitative science on its own is limited as equally qualitative methodologies, but some of my friends believe that one is less biased than another and hence more true.
Whilst I agree it is often the black and white answers that are helpful to rule out untruths in quantitative research - the tests help to rule out untruths/imperceptions in our thinking. It may however be equally misleading down a garden path as you may not control for confounding effects that you have not measured or included in your model.
Qualitative, quantitative or mixed method: which methodology do you prefer?
Think which methodology to adopt is depending on our research problem, research objective(s) & research question(s). Let these 3 prerequisites drive the research methodology & at the same time we as researchers need to know their differences, use cases & better still have some prior experience in executing them. If select certain methodology based on our preference or familiarity etc. & without knowing the vital 3 above, others can challenge us why we pick this & not that methodology. Knowing the vital 3 can help us to justify ourselves.
As many other have stated, it is really dependent on the research. However that being said since my field is social work research I really prefer to utilize mixed methods as much as I can when I am conducting research. For instance right now I am doing research on food insecurity in Latino communities. While there are tons of statistics and quantitative data to pull from, bringing in that human voice through qualitative narratives really helps to ground the research in the personal realm.
Really its whatever best suits your research and your personal preference.
Dear Tim Burns, I also research in this line. A good deal of my research is related to people's perceptions and eventually I use some scale. Although there are statistics on various studies, the coldness of numbers does not always capture all possibilities. I appreciated your contribution and unfortunately, there is no more how to recommend it, in the face of yet another change in the RG. Greetings!
Mixed method as it gives me to analyse the phenemenon both qualitatively and as well as quntitatively.
Thank you so much for sharing, used the quantitative or the qualitative depend on your research questions. From the research questions we will think the tool or method to be used. Some people have followed certain stream (prefer to quantitative and others qualitative stream). Both approaches have strength and weakness. We also consider of time, budget and other capacity. Some people people may think the quantitative more sophisticating than the qualitative .Some people may also say the quantitative reduce ideas and creativeness so they prefer to use the qualitative approach.Qualitative and mixed methods are now used. I personally like mixed methods because we can use more available data, comprehensive with numbers and words, triangulation, more convincing and including to answer what,how and why. All three approaches have research designs. The references may be used for research design such as Creswell, Creswell & Plano Clark.
Methodology depends on the research problem the study needs to answer. I agree with Michael Annear in saying that methodology and methods selection must be led by the question or hypothesis in question. It should not be a matter of personal preference.
It all depends on the phenomenon being studied. Not every problem lends itself to quantitative research and in this case, qualitative method would be the preferred choice. There are instances too where mixed methods deepens the understanding of what is being studied. It is not at all a matter of personal preference but the problem at hand.
As observed by colleagues, the methodology is driven by the problem being studied, research objectives and questions being addressed. Though gradually, mixed methods is gaining more grounds because it combines the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research Methodologies
I prefer mixed methods approach because it enhance the results. It also allows the researcher to gather ample data pertaining the problem under investigation and fordges a way of making data available. Does it sounds like a personal choice?
In other words, whatever a researcher wants to investigate, comes with no methods until the the questions, objectives and hypothesis are formulated.
A judicious use of both. Quantitative method gives you the empirical data and objective basis for your research. But it requires good qualitative analysis to give it relevance and meaning and to suggest ways forward, which then requires quantitative work in turn requiring more qualitative etc etc. Be open minded and open ended but ultimately you must produce quantitative material that is applicable, utilisable and testable in the real world if any research is to have meaning beyond self-indulgence.
Well, the textbooks tell us what most answers expressed, namely that the choice of methods should depend on the research question. However, we tend to select and phrase our research questions in a way that they can be answered with our favorite methods (i.e. methods we feel competent to apply, methods we understand well enough to trust the results they produce and so on). The advantage of this implict practice is that it improves the question/method fit. Its disadvantage is that it contributes to a split of the social sciences by creating incompatible bodies of knowledge. I would argue that today even notions of what a theory is differ between quantitative and qualitative researchers.
The fashionable 'mixed methods' - approaches often reinforce rather than mend the divide because they are just this - mixes. The really hard thing to do is integrating the two methodologies. This would require starting from a unified theory and operationalisisng the same concepts for quantitative and qualitative studies (rather than just garnishing quantitative findings with interview quotes, which happens in most mixed method studies). It would also require designing and integrating quantitative and qualitative methods that equally contribute to causal explanations.
It depens on your research aims. In some cases would be better quantitative (generalization) and if you prefer something more specific (explanation) maybe qualitative should be a better option. As I said before, it depends on your target.
Adoption of method should be based on the type of study, research questions, size of the population, availability of population or sample, type of sample. Although, some fields will allow either of the two but mixed methods. Dumbili and others have explained this issue very well. Thanks!
It all depends on the nature of your research and the Methodology that you will decide to choose. However, it is very common nowadays to use both Quantitative and Qualitative methods for research and this is what we refer as Mixed-methodology.
See this book you will get insights on how to combine or use one approach:
Kumar, R. (2014).Research methodology (4th ed.). London, Thousands Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Dr. Arwa Abdulrasoul Salman, you are welcome. And thank you for answer!
Dr. Osmar Antonio Bonzanini, you are welcome and thank you for answer!
Dr. Hussin Jose Hejase, thank you very much for sharing the article. Appreciate it much!
Dr. Jochen Glaser, you put it very nicely as: However, we tend to select and phrase our research questions in a way that they can be answered with our favorite methods (i.e. methods we feel competent to apply, methods we understand well enough to trust the results they produce and so on).
This is what I was wondering about that researchers can phrase research question according to their personal preferences and chose the favorite method. Despite the fact what text books teach to do.
Thank you for your time and answer, appreciate it!
All scientific research required the use of quantitative data. Apart from quantitative date, social scientist also relied on qualitative data to explain data that are not measurable or can not be ascribed numerical values.
We provide some insights in the article attached !
Best ,
Bentahar, O and Cameron, R (2015) ‘Design and implementation of a mixed method research study in project management’, Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, Vol. 13, No. 1, November. ISSN: 1477-7029
Hi,
I need them in my area. I use the following order:
Qualitative --> Quantitative methods
With my best regards!
Dr. Adel OUESLATI
As per my idea, the selection of research methodology is totally dependent on the subject, area of research, type of project, area and parameters of study etc.
It can not be selected as pre determined.
Thanks.
Both qualitative and quantitative methods are required for research. Using qualitative and/or quantitative methods depends on the nature of the research.
"science" is mostly about the quantitative aspect of "things".
But qualitative approaches are useful if the only aim of some assessment is to show the presence or the absence of "something": given the method is sensitive enough (if wanting to prove the absence), a qualitative assessment (present/absent) is sufficient when it comes to excluding e.g. environmental influences. Here qualitative work might be "overkill" - burning money and resources to no reasonable avail.
Dear Zeeshan Hamid,
To answer your question, you should consider the ontological, epistemological aspects of your research/researcher. The research's problem also delimite the methodological aspects. So, you may use each of the methods or both depending on your research delimitations.
Regards,
Prof. André Cardoso
Zeeshan, simple personal preferences alone are certainly "wrong" reasons to choose types of data or analytical methods. That's not to say we don't have personal preferences. If you can afford to use both quantitative and qualitative data and methods, and if you have time, that's best for good reasons. Quantitative data tend to have higher reliability, whereas qualitative data have higher validity. If you have a personal preference, why not find a partner or build a small team with different preferences, and complement each other?
it depends on objetives and methods selection must be in concordance with questions and hypothesis. It should not be a matter of personal preference
The specific approach should not be a matter of choice or preference, but rather the purpose (aim) of the investigation. Not one shoe fits all but a matter of purpose. I conducted research on all three approaches but currently I am employing qualitative approach using different methods (from interviews to phenomenology) to suite the purpose of the research.
I tend to use mixed-methods, but I prefer qualitative research designs. In my published ethnography of the adapted sport of powerchair football, I provide the reason for my preference: "My goal in writing ethnographically is for readers to be able to place their hands on the pages of the text and feel the pulse of the people about whom I write. I want readers to see not merely tables and figures filled with numbers and impersonal academic rhetoric; I want them to hear peoples' stories. I want them to begin to have a picture of what their lives are like. I want them to feel vicariously the emotions and hear the sounds of joy and weeping, laughter and pain, happiness and frustration, hope and despair. I want readers to know their stories and take from them what society needs to learn, take to heart, and put into practice" (_Communication, Sport and Disability: The Case of Power Soccer, Routledge, 2017, p. 164).__
It depends on the research objectives and the direction of research too
I have myself predominantly used qualitative methods, but ultimately your research question shapes your methodology. Decide what is the best way to get the answers you need to achieve your aims and objectives.
Among my bachelor students I sometimes see that a pre-decided type of methodology leads to a wrestling with a research question to make it fit the methodology. During the writing of the literature review and the conclusion, this sometimes leads to awkward moves having to be made to make it fit. Therefore I always say, think first what you want to know before you think about how to best get to know it.
I have used many different methods and would suggest that not preference, but appropriateness is the best guide My preference for one or the other methods is based on what will work best in answering the research question. Review of the literature on the subject can be very helpful.
The answer depends on the research question. I tried to provide some guidelines in an article entitled Contingent Eclecticism in the Jn. of the Theory of Social Behavior. Good luck to you.
Zeeshan, it a matter of what you want to achieve in your project. It is not what I preferred but what is the purpose and main research question(s) for your intellectual project. I suggest that you read the following two excellent sources to clear any "muddy points":
1] Creswell, W.J (2012). Educational Research Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Qualitative and quantitative research, 4nd ed, Pearson Education
2] Okeke, CIO and van Wyk MM (2015). Educational Research: an African approach (Chapter 10). Oxford University Press.
The last sources is totally free as a deskop copy if you are an academic at an institution of higher learning. You can order it online from their webpage
Dear Colleague
we are using quantitative method or qualitative method or mix methods, it totally depends on our research topic. What type of research, and the result we are expecting from our research decide our nature of data. Collection of Qualitative data and its analysis for the new researcher/scholar is not so easy to do.
Data play a very important role in any research so we should be very careful while selecting or choosing data.
This is my opinion.
I use method appropriate to research problems. I am well versed in use of diverse methods and I work more on research design so that it is acceptable by academia.
As a social scientist I too prefer mixed methods. However I understand that those funding the research may place a greater emphasis on quantitative methods...although that is slowly changing.
I also prefer mixed methods approach because it leaves no stone unturned unlike when one method is used. People that are providing funds for of our researches also determines the type of research to be used and that limits the researcher to gather sufficient information for the set study.
All the three methods have their own advantages and limitations. Application of any of them will depend on the subject, nature and design of experiment, data and end use of conclusions.
In agreement with previous recommendations, I can say that answering this question with a solid method is not scientific, but, as Bourdieu pointed out, religious. It should depend on our topic and RQ's. Otherwise, it will be a methodological monotheism!
I support my colleagues who recommends that the adoption of the one or another method is totally dependent of your research design.
Best regards,
JCarlos.
At least in Social Sciences, I believe that the possibilities of choice are quite conditioned by these four application criteria that answer the questions Why/for what? and when?. In turn, these four criteria must help choose the methods and techniques that best solve the problem:
• Nature of the problem: quantitative-qualitative fundamentally in relation to the abundance of empirical data on the subject.
• Estimation period: short or medium/long. Above all, it discriminates in order to incline towards prospective methods when we need estimates in the medium or long term.
• Purpose or function of the analysis, which we intend with our analysis. A minimum classification can be: "Diagnostic", "contrarian/challenge" and "imaginative/creative thinking", encompassing in this classification different analysis techniques.
• Moment or phase of the research or analysis process, although it may be a somewhat redundant criterion with the previous one. We can distinguish some initial moments (where we have to identify or generate: variables, evidences, indicators or factors and some hypotheses or scenarios), a central moment where the actual analysis is carried out (eg: we evaluate and we confront the previous elements evidences-hypothesis, etc) and some final verifications (confirmation of conclusions).
Even so, the disadvantages of one methodology are offset by the advantages of the other, therefore, we must use both, the qualitative offers us hypothesis and helps us to interpret the data.
See more at
http://cisde.es/observatorio/tecnicas-de-analisis-cuales-se-necesitan And
http://www.ieee.es/Galerias/fichero/docs_marco/2016/DIEEEM12-2016_Metodologia_CalidadAnalisis_FernandoToboso.pdf .
I have answered earlier in other questions that it is not about which methodology is appropriate or otherwise or personal choice rather it is about which methodology serves the purpose better i.e. helps to get a best possible answer of the query under consideration. This is similar to which treatment (homeopathy, allopathy or naturopathy) is better rather it is about which treatment cures better the disease an individual is suffering. The choice of surgery or medication is not based patient choice rather it is Dr. who decides which method is best.
Let's us practically apply our understanding of quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Here is the the topic " Critical analysis of an external communication in any government organisation to determine the integration of social media " RQ - How is the Facebook and Twitter integrated in the existing external communication strategy as newer social media. Objectives 1.To determine whether or not newer social media enhance the existing communication strategy. 2. To determine whether or not the newer social media replaced the existing communication strategy.
Which method/s will be appropriate for this study
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