Hi Hiram,

What are the main reasons to choosing to do/not do qualitative research for postgraduate studies?

As I see it, the main reason for choosing to do quantitative over qualitative research has mainly to do with a positivist tradition that still pervades the field of research and science. I partly understand this. For example, if you put forth a new hypothesis, theory or model, then it is better to remain at a quantitative, or even mathematical level, than only at a verbal, qualitative level. This does not mean, however, that quantitative research is necessarily better than qualitative research, or the other way around. I know of good and bad quantitative research, and of good and bad qualitative research. More importantly, to oppose quality and qualitative research to  quantity and quantitative research amounts to embracing a dualistic perspective that I think we should avoid.  Or, in other words, a quantitative research can be also qualitative, and a qualitative research can be also quantitative.

Let me illustrate why we should avoid opposing quality and qualitative to quantity and quantitative. Water, for example, is at a solid state when it is subject to a  low temperature. If there is a quantitative increase in the temperature (heating) of the water, then it becomes  liquid, and hence, it changes to a different, new qualitative state (i.e.,  liquid state). If we keep on increasing the temperature of a given amount of water, then it becomes gas,  that is, it is transformed into a new, qualitative state, gaseous state.

I pass now to the field of research in my field of expertise, developmental psychology. Piaget, for example, did good, even excellent qualitative research. For instance, he found that. in the course of  development, children come to invoke operational (qualitative) arguments (i.e., identity, reversibility, and reciprocity) to justify for their capacity to understand that, for instance, a certain amount  of water remains constant or the same quantity when it is poured from a tall, thin container to a wider and lower one. This is qualitative research. However, in Piagetian research, one might count the number of times that a sample of 7-8-year-olds invokes each of the operational arguments and even analyze such finding in quantitative and even statistical terms.  This clearly shows that qualitative and quantitative research are not necessarily in opposition. Again, it is a positivist tradition that views  that which is relative and  relational as if it were absolute and dualistic. Note also that, in terms of physics, an atom needs not to seen either in terms of  wave or in terms  of particle. If I am not wrong. contemporary physics conceives of the atom as a wave  and a particle at the same time.

In a nutshell, your question is interesting but it has not to be put  as an either/or question, mainly because  quantitative and  qualitative research may coexist in the same study, research, and  even  theory.

I agree with the views shared and can attest to the third paradigm in research: mixed methods has helped to bridge the gap between quantitative and qualitative research as it brings both together compensating for the weaknesses on in both these paradigms. I have used it and have found mixed methods to bring balance and more credibility to my research. Please an example in the attached journal article in which I used mixed methods.

many thanks,

Debra

Article Workforce Education and Development (WED): Graduate Students...

I think we are looking at a lot of historical influences, as well as local cultures that develop in different fields in different locations. For example, in the U.S. sociology has remained very quantitative, as compared to the UK where qualitative methods have had a strong influence (although lately, my understanding is that the national government has taken steps to reverse that trend).

Generally, quantitative methods are designed to provide summaries of data that support generalizations about the phenomenon under study. In order to accomplish this, quantitative research usually involves few variables and many cases, and employs prescribed procedures to ensure validity and reliability.

Quantitative research does not study things in a natural setting or discuss the meaning things have for different people as qualitative research does. Another draback is that a large sample of the population must be studied; the larger the sample of people researched, the more statistically accurate the results will be.

 The Post Graduate  Education provided an introduction to the topic and compared characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research, identified common data collection approaches, and briefly described data analysis and quality assessment techniques. Part II describes in more detail specific techniques and methods used to select participants, analyze data, and ensure research quality and rigor.A number of issues can affect sample size in qualitative research; however, the guiding principle should be the concept of saturation. This has been explored in detail by a number of authors but is still hotly debated, and some say little understood. A sample of PG studies using qualitative approaches, and qualitative interviews as the method of data collection was taken from theses.com and contents analysed for their sample sizes.A number of writers have commented on the dearth of substantive research within the field of technology education, and point to the expansion of its research agenda as a means of strengthening the discipline. Waetjen, in his call for good research in technology education, states that "the plea is to use experimental type research as much as possible" . Interestingly, the three areas of research need outlined in his essay would all lend themselves to alternative methodologies, including qualitative methodologies.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_one_do_a_qualitative_study_without_using_adopting_any_particular_qualitative_research_approach?_tpcectx=profile_highlights

Whether you chose Quantitative or Qualitative must be based on the research topic you are working on. The objectives of your study. The challenge in Qualitative is to make correct representation of the data because many human biases can actually play in Qualitative research. On the other hand, Quantitative is also not innocent... If you are very good with statistics a lot of things can be modified to fulfill your need, whether or not they are actual. For the positive side, Qualitative research is very helpful in Social science and humanities as they tend to capture social problems in more realistic way where numbers may be deceiving. On the other hand empirical research or natural science tend to use lots of numbers to prove the fact. My personal opinion and also some prominent researchers agree that you can use both Qualitative and Quantitative methods also known as Triangulation. In triangulation it somehow justifies the result of each other and give a wider view of the reality.