It is very important to understand the difference between quantitative and qualitative research. Both the terms are explained briefly here, and their differences are explained with the help of examples. However, to understand the difference fully, read the complete article.

Quantitative Research: The quantitative research collects quantitative data - numerical or statistical data.

The researcher use tools suitable for collection of numerical or statistical data such as a close-ended questionnaire. The aim of the quantitative research is to collect data which can be quantified and measured in numbers or units. The quantitative research aims to answers questions such as  how many, how much, how often etc.

Qualitative Research: The qualitative research collects qualitative data – reasons, ideas, assumptions, opinions, statements, qualities and textual facts. It gathers data that is non-numerical in nature.

It uses tools suitable for collection of qualitative data such as open-ended questionnaire, interview, observation and group discussions. The qualitative research answers questions such as why, what, how etc.

   Understanding the difference with the help of examples

The difference in quantitative and qualitative research depends on following two aspects of the research:

1. Aim of the inquiry – quantitative data or qualitative findings
2. Type of inquiry – structure or unstructured process

Aim of Inquiry: The aim of the inquiry, to generate quantitative or qualitative findings, determines the nature of research. For example, if a researcher is working on the issue of Domestic Violence in an area. If he wants to know the extent of domestic violence in the area, he will require statistical data to know the extent of the domestic violence in the area. The nature of the research will be primarily quantitative.

On the other hand, if the research wants to know the causes of domestic violence, he will require qualitative data (e.g., opinions, reasons, verbal statements) to know the causes domestic violence in the area. The nature of the research will be qualitative.

Type of inquiry – structured or unstructured process: The quantitative research employs a structured process for the collection. The researcher uses a structured (close-ended) questionnaire, to collect quantifiable data. A close-ended questionnaire has responses already prescribed by the researcher. The response-categories for each question are designed in such a way that they can be assigned some values or number so that the data can be analysed quantitatively. As the respondent has to choose a response from the given responses, the data collected from all respondents remains same and can be quantified using a common scale.

On the other hand, the quantitative research follows an unstructured process for the collection of data. The researcher may use an unstructured or an open-ended questionnaire having no pre-designed response. Such an open-ended questionnaire may be used by the researcher to interview the respondents. The respondent is free to answer questions in their words and according to their choice. The collected data is in the form statements, stories and long explanations which is basically non-statistical data. Due to the difference in responses by different respondents, all the responses may not be easily quantified using a common scale.

   Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research

The differences in quantitative and qualitative research are as follows:

Quantitative Research	Qualitative Research
It collects quantitative data - e.g. numerical or statictical data.	It collects qualitative data – e.g. ideas, statements, reasons, characteristics, qualities
It answers questions such as how many, how often, how much etc	It answers questions such as what, why, how, etc.
It uses questionnaire, survey, structured interview-schedule as tools of data collection.	It uses interview, observation or focused-group discussion as tools of data collection.
The quantitative data is analysed in terms of percentages, frequencies, statistical comparisons,  graphs and tables showing statistic values.	The qualitative data is analysed by discovering the patterns of changes, causal relationship, or themes in the data.
The final findings are reported in the form of statistical information.	The final findings are reported in the form of descriptive information.

  Mixed-Method Research – A New Approach

The researchers have been using either a quantitative or a qualitative method for years. But nowadays, the mixed-method research is gaining popularity in researcher community – e.g. to use both quantitative and qualitative method in the same research.

This is because some aspects of a problem may be better examined using quantitative method while other aspects of the problem may be better explored using qualitative method. Hence, the researchers nowadays prefer to use both quantitative and qualitative method in a same research to have a complete picture of the problem. It is known as mixed-method research approach. In mix method research, the findings derived from quantitative and qualitative methods are integrated to address the weaknesses of both methods and to have a complete exploration of the problem. 

   FINAL WORDS

It can be concluded that if a research involves collection of quantitative data and then, the same data is analysed in quantitative manner, it is called quantitative research. Similarly, if a research involves collection of qualitative data and then the same data is analysed qualitatively, it is called qualitative research. The above discussion reflects on the basic details to highlight the differences in both approaches to research.  However, the difference factor becomes important when the researcher has to decide which approach should he use for his research. Most phenomena can be studied using either method, but this is the researcher who decides which approach may be the better for studying a specific phenomenon. At this point the consideration of differences in both approaches comes into play. For instance, sometimes it is better to study a purely qualitative phenomenon using the quantitative approach such that the researcher identifies certain quantifiable variables and design tools of data collection (e.g., a questionnaire) to collect statistical data for that qualitative phenomenon. Then, the researcher analyses the collected data in quantitative manner to derive findings for a purely qualitative topic. The purpose here is to say that this is not only the research topic that is a determinant of the selection of either quantitative or qualitative approach but also the way these approaches work. Therefore, the difference in both approaches should primarily be learnt as the difference in their working mechanisms to understand their applicability.