By definition, research is the process that is undertaken to find the answer to a problem by any number of methods including a study, questionnaire, interview etc. Research methodology refers to the system of collecting data for either practical or theoretical research. There are two main types of research methodology: Qualitative research and quantitative research.
Qualitative research is an inquiry method that is used by a lot of academic fields including sociology, psychology and even market research. This particular method puts a great deal of emphasis on the why and how of decision making, as these can be the most complicated ones, not just the what, where and when which can be relatively short answers. Qualitative research is commonly defined as collecting research in words such as recording people’s thoughts and feelings, their behaviour, their beliefs and values, concerns, motivations and inspirations. This method is useful because it can be a rich source of data for academics to study as a lot of information will be provided.
In simplified terms, quantitative data is data that is gathered in numerical form such as the percentage of people in a study you conducted. Quantitative research is commonly used in a lot of academic fields such as psychology, economics, anthropology and political sciences. The process of measuring or measurements is essential to quantitative research because it gives us the basic connection between empirical observation and the mathematical explanation of quantitative relationships.
The methods used to gather quantitative data are rather different from those that are used to gather qualitative data. Quantitative research is generally conducted by using scientific methods such as the generation of models, hypotheses and theories, the deliberate manipulation of variables compared to controlled variables, the collection of empirical data, the analysis of that data and an overall evaluation of the results. The great benefit of using quantitative data is that it is usually in numerical form which can make it very easy for academics to analyse and draw conclusions from it.
Qualitative research is an inquiry method that is used by a lot of academic fields including sociology, psychology and even market research. This particular method puts a great deal of emphasis on the why and how of decision making, as these can be the most complicated ones, not just the what, where and when which can be relatively short answers. Qualitative research is commonly defined as collecting research in words such as recording people’s thoughts and feelings, their behaviour, their beliefs and values, concerns, motivations and inspirations. This method is useful because it can be a rich source of data for academics to study as a lot of information will be provided.
In simplified terms, quantitative data is data that is gathered in numerical form such as the percentage of people in a study you conducted. Quantitative research is commonly used in a lot of academic fields such as psychology, economics, anthropology and political sciences. The process of measuring or measurements is essential to quantitative research because it gives us the basic connection between empirical observation and the mathematical explanation of quantitative relationships.
The methods used to gather quantitative data are rather different from those that are used to gather qualitative data. Quantitative research is generally conducted by using scientific methods such as the generation of models, hypotheses and theories, the deliberate manipulation of variables compared to controlled variables, the collection of empirical data, the analysis of that data and an overall evaluation of the results. The great benefit of using quantitative data is that it is usually in numerical form which can make it very easy for academics to analyse and draw conclusions from it.
