Research methods- L1 SDCS Programme leader- Amanda Quantitative and Qualitative research: Some differences that make a difference The paradigm or "world view" of Quantitative research - More common, statistics - Realist or external view of reality, it assumes that there is a realist, out there is real stuff. Reality exists. - A view of reality independent of the researcher exists 'out there' - Objective truth, researcher and object are independent entities, 'the knower can stand outside of what is to be known'. - Experimental, prescribed technical procedures reduce or eliminate 'bias'. - Statistical and numerical data The paradigm or "world view" of Qualitative research - Goes against science - More words and language - Relativist or internal view of reality, ontology about the nature of knowledge, everything I know is relative to the person that knows it. Can only know things from an internal perspective. - Social reality is internal constructed by humans; physical things exist but our mind shapes construction of reality. People have a different realities. - Subjective truth, there is no separation of the researcher and the researched, 'we can never see outside of ourselves'. - Understand and interpret the world from the participant's point of view, and celebrate 'bias'. In a research paper, there will be details about the researcher within the paper. Researchers often see data in their shoes e.g. Female/Male, Swimmer/Gymnast. - Data as interactions and dialogue Qualitative and quantitative research are different in many ways, especially in the way they are characterised. Both approaches require coherence - The types of questions we ask - The paradigms we adopt - The methods of data collection we use Quantitative research asks causal questions or why? - The impact of a variable on a behaviour or outcome, or relationships between variables. How do we get from one thing to another thing. Qualitative research asks casual questions or how? - Rich description, what is going on and how? Questionnaires- not good for qualitative research, no in-depth data.