"Quantitative research," also called "empirical research," refers to any research based on something that can be accurately and precisely measured. For example, it is possible to discover exactly how many times per second a hummingbird's wings beat and measure the corresponding effects on its physiology (heart rate, temperature, etc.).
"Qualitative research" refers to any research based on something that is impossible to accurately and precisely measure. For example, although you certainly can conduct a survey on job satisfaction and afterwards say that such-and-such percent of your respondents were very satisfied with their jobs, it is not possible to come up with an accurate, standard numerical scale to measure the level of job satisfaction precisely.
It is so easy to confuse the words "quantitative" and "qualitative," it's best to use "empirical" and "qualitative" instead.
Hint: An excellent clue that a scholarly journal article contains empirical research is the presence of some sort of statistical analysis
See "Examples of Qualitative and Quantitative" page under "Nursing Research" for more information.
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Quantitative research |
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Qualitative research |
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Considered hard science |
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Considered soft science |
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Objective |
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Subjective |
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Deductive reasoning used to synthesize data |
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Inductive reasoning used to synthesize data |
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Focus—concise and narrow |
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Focus—complex and broad |
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Tests theory |
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Develops theory |
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Basis of knowing—cause and effect relationships |
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Basis of knowing—meaning, discovery |
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Basic element of analysis—numbers and statistical analysis |
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Basic element of analysis—words, narrative |
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Single reality that can be measured and generalized |
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Multiple realities that are continually changing with individual interpretation |
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Research question |
Unit of analysis |
Goal is to generalize? |
Methodology |
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What is the impact of a learner-centered hand washing program on a group of 2nd graders? |
Paper and pencil test resulting in hand washing scores |
Yes |
Quantitative |
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What is the effect of crossing legs on blood pressure measurement? |
Blood pressure measurements before and after crossing legs resulting in numbers |
Yes |
Quantitative |
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What are the experiences of fathers concerning support for their wives/partners during labor? |
Unstructured interviews with fathers (5 supportive, 5 non-supportive): results left in narrative form describing themes based on nursing for the whole person theory |
No |
Qualitative |
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What is the experience of hope in women with advances ovarian cancer? |
Semi-structures interviews with women with advances ovarian cancer (N-20). Identified codes and categories with narrative examples |
No |
Qualitative |