Qualitative & Quantitative Data

In this post I will be researching how questionnaires collect data, and the best way to collect the data.

Qualitative data methods are ways of collecting data which are concerned with describing meaning, rather than with getting the raw statistics.
What qualitative methods (e.g. case studies and interviews) lose on reliability they gain in terms of validity. Qualitative data provides much more depth in the description of the subject but leaves it unto the person answering to give there own opinion in a narrative format.

The term qualitative data is used to describe a type of information that can be counted or expressed numerically.

Questionnaires are a very quick and easy way of extracting information from a specific targeted group.

Incorporating both Qualitative and Quantitative data into a questionnaire allows both thypes of information to be found, so that when analysing the results you can retrieve statistics and opinions and descriptions.

Below are some aspects of qualitative and quantitative data that I found whilst researching and thought it was relevant to add:

Quantitative Mode	Qualitative Mode
Assumptions Social facts have an objective reality  Primacy of method  Variables can be identified and relationships measured  Etic (outside's point of view)	Assumptions Reality is socially constructed  Primacy of subject matter  Variables are complex, interwoven, and difficult to measure  Emic (insider's point of view)
Purpose Generalizability  Prediction  Causal explanations	Purpose Contextualization  Interpretation  Understanding actors' perspectives
Approach  Begins with hypotheses and theories Manipulation and control  Uses formal instruments  Experimentation  Deductive  Component analysis  Seeks consensus, the norm  Reduces data to numerical indices  Abstract language in write-up	Approach  Ends with hypotheses and grounded theory  Emergence and portrayal  Researcher as instrument  Naturalistic  Inductive  Searches for patterns  Seeks pluralism, complexity  Makes minor use of numerical indices  Descriptive write-up
Researcher Role Detachment and impartiality  Objective portrayal	Researcher Role Personal involvement and partiality  Empathic understanding

Table from Gifted.uconn.edu