Research Approaches

Quantitative Research:  Quantitative methods commonly use numbers and analyze numerical data to make inferences about what they mean in a research problem. Quantitative methods do not always require statistic,s but most researchers think of descriptive statistical approaches as a way to create images of data distribution which the researcher will interpret to support or refute his hypothesis. 

· Statistics is the “science of collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from masses of numerical data” (Clauser 2010, 106). There are three main types of statistics: descriptive, sampling theory, and inferential statistics.

· Descriptive statistics enable a researcher to understand the spread of data over a given period of time.

· Sampling enables one to make inferences about a larger group based on the “sample” if a representative few.

·  Finally, inferential statistics can enable a researcher to draw conclusions based on relationships between data or data sets (Clauser  2010, 106-128).

The primary advantage to quantitative approaches is that it enables a researcher to take a large amount of data and derive from it certain data that is unbiased, based solely on analysis of the data and how the analytical program is set up to measure and interpret it.  The disadvantage is that it requires significant data to achieve a result that can generate conclusions about the world. Also, interpretation of the data may not be reliable if there is any departure from the original test or if the method in which the data was collected was flawed.

Qualitative research approaches are based on the examination, analysis, and interpretation of observations and rely on human interaction and interpretation to make conclusions about relationships, patterns of behavior, and how and why humans act as they do.  The reading on Qualitative Methods in your Lessons folder provides a longer explanation of the types of qualitative methods, including surveys, interviewing individuals and groups, observation, case studies, and focus group studies.  There are other qualitative research approaches, to include:

· Ethnographic Research: methods that collect data on cultures that researchers use to create theories about the connections between culture and behavior;

· Critical and Ethical Inquiry:  methods used to develop theories about how people communicate, develop symbolic meanings, and express behavior and beliefs based on the notions of obligation, duty, right and wrong, and other behaviors based on humans making choices;

· Historical research: a method that enables one to consider the role of history in context to other events.   Researchers find some leverage in these methods that ask how history influences the behaviors and belief systems of the research subjects.

· Document or content analysis:  a method by which the researcher derives facts from documents and other meaningful artifacts of human life and attempts to interpret those facts into a meaningful explanation of behavioral influences.

So, how does a researcher choose the best approach?  Consider this short article based on a business research topic. The example below suggests several ways that a qualitative researcher might triangulate data and move the research project from specific data to general themes, and ultimately to a research conclusion or finding.  This article and material comes from DeVault, Gigi.” Choosing Between Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: What Are You Trying to Prove? “

Here are the elements:

Specific Consumer Interviews Consumers convey the reasons why they leave items in online shopping carts and why they do not complete online purchases.

Specific Website User Observations Researchers observe consumers engaged in online shopping who report what they are thinking as they shop.

General Researcher Field Notes Researchers record ideas that emerge during the data collection process, such as: Online shoppers tend to treat shopping carts like the dressing rooms in actual shops, where leaving items behind is just part of the shopping experience.

Research Conclusion Online shoppers engage in window shopping as evidenced by the practice of leaving items in the online shopping cart; this consumer behavior contributes to feelings of familiarity with an online store which tends to draw the consumer back to make purchases at more opportune times.

How does a market researcher know when to use a qualitative approach and when to use a quantitative approach? Is one approach really better than the other?

A choice between research methods rests fundamentally on a set of decisions about the questions a researcher wants to answer and the practicality of gathering the kind of data that will answer those questions. The first step is to look for an obvious fit.

Although there are a number of soft differences between the two types of methods, there is one very important distinction. Quantitative research is deductive and hinges on the presence of a hypothesis that is developed before research begins. Qualitative research is inductive and does not require a hypothesis to start the research process. Let's take a closer look at this important difference, and dig a bit deeper into three key terms that help define quantitative and qualitative research.

Quantitative Research Confirms. Quantitative research looks at the general case and moves toward the specific. This deductive approach to research considers a potential cause of something and hopes to verify its effect. Since the phrase “cause and effect”  is part of nearly every child's history of parental lectures, we are all familiar with the concept. In research, cause and effect is all about the strength of the relationship. If a very strong relationship exists between two variables, the cause and effect relationship may be said to be highly probable or highly likely. There is still room to say that the effect does not occur as a result of the cause, but this is considered not very probable. The following is an example of a deductive market research approach that seeks to measure differences in online purchasing behavior and use of website shopping carts:

General Cause: The purchasing behavior of internet shoppers who regularly place items in their online shopping cart but do not complete many purchases differs from the purchasing behavior of internet shoppers who do not use the cart to hold items they never buy.

Specific Effect:  Internet shoppers who habitually place items in their online shopping carts but do not complete the purchases are 75% more likely to return to the same websites and complete a purchase within 7 days.

Research Finding:  Retaining the online shopping cart contents for 10 days when a consumer leaves a website before completing a purchase is good business, and means a high probability of future purchases by that consumer on the visited website.

Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a tentative assumption in the form of a statement or a question that a research effort is designed to answer. In quantitative research, there are two hypothesis statements. One hypothesis is called the null hypothesis, or Ho. A researcher does not expect the null hypothesis to be true. At the conclusion of the research process, the researcher will analyze the data collected, and then will either accept or reject the null hypothesis. Researchers refer to the process of confirming a hypothesis -- the assumption -- as testing the hypothesis.

The second hypothesis is called the alternative hypothesis, or HA. The researcher assumes the alternative hypothesis is true. Rejecting the null hypothesis suggests that the alternative hypothesis may be true -- that is, the chance that there is an error in the data that would make the alternative hypothesis not true is acceptably small by scientific standards. Hypothesis testing in quantitative research is never absolute. For example:

HO = Internet shoppers who place items in the cart before leaving the website are no more likely to return and complete a purchase than internet shoppers who do not place items in their cart, but also return to the website.

HA = Internet shoppers who leave a website before purchasing items they have placed in their cart are more likely to complete a purchase on the same website in the near future.

Qualitative research begins with the specific and moves toward the general. The data collecting process in qualitative research is personal, field-based, and iterative or circular. As data are collected and organized during analysis, patterns emerge. Throughout the data collecting process, researchers typically record their thoughts and impressions about the emerging data patterns. Qualitative researchers gather data about their research in several different ways or from many different sources.

The example below suggests several ways that a qualitative researcher might triangulate data and move the research project from specific data to general themes, and ultimately to a research conclusion or finding:

· Specific Consumer Interviews: Consumers convey the reasons why they leave items in online shopping carts and why they do not complete online purchases.

· Specific Website User Observations Researchers observe consumers engaged in online shopping who report what they are thinking as they shop.

· General Researcher Field Notes Researchers record ideas that emerge during the data collection process, such as: Online shoppers tend to treat shopping carts like the dressing rooms in actual shops, where leaving items behind is just part of the shopping experience.

· Research Conclusion Online shoppers engage in window shopping as evidenced by the practice of leaving items in the online shopping cart. This consumer behavior contributes to feelings of familiarity with an online store which tends to draw the consumer back to make purchases at more opportune times.

Source: Choosing Between Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: What Are You Trying to Prove?  http://marketresearch.about.com/od/market.research.techniques/a/Choosing-Between-Qualitative-And-Quantitative-Methods.htm

References:

Clauser, Jerome and Jan Goldman. 2010. Introduction to Intelligence Research and Analysis. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

DeVault, Gigi. Choosing Between Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: What Are You Trying to Prove? About.com Guide. http://marketresearch.about.com/od/market.research.techniques/a/Choosing-Between-Qualitative-And-Quantitative-Methods.htm . (accessed January 28, 2012).