Cons of Qualitative Research vis-a-vis Quantitative Research

Quantitative and Qualitative Research Review
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Quantitative and Qualitative Research Review
The bedrock of good research is the data collection instruments chosen by the researcher. The researcher bases the choice of instruments on the needs of the study and can choose to utilize qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods to collect data and analyze it. In choosing any of the above methods, the researcher ensures his study has a fundamental efficacy allowing peers to analyze it with a semblance of scholarly intrigue (Bhattacherjee, 2012). These methods authenticate research studies providing them with the necessary fundamental approval for them to be worthy of intellectual discourse. The paper will therefore subject the qualitative and quantitative methods to dissection. The paper will analyze two articles using either of the methods and analyze them. These paper are Shoshanna Sofaer's study on Qualitative research methods and Rumana Z Omar's paper on Quality research in healthcare  (Omar, McNally, Ambler, & Pollock, 2006) (Sofaer, 2002).
1 Qualitative research is fundamentally exploratory research. It concerns itself with finding answers to pertinent questions and solutions to difficult problems  (BaÅ¡karada, 2014). As such its data collection methods are often unstructured. Methods that choose depth of the answers rather than singular answers which are simpler to understand and analyze. These methods include; focus groups, individual interviews, and observations (K. & Lincoln, 2011). By choosing these techniques, the researcher is able to delve into the research question unhampered by sticking to a pre-set set of questions that must be strictly adhered to. The researcher has sufficient leeway to ask explanatory questions, where the respondent is unable to satisfactorily provide responses to questions. The sample size in a qualitative research study is usually small noting the high number of researchers required to conduct an effective data collection run. Qualitative research can therefore after analysis uncover trends in the thought processes of individuals (Savin-Baden & Major, 2013).
Quantitative research concerns itself with the collection of quantifiable data. This is information that can be assigned a numerical and statistical acceptable value  (Moballeghi & Moghaddam, 2008). The generated numerical data is subjected to analysis and synthesis and statistical information generated. Quantitative research thus provides a numerical figure to social and economic phenomena including attitudes, behavior and opinions (Moballeghi & Moghaddam, 2008). It concerns itself with unearthing patterns in data collected. It utilizes structured data collection methods including; surveys, telephone interviews, longitudinal studies, polls, and systematic observations. Quantitative research is essential in conducting empirical studies as the researcher's bias is significantly reduced as their input is limited only to analysis based on mathematical formulae  (Sukamolson, 2005).
Sofaer's paper on qualitative research was chosen due to the depth with which it analyses qualitative research methods in a qualitative manner. The paper thus, embodies e...