Quantitative Research and Qualitative Research Methods

Quantitative Research and Qualitative Research Methods

BSHS 435

Jacob Marciel

November 15, 2015

Research is a term used very loosely in todays’ educational system, instead of using terms such as fact-finding, investigation, study, or topic exploration, students are often incorrectly using the term research. Appropriate academic research is the investigation and writing on a topic using scientific inquiry (Williams, 2013). Sound research must follow the steps of the scientific method, be relevant to the field, and seek to gain a better understanding of a topic. Within the scope of academic research, there are subgroups: quantitative, qualitative, and a combination of the two. Understanding their similarities and differences and how they each relate to the field of human services and the scientific method are essential to any professional within the field.

In quantitative research, the researchers typically identify the problem or question based on the needs in their field, or the desire to explain why something is occurring (Creswell, 2012). However, in qualitative research, the investigators usually address a research problem in which the variables are often unknown and there is little literature to rely on for information (Creswell, 2012). The differences between the two types of research do not end there, while quantitative research creates specific and measurable hypothesizes, qualitative uses broad questions as a starting point (Creswell, 2012). Quantitative, as its name implies looks at the quantity of the data: using large participant pools, fixed survey answers, and reports the facts in strict and unbiased approaches (Creswell, 2012). Its counterpart qualitative research comes into play when the group of experiment participants is smaller, the questions open-ended, and the writing to report is flexible, and subject to the researcher’s bias and opinions (Creswell, 2012).

Depending on the type of question, both types of research are important to the field of human services. When deciding which of research a particular project needs, the researchers must first decide what they are going to research. If the question is how the homeless are impacted by illness, the research style would be qualitative, a small group of homeless who have recently left the hospital would be interviewed and the researchers would come to their conclusion based on that data. This is due to the type of question, the r3esearchers