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KINS 2205: Research Methods in Kinesiology

Qualitative vs Quantitative

Qualitative research is usually exploratory research, used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations; or qualities. Qualitative data describes qualities or characteristics.

Quantitative research is used to evaluate or quantify a problem and its defined variables. Quantitative data can be counted, compared, and  transformed into statistics.

  Qualitative Research Quantitative Research
Objective Understand trends or provide insight into a problem, gain an understanding of underlying reasons or motivations Measure the incidence of a problem in a chosen sample, quantify data and generalize results from a sample   
Sample A small number of non-representative cases, often chosen A large number of subjects randomly selected
Data Data tells a story, non-statistical, anecdotal Statistical, data expressed as a number
Metric Temperature: "cold" Temperature: degrees celsius
Question Exploratory such as how or why Conclusive such as when, where, or what

 

Identifying Qualitative Research Example

This abstract has several indications that this is a qualitative study:

  • the goal of the study was to explore the subject's experiences
  • the data was collected with an open-ended survey
  • the researchers used thematic analysis

Screen capture of the abstract of a qualitative article highlighting the methodology and subject participation.

 

Identifying Quantitative Research Example

This abstract has several indications that this is a quantitative study:

  • the goal of the study was examining the relationship between two variables
  • the subjects completed questionnaires
  • the researchers express their findings as percentages and refer to the participant group as a sample

Screen capture of the abstract of a quantitative article highlighting data results and sample.