Introduction
Research methodology in social sciences is divided into two types: quantitative and qualitative methods. John quantitative research is that type of research that explains phenomena through collecting numerical data that is analyzed through mathematically based methods. This paper will demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of quantitative research method. It will also do this by equally comparing quantitative research methods as well as qualitative methods. Both methods, however, belong to the wider comparative methods used in political sciences.
Quantitative researchers do sometimes engage in aspects of the research that are considered a preserve of qualitative researcher. In fact according to John these researchers also engage in several unplanned and unpredictable data analysis. Further, they are also preoccupied with solving problems incrementally as well as following their personal intuitions like their counterparts in qualitative research. All in all, it is important that researchers design their research with a view to testing their hypothesis. However, they should employ their practical knowledge to conduct an exciting as well complete imaginative work of research.
One major issue that makes critics excited is when quantitative researchers also try to include interpretive aspects of their findings; something considered a preserve of qualitative researchers. Several conventional journals have always required that political scientists provide adequate information about how they gather their information, choose their models and provide vivid explanation on how the data can be replicated as there is no room for speculation. Further, there is a need for the researchers should present their information to the ordinary reader and make use of that information with clear presentation of how the variables and relationships occur.
Quantitative data and data management
The quantitative method relies on observation and constant measurement of incidences that are repetitive. These incidences could be of a political phenomenon, political parties, voting, resource allocations, etc. through observation of variables over a broad range of cases. This is sometimes done by drawing inferences from a class of political behavior. Social scientists can make generalizations based on large numbers in the empirical world. According to statistical theorists, when the number involved is considerable in proportion to the rest of the population being analyzed, the surer the data analysts can draw reliable conclusions. For example, the scientists could be investigating the voting record of all members of parliament or any other electoral systems in the world. This can only be done by using a representative sample that equally large enough.
Qualitative researchers are usually suspicions with how the quantitative researchers draw their observations, especially when whatever they are investigating is behavioral or even attitudinal. This is one area that clearly displays the weakness of quantitative data research. Quantitative research has been seen to have a weakness when it comes to showing the relationship between the observer and the observed. Quantitative analysis has also been said to be failing in considering the complexity of the world. This means that the quantitative research practice fails to note or consider the interconnections between their data variables.
Quantitative researchers believe the argument that they are blind to complexities of the world is stereotypical. The quantitative researchers stress that they are quite aware that the world is full of complex societal realities that may not be vividly captured through repeated observations. They aver that quantification alone may not bring about the real social realities. These measures determine the validity of the findings. For instance in cases where research is based on standardized questions this type of research cannot be replicated in other countries because the differences in culture and even language may lead to the difficulty in intended replication. This is unlike in qualitative research wherein the prelude to the survey questions is analyzed as interviewers critically evaluate interviews. Also, respondents may be asked to fill additional questionnaire highlighting their experiences while completing their questions. A good instance is where survey researchers hold frequent discussions about the effect of particular questions and wordings. Also, the effect of the order of questions and coding is critically looked into.
Quantitative researchers equally pay a lot of attention to the reliability of their research. This is because data is produced independently. In fact, the data is independent of all the array of activities of measurement. It also seeks to improve on it as much as possible. According to Vromen content researchers equally attempt to extract key terms in documents such as newspapers as well as inter-coder with a view to finding out whether different investigators coded on the item in a similar way. These kinds of problems do not just occur in surveys and text analyzes. The government statisticians also engage in constant investigations on how data is collected. This is done by considering the instances to which survey instrument, such as survey questions may have favored explanations in class.
Quantitative research significantly concentrates on data. The research spends a lot of time on data. They consider intricacies such as data sampling to ensure that many hidden pitfalls are avoided. Thus, the researchers make sure that the sample in question can allow the researcher to make accurate inferences. The only problem is telling what constitutes a population. For instance in the case where the issue being analyzed has to do with change over time, the challenge occurs in deciding which years are appropriate for analysis. The survey may further pose several dilemmas such as finding the appropriate definition for a household. This calls, therefore, for the survey to be re-weighted due to the stratification of the sample. Also, there exist several choices of how to measure variables. This means that there is no perfect data set as response rates to surveys may be low and archives may contain missing years. Another challenge also arises in the storage of data. Though electronic data storage may appear to offer an illusion of security, data stored in such a way may sometimes be lost or corrupted through hacks or other ways.
Another notable weakness of quantitative method comes in during data manipulation; several errors are bound to occur. First of all the interviewers or even the research assistants may incorrectly delete crucial information such as one based on variables. Also, they may inadvertently transfer files across software packages as well the internet. Even with checking and rechecking of data by researchers, silly mistakes are usually made once the researcher's concentrations experience a lapse.
Thus, the issue of data collection and management requires lots of attention in regard to theory as well as practical issues pertinent to it. There has been a challenge to social scientists behaving that one solution may be deemed ideal. The good thing is that several researchers learn from colleagues and friends about the challenges and how to avoid them in their work. The internet also proves quite valuable in this case. Besides, some useful information may be sourced from political methodologists. Also, helpful information may be gleaned from online debates and discussions, emails, footnotes as well as appendices. These activities enumerated greatly point to the fact that quantitative research employs similar strategies to what the qualitative research does. They equally labor between varieties of approaches to arrive at the best reliable data their research questions.
Quantitative Research and Description
Descriptive measures are quite advantageous. This is because they give the observer the chance to split observations while examining the proportions such as percentages of a particular entity that for instance supports a political party. Hence, judgments based on these given proportions are the ones that form an essential role in data interpretation. In other areas such as journalism as well as other forms of commentary, arguments have been adduced as to whether a percentage can be said to be too big or too small. The same applies to descriptive political science. A good illustration could occur when commentators may interpret evidence as alarming when considering percentage on emotive issues such as racism. In this case the same statistics may be taken to mean high tolerance for the racism. Social scientists, therefore, have the duty of putting such statistics in their right context in an attempt to solve such a dilemma. To achieve this, they may succinctly consider what defines a liberal society against the empirical knowledge of existence.
Summary statistics can equally be helpful in understanding data. These could be easily done by use of central tendency measurements. Through this, the researcher tells precisely the average as well as their typical points. Most commonly employed central points in such scenarios include mean, average and the median. For the central points, there are other measures such as quartiles and standard deviations.
It is paradoxical that despite being exposed to an array of descriptive statistics, quantitative researchers only use them just as preludes to applying the tests and theories they intend to use. To achieve success, quantitative researchers must completely immerse themselves in data with a view to exploring myriad ways of looking at information. Thus, familiarizing oneself with the descriptive measures helps in understanding the topic at hand as well as aiding in its eventual interpretation.
Comparisons
Quantitative research commences with the researcher choosing a particular topic. In most cases, the researcher sets off by a general area of investigation. The issue must be of personal or even public interest. They then narrow it down by focusing on a particular research question which can be adequately addressed in the investigation. This usually calls for a review of relevant literature and development of hypotheses emanating from social theory.
Qualitative research, on the other hand, begins with a self-assessment or reflections in relation to a particular context which could be either social or historical. This research does not usually focus on the specific question but ponders the theoretical as well as philosophical paradigms. Qualitative methods also refer to a range of data analyzing techniques which use purposive various sampling and interviews that are open ended or structured.
In quantitative research, the researcher makes decisions on the samples from which they can select the ways of measuring the target factors. The researcher may use questionnaires or even experiments. These questionnaires are usually standardized and can be administered to individuals or even households. In this type of research, probability or non-probability sampling is used. They help the researcher use the right sampling size.
In quantitative research data collection is well collected. The researcher records and carefully verifies the information which could be in form of numbers. This information is usually stored in a computer aided readable format. Quantitative research can be replicable. In most cases the research generates a large output of computer generated information. The quantitative data helps in establishing correlations between certain variables and even outcomes from which the researcher draws meaning through interpretation. From the analyzed data, the quantitative researcher can draw a theory. What is more, the quantitative researcher also considers other alternative interpretation of data by comparing results of a particular study with others from previous studies and gives their implications.
A qualitative researcher goes through almost the same process as that of the quantitative researcher. These have to do with data collection, analysis and even interpretation. The researcher also may have the opportunity of building a new theory as he/she paces through the various steps mentioned earlier. It is at the interpretation stage that the researcher creates or comes up with new concepts and also emphasizes on the construction of other novel theoretical interpretations.
In essence, qualitative researchers always rely on social science that is can be criticized and interpreted. They apply logic in practice and follow a non-linear path. The research involves conducting detailed case examination which arises from the social life. This is in contrast with quantitative research whose researchers often rely on positivist approaches to social science. These usually depend on reconstructed logic. Quantitative researchers emphasize on measuring variables in a precise manner. They also emphasize on accurate testing of hypotheses which are connected to the causal explanation given.
The two methodologies differ when it comes to the type of data involved. The data used usually determines the particular strategy to be employed. A good example is in soft data such as words, sentences photos, symbols, etc. These will dictate the type of strategy to be used. Quantitative method uses mainly hard data. Also, the various assumptions that abound in qualitative approach have a strong bearing on the strategy. This makes it difficult to judge the two approaches based on the standards of the other. The two approaches are sometimes interdependent. It has been established that a researcher who seeks to use one approach alone may not communicate well with those researchers using the other. However, the language and even orientations used are most of the time mutually intelligible. The two styles if analyzed carefully are usually complementary.
Unlike qualitative methods, a quantitative approach can be easily administered and evaluated. Time taken is reduced as there is no need of time wastage on prior administration of the survey. Equally advantageous is the fact that responses to the survey can quickly and easily be tabulated within a short span of time. The other advantage is that the obtained numerical data goes a long way towards facilitating comparisons that exist between organizations or groups.
Reliability of the data collected brings in a key difference as well as an advantage of the quantitative approach. This is because the data is often collected rigorously through the use of appropriate methods. This also leads to a reliable and effective critical analysis.
Strength of the quantitative method can as well turn out to be a weakness. For instance, the over-reliance on numerical data means that other non-numerical characteristics such as identities, perceptions, beliefs, etc. cannot be adequately understood or captured under this approach. To clearly understand such phenomena there is usually the requirement that reference be made back to the local contexts upon which the sample stays.
Also, a quantitative research that is to be effective requires a large sample size; sometimes in their thousands. Suppose it is looking at thousands of households, this may be very costly to the researcher, especially when the resources are scarce. Bodies conducting such research such as governments or even non-governmental organization may lack the required analysis that is thorough. In addition, in cases of disaster survey, this method may fall short of providing an in-depth description of what the experience the affected population could be facing. Thus, it may be tough for the agencies to prescribe an appropriate response since the information that comes from such an approach may not be descriptive enough. Only sufficient information can guide a response plan.
Unlike quantitative research methodology, qualitative research comes with several drawbacks. The first drawback is associated with time. For instance in cases where a cultural analysis is concerned, the time needed is too much. The prelude to the conducting of the research may overlook important issues. An important issue may go unnoticed since the researcher's interpretations may be limited to several personal or impersonal conditions. This is so because in most cases the background or experience and biases of the researcher may infiltrate the whole process of interpretation. Thus, things such as observations and conclusions emanating from the research may prove unrepresentative, thereby leading the entire process failing the reliability test. Since qualitative approach is mostly open-ended, the participants tend to have more control of the process rather than the researcher. This results in data that is not objectively verifiable. Besides, the approach calls for skilled interviewers to carry out primary data collection activity. Also, the approach, unlike the quantitative one, requires a labor intensive data analysis.
Conclusion
Quantitative research has its advantages as well disadvantages for social science research. The paper has adequately demonstrated that quantitative research can be used satisfactorily in political science. Also, the myth that the use of quantitative approach cannot analyze non-quantitative phenomena has equally been dispelled as such phenomena can be transformed into quantitative data through the measurement instruments that abound in quantitative approach. The research has also shown that the two approaches can produce better results as they show great interdependence. Thus, the "paradigm wars" that exist between the approaches should end since the two methods are complementary.
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