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Counseling Resources: Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

A guide for students and faculty in the Malone Counseling and Human Development Program.

Comparing general characteristics

 

Quantitative

Qualitative

Process

Deductive

Inductive

Question/hypothesis

Specific, measurable, result-oriented

Tentative, process-oriented

Design

Inflexible, structured, predetermined

Flexible, exploratory,

Goals

To test theories, predict, quantify specified variables, uncover patterns

To understand, describe, discover

Scope

Researches trends or large representative groups

Studies individual cases or small groups to research in detail

Method

External instruments: Tests, surveys, formal interviews, observations, experiments

Researcher is primary instrument. Observation, interviews, focus groups, open-ended questionnaires, field notes, study of documents

Analysis

Examine raw data to find conclusions

Code words/actions, etc. from the observations to discover and understand in depth

Conclusions

Fairly certain conclusions based on numerical statistics and presented with raw data, graphs, and tables

Generalizations, often tentative predictions presented in narrative and graphs

Statistical program

PSPP (an alternative to SPSS) is available on all library computers.

PSPP is useful for analyzing statistical data in quantitative research.

Finding qualitative or quantitative articles

In PsycINFO, scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Search screen to the Methodology drop down list.

Select either "qualitative study" or "quantitative study" from the list.

 

Example articles:

SAMPLE QUANTITATIVE ARTICLE

SAMPLE QUALITATIVE ARTICLE

Library resources