Qualitative & Quantitative Data Methods
Are Analogous to the Senses of Sight &
Hearing
Qualitative and
quantitative methods of analysis work better together, just as the senses of
hearing and sight do. Of course, a
person can get by with just one. Blind
people often develop especially acute hearing and can use Braille for
reading. Deaf people learn to read lips and
tend to be particularly adept at interpreting visual cues. But generally, a person can do better using
the two senses together—for example, to notice facial expressions and tones of
voice as well as listening to the words that are spoken. Just as the senses of hearing and seeing
generally work better together, so too do quantitative and qualitative methods
of data coding, analysis, and interpretation.
There are more than
the two senses of seeing and hearing, of course; touch and smell are obvious
additions to the list. And there are
more than two categories of data and analysis.
Graphic/visual data and analyses constitute another category as do combined/mixed
data and methods. The analogies can only
be pushed so far, but the point is clear:
one gets a richer, fuller understanding by combining information from
all the senses rather than relying one just one. Likewise you get a fuller, richer
understanding by using all data sources and methods of analysis, rather than using
only one.
For a researcher to
say that I am only going to study quantitative data or only qualitative
evidence is akin to saying I’m intentionally going to plug my ears or wear
blinders. This can lead to what
psychologists call “learned helplessness.” Self-inflicted injury might be a more accurate
term.
Of course, a
researcher might want to isolate one approach for analytic purposes. For example, I have sometimes looked at video
evidence with the sound off, and then listened to the sound track while not
looking at the video, and then read transcripts describing the actions and
words on the video. But this kind of
analytic “taking apart” is usually done with the goal putting together a better
understanding of the whole.
Great post Paul! I like reading what Michael Quinn Patton writes about "methodological appropriateness" as the "gold standard" for evaluation studies. I emphasize to my students every semester that your evaluation (or research) questions drive methods choices and design. It feels as if I've heard quite a few people of late saying something on the order of "mixed methods are best" and I always reply with "well, what are your questions?"
ReplyDeleteHi Sheila,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post--insightful as always! I couldn't agree more that one's choices of methods should be driven by a researcher's question/problem. We wouldn't want to replace one dogma (quant is better or quan is better) with another (mixed is better). That said, unless the question/problem is very narrowly circumscribed, it can probably benefit from being examined from more than one perspective, with more than one method.
Its awesome post.Thanks for sharing..
ReplyDeleteHi Dr. Vogt,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are well today. If you could offer me insight into the teachings of quantitative courses. I had posted a question on my blog based on my previous experiences as a doctoral student and my additional experiences gaining further professional development. I am seeking further insight. My question was: "Why did most of the quantitative, mixed methods and qualitative courses NOT begin with the research question? I offered an example of when I was learning about descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The professor never started the sections for the course with a research question example and then proceed to show the connection between the question, the possible collection methods and the analysis method she was teaching us. If you could offer me further insight. Thank you for your time.
Yours is an interesting question and comment. Thank you very much for sending. Sorry to be slow with my reply, but I have been traveling the last several days.
ReplyDeleteSince I consider starting with research questions to be the natural way to teach design and analysis courses, I could only speculate on why professors would take a different approach.
Perhaps it is because other approaches do not begin with the question of which method to use, but begin their teaching by saying that once you have selected a particular method, here is the way to use it. Or, maybe other professors believe that teaching methods apart from any particular questions to which they might be applied provides the most general and, therefore, the most useful way to discuss the methods
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFrom the visual data analysis this will even bring about the more positive results that you actually want to gain about for the quantitative and qualitative data.
ReplyDeleteData analysis in business paraphernalia has different facets and methodologies. Different aspects of life which includes businesses, politics, science, etc have different interpretation of the data, but the data collection is a basic thing for successful execution. qualitative and quantitative data analysis
ReplyDeleteThe process undertaken to collect, compile and organize the collected data is referred to as data analysis. In analyzing the already collected and previous data, the researcher has to come up with a summary of the data. This is referred to as secondary research. See more interpreting quantitative data
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