How Science Works Qualitative and Quantitative Data Quantitative

How Science Works Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Quantitative data � numerical data: generated by counting up the number of people who have responded in a certain way � analysed using statistics. . � Percentages: 45% of British Asian females aged 17 -25 said they had been subjected to racist verbal abuse in the street � Central tendency (averages) women tended to have less authoritarian personalities than men (mean for women: 45/70, men 52/70) � Measures of dispersion (variation within the scores) women tended to show greater variability than men in terms of the how authoritarian they were: (standard deviation = 2. 3 for women and only 1. 2 for men) � Displayed using graphs and charts (histograms, bar charts, box and whisker plots etc) � Quantitative data can also be generated from completing a ‘content analysis’ on qualitative data gathered through an interview for example. � to the transcript of the interview � count up the number of times certain themes or key words are mentioned. � e. g. of the 14 female British Asians interviewed 100% said they felt ‘unwelcome’, 70% said they felt ‘terrified’ , 89% said they had felt ‘threatened’, and 15% said they had been made to feel ‘worthless’.

Strengths of Quantitative Replication and reliability � data is gathered in a structured and controlled manner: should be possible to replicate by using the same standardised procedure, instructions and questions � should be possible to replicate studies which collect quantitative data and thus check for reliability (consistency). Quick and easy analysis � easy and quick to analyse using measures of central tendency and dispersion, and a range of graphs and charts � tables and graphs can be easily communicated to others.

Weaknesses of Quantitative Data Validity � fixed response questions can lead to invalid responses which do not effectively describe the experience of the participants � Need a comprehensive pilot study; allows the researcher to ensure that the alternative answers provided suit a wide range of possible responses from the final sample. � When participants simply have to tick boxes it is very easy for them to become disinterested and disengaged from what they are doing � response set: ticking the same answer time after time when questions follow a similar format (i. e. circling a number) or they may even simply tick answers which don’t really apply to them � they are investing little in answering the questions and therefore may be less inclined to answer them properly

Qualitative data � in the form of words rather than numbers and involves ideas, opinions and attitudes � often ‘tells a story’. � can be collected through asking open ended questions as in an interview or questionnaire � analysed by generating themes; this can be done by carefully transcribing every word and then arranging quotes into categories; these categories and themes and then turned into models or flow charts to show links and relationships between themes (grounded theory) � Often two or more researchers independently analyse the data; their interpretations are compared and the higher the degree of similarity between their analyses, the higher the reliability of the findings and conclusions.

Strengths of Qualitative Data Validity � rich source of data; participants are allowed to describe how they think or feel in their own words � not constrained by the expectations of the researchers which can sometimes be the case in fixed response questions. New ideas � allows researchers to capture new ideas that they were not previously aware of � new information can be used to create more scientific and objective studies with higher validity � researcher gains more in-depth working knowledge of the topic area having worked with participants who have fully explained their experiences.

Weaknesses Qualitative Data Validity � difficult to gather detailed qualitative data as participants often don’t want to give detailed answers � compounded by the fact that some participants may find it more difficult to express their thoughts and feelings verbally in writing or orally � wide range of reasons, including cultural, language and psychological barriers. � data collected may not be generalisable as it only illustrates the views of those who are able to provide more articulate answers. Reliability � hard to replicate as the data collected is a person’s unique interpretation of the world � truly consistent findings are unlikely even if same person is tested at a later date since interpretation changes with experience, over time � evidence divulged is done so within the confines of a relationship between two people, (the participant and the researcher), a different researcher might alter the nature of the information provided and the way in which it is recorded and interpreted � This means it is hard to say whether the results are reliable; also decreases the generalisability.