Key Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Sociology

1. Nature of Data

   • Qualitative Research: This type focuses on descriptive information. It looks at the meanings, experiences, and ideas connected to social situations. For example, researchers might use interviews and open-ended surveys to gather information.
   • Quantitative Research: This type deals with numbers. It aims to measure behaviors or opinions and often uses surveys with fixed questions or experiments. For instance, researchers might use stats to find patterns in social behavior.

2. Purpose

   • Qualitative Research: The main goal is to deeply understand social issues. For example, it may look into how young people see education.
   • Quantitative Research: This research aims to find trends and make predictions. For example, it could check how many students feel stressed about exams, often shown as percentages or averages.

3. Data Collection Methods

   • Qualitative Methods: These include interviews, small group discussions, and direct observations. For example, a study might involve talking to 30 people.
   • Quantitative Methods: These mostly use surveys and experiments. For example, a survey could gather information from 1,000 people to see behavior trends.

4. Analysis Techniques

   • Qualitative Analysis: This includes looking for main ideas, categorizing data, and telling stories. Results are often shown through themes or quotes.
   • Quantitative Analysis: This uses math techniques, like finding relationships or patterns, to understand the data. For example, a researcher might find a strong link between study time and exam scores, like a score of 0.7.

5. Outcome Representation

   • Qualitative Research: Results are usually shared through stories or summaries of themes.
   • Quantitative Research: Results are often shown with charts, tables, and statistics to make the findings easy to understand.