Qualitative and Quantitative data

• Quantitative data


  Data that is able to be presented in numerical form and is more objective in nature
• Qualitative data


  More contextual data and is often presented in written, verbal or visual formats and therefore open to interpretation
• Quantitative data


  • Can be analyzed and conclusions drawn that are more likely to be reliable
  • Can be repeated to see trends over time
• Qualitative data


  • Offers researchers more of an insight or understanding into the lives of others
  • Has greater validity
• Sociological researchers' preferred methodology


  • Positivists - methods that generate quantitative data
  • Interpretivists - methods that collect qualitative data
• Experiments (lab or controlled, field)


  1. Manipulate independent variable

  2. Measure dependent variable

  3. Subjected to statistical tests
• Questionnaires


  1. Pre-coded questions

  2. Finite number of responses

  3. Responses can be analyzed for trends and patterns
• Non-participant observation


  Observe frequency of behaviors over time
• Official statistics


  1. Compiled from other quantitative methods

  2. Compiled by Office for National Statistics
• Content analysis


  1. Use qualitative data as input

  2. Produce quantitative data output
• Uses of quantitative data


  • Reporting of social trends for government planning and policy
  • Opinion polls on voting intentions and social attitudes
  • Lead tables and statistics in education, health, crime, welfare
• Participant observation


  • Covert or overt
  • Record people's actions, opinions, motivations, and insights
• Unstructured interviews


  • Flexible nature allows broader range of responses
  • Responses recorded, transcribed, and analyzed
• Questionnaires with open questions


  • Respondents can expand on opinions in written form
• Secondary sources


  • Personal documents, reports, diaries, medical histories, historical documents
• Case studies


  • In-depth research into an individual or group
  • Often present findings in qualitative format
• Ethnographic approaches


  • Utilize qualitative data like photographs, videos, blogs
• Advantages of qualitative data


  • Gain insight into different perceptions, meanings, and motivations
  • Access views that other methods cannot
  • Reveal changes in attitudes over time and understand social change
  • Give voice to underrepresented groups
• Structural theorists


  Prefer quantitative data to see the big picture in society
• Social action theorists


  Prefer qualitative data to gain insight into individual experiences
• The most complete way to research society is to combine quantitative and qualitative methods (methodological pluralism)
• Examples of methodological pluralism


  • Willis's "Learning to Labor" using questionnaires, observations, and unstructured interviews
  • Using both open and closed questions on questionnaires