MBA Final Project Preparation: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

The process of finding the solution to a social, corporate, or scientific problem calls for the evaluation of the existing knowledge to ascertain the gap to be filled. The best method of carrying out such analysis is through a comprehensive study. Research is an essential tool for finding and evaluating existing and new knowledge for diverse purposes. A succinctly prepared research process depends on the nature of the methodology. A research methodology is a collection of theoretical techniques and analytic approaches that assist the researcher to define the mechanisms that will use to gather the relevant information to answer the topic question. The existence of a methodology in a systematic research method to be applied and does not define the solution of to the research problem. Although the research methodology may include the essential philosophies such as the paradigm of the study, the analytical method, and the study method, the most widely used techniques include the qualitative and quantitative research (Snap Surveys, 2010). This paper examines the contrast and the comparison associated with the concept of qualitative and quantitative research.

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Qualitative research is a technique of conducting a study where the researcher is seeking to understand the reasons and, meaning, and motivation related to the topic of investigation. The methodology is supposed to evaluate the relationship between the study variables by focusing on the associated insights as well as the perspectives that cannot be quantified using numerical variables (Morse, 2005). Therefore, the focus of the technique is to find the answers about the proposed hypotheses by focusing on thoughtful and opinion-oriented evaluations. The use of qualitative research is inclined towards the quality nature of the variables, the ideas, and the assumptions related to the problem in question. The method allows the researcher to provide a broader perspective and notion of the topic by focusing on the extent to which the subjects relate to the existing knowledge associated with the subject of the study. When using a qualitative research methodology, one is bound to concentrate on the concrete opinions and insights that can be documented for advancing the existing knowledge. Furthermore, the process of using a qualitative research approach to investigate a phenomenon leads to partially conclusive results that cannot be generalized to the population under study; however, it is significant for the fundamental knowledge required in making decisions.

On the other hand, the quantitative research is a technique of research methodology that allows the researcher to focus on a representative portion of the population under investigation to determine the correlation among the variables of the research question. The technique involves the use of quantified data to understand the level of correlation, variance, and deviation to measure the magnitude of views and opinions specific to a sample of the entire population (Morse, 2005; Snap Surveys, 2010). Moreover, the collected data from the sample is considered a representation of the entire population; therefore, each evaluation is focused towards the understanding of the primary population. In most cases, the quantitative research may be combined with qualitative techniques to increase the level of validity and reliability of the results; however, the qualitative methodology is a comprehensive approach to studies seeking to reveal the numerical trends. The results from research conducted using quantitative study approach are concrete since they have a statistical and analytic appeal, which makes it easy to be used to recommend a course of action during decision-making. The findings do not require further evaluations and interpretation since the quantified trends can be extended to any population with duplicated characteristics as the sample under that study.

The overview above gives the difference in meaning and context of qualitative and quantitative research. It is clear that the two commonly used methodologies are diverse in nature; however, there exists some degree of similarities between the two techniques. The two approaches to social and scientific studies are limited in variables. The number of variables involved in the survey cannot be extended beyond a specific limit since as the variables increase the level of validity and reliability decreases (Trafimow, 2013). Therefore, for the best results the two methodologies can be used to explain the relationship between few variables under investigation. Moreover, both the qualitative and quantitative research can be used to investigate similar scenario; however, the approach to the problem under investigation will be different. For example, a qualitative study can use the financial statement reports to investigate the effectiveness of the strategic planning mechanisms in an organization. On the other hand, a quantitative research may use the same financial statements to measure the implication of the financial position of the same organization based on the strategic planning processes. Besides, the researcher can influence the processes involved in the two study methodologies. For example, the study process will depend on the choices made regarding the data to be collected and the manner to interpret the variable trends, which solely depends on the researcher.

Furthermore, both techniques require a clearly defined problem with the variable to be investigated. The questions of the research enable the creation of the associated hypotheses in each case (Trafimow, 2013; Snap Surveys, 2010). For example, the lack of a clear question affects the quality of opinions and perspectives included in the qualitative research. On the other hand, a poorly designed question will not depict the variables to investigate, which will affect the degree of validity and reliability. The two approaches to research also require comprehensive plans that will guide the schedule according to the scope of an investigation (Landrum and Garza, 2015; Hall, 2016). A clearly defined scope enabled the researchers to stick to the topic of investigation in each case. Moreover, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches are action-oriented, and the focus should be towards generating new insights and knowledge for decision-making purposes. Furthermore, the researchers in each case should be familiar with the nature of data to be collected during the study (Berry, 2011). Such a move will assist in making choices regarding the quality of analysis and interpretation, which is essential for the two cases.

Nevertheless, a deeper evaluation of the two types of research methodology reveals diverse differences based on analysis of each study factor and process. The qualitative research considers the targeted population as a scope that lacks coherency and uniformity when evaluating any characteristic. The process of analyzing a concept depends on the capacity of the researcher to depict the individual perspectives and opinions and build a coherent conclusion that depends on segregated ideas and notions. Therefore, qualitative research is because the existing realities are many, but they are diverse in nature such that identifying any existing similarity could lead to complicated procedures (Fuhse and Mutzel, 2011). On the other hand, qualitative research is founded on the existence of stable and uniform phenomenon across diverse population representatives. The method acknowledges that the existing coherency among the variables of a population can be subjected to a measurement process to assist in generalizing an understanding across for a new or existing concept (Fuhse and Mutzel, 2011; Snap Surveys, 2010). For example, when investigating the implication of the strategic planning on the financial performance of an organization, a qualitative approach cannot extend the findings to other organization; however, for a quantitative study, it will be easy to associate strategic implementation results on finance to other agencies operating in the same industry.

Moreover, the purpose of a qualitative approach to research is to enhance the understanding of a particular phenomenon by evaluating the current insights and ideas. Such an objective is achieved through a comprehensive strategy associated with the collection of narrative data that depict individual perception in line with the phenomenon under study (Tamboukou, 2006). Therefore, the sole purpose of qualitative research can be linked to the generation of hypotheses for further testing. However, the aim of quantitative research is to provide a clear explanation of a phenomenon being studied to give the final solutions to a proposed problem or create a prediction for future application. Thus, this approach is concerned with the testing of the hypotheses based on deductive techniques as opposed to the inductive mechanisms of qualitative research. Is such a scenario, focused strategies for gathering the associated numerical data is essential for generating informative responses to the designed hypotheses (Nelson, 2015; Snap Surveys, 2010). For example, when carrying out an investigation for the implication of the patient to nurse ratio on the increasing cases on burnout among nurses, a qualitative research may generate a hypothesis relating the two variables without any numerical interrelations or predictions. However, when using a quantitative approach, the researcher has the capacity of producing predictive models associated with numerical statistics that can be extended to other health units across different countries.

Furthermore, measurement process involved in qualitative research is majorly non-standardized since the narrative data is inductive. The process is continuous based on the naturalistic setting associated with the research approach. On the contrary, quantitative research depends on a controlled environment where the measurement mechanisms are standardized according to the designed and approved theoretical establishments and frameworks (Snap Surveys, 2010). The measures are numerical and discontinuous. The design associated with the qualitative study is always flexible and descriptive such that it can fit in areas such as history, phenomenology, case study analysis, and grounded theory establishments since the approach requires limited variables as well as small groups during investigations (Nelson, 2015). However, the design linked to quantitative study is majorly a structured framework that is highly inflexible. Once set, the study process cannot be altered since the research approach is interconnected and any manipulation may affect the applicability of the outcomes.

Additionally, during the review of the associated literature in qualitative study less effort is focused towards understanding the previous results since the approach is based on the philosophy of lack of uniformity among phenomena. In the case of quantitative research, the literature review should be extensive since it depicts the nature of the outcomes associated the designed hypotheses. A broad evaluation of the two research approaches also reveals how the qualitative study is related to purposive technique to sampling process as opposed to the random nature of the samples involved in quantitative studies (Allwood, 2011; Snap Surveys, 2010). Although the methods used to collect data for the two techniques are similar, the character of the data is diverse since qualitative method focuses on narrations of ideas and perceptions while quantitative approach considers the numerical facts associated with the concepts under investigation (Snap Surveys, 2010). For example, when drawing the conclusions from the analysis of the co...