This research method is used: to describe variables, to examine relationships among variables; to determine cause and effect interactions between variables. 2. Qualitative Research Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research.
According to Ritchie and Lewis (2003), qualitative research is a type of scientific research that focuses on generating meaning and understanding through rich description. It can be a particularly useful approach as it focuses on the quality of the experiences trying to describe or understand the essence or nature of human experience. Qualitative research typically works to achieve different goals and uses different methods and designs. Qualitative research is especially effective in exploring, describing and interpreting data (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003). Qualitative research was deemed best for this study because it is typically more flexible as it enables a sense of freedom between the researcher and the participants (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003).
It provides an understanding of the problem, help to develop ideas for supporting quantitative research (Snapsurveys, 2016). I believe that qualitative research brings opinions or hypotheses and goes deeper into the issues or problems. There are many techniques used to collect the data like focus groups, conducting interviews and observations. I think the sample size here is small and the sampling is selected to fulfill the subject of study. For example, my friend is studying the role of heritage in attracting foreigners to Oman.
This study used a qualitative approach based on the Qualitative Research method. The main objective of qualitative research is to examine the individual’s whole experience, not simply looking at specific parts. It is commonly used to understand people's experience and to express their perspectives. In this method of research the researcher generates or constructs knowledge, hypotheses, and grounded theory from data collecting during field work' (Johnson & Christensen, 2012). It studies groups and individuals in natural setting; attempt to understand insiders' views, meaning and perspectives.
The main reason was due to only a limited qualitative researchers been trained in 1980s compare with quantitative researchers (Taylor & Bogdan). However, with the expansion of scope in the evaluation such as employee behavior, work performance, job satisfaction, stress management, personnel specifications, and human factor workplace, qualitative research was needed by industrial/organizational psychologists to study the organizations. Therefore, it is necessary to have a set of guide line for qualitative research methodologies and methods amenable to the study of organizations, especially for frequent users such as clinical psychologists (Camic, Rhodes, & Yadley, 2003). 2.0 Comparing quantitative and qualitative research The main different between quantitative and qualitative research are their analytical objectives, the types of questions pose, the types of instruments use to collect data, the forms of data produce and the degree of flexibility built into study design. 3.0 Use of Qualitative Research Methods in
2.0. The Qualitative versus Quantitative Research debate As previously shown, quantitative and qualitative methods stem from different ontologic, epistemologic and axiologic assumptions about the nature of research. Traditionally, quantitative methods are predominantly acknowledged within positivism whereas qualitative methods are dominant within the interpretivism or non-positivist studies (Bredillet, 2008). Generally speaking, quantitative methodology is concerned with attempts to quantify social phenomena and collect and analyze numerical data, and the use of statistical procedures to examine group means and variance (Ponterotto 2005; Tuli 2010). Qualitative methodology, on the other hand, is more concerned with understanding the meaning of
Research approach can be categorized into quantitative and qualitative research (Yates, 2004; Creswell, 2009). For this study, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted. The adoption of each of the approaches in any research process come along with their limitations; therefore biases inherent in any of the methods could nullify or neutralize the biases of other methods (Hurmerinta – Peltomaki & Nummela, 2006). Usually, quantitative research conducts a deductive approach to the relationship between theory and research which focus on testing of theory (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Yin, 2008). Conversely, qualitative research emphasizes the words rather than quantification with data.
3.5.1 Unstructured interview In the starting phase of the project, unstructured interviews were conducted in order to help the researcher to better understand the project problem and what happened with this problem. Unstructured interview is same as conversation, which can be conducted through informal discussion with open-ended questions. Conversations were made in the first three weeks of the entire period. Unstructured interview questions 1. What is the background of the problem?
a) Quantitative Method: In this research, the method involves gathering data for it to be quantified and therefore be placed under statistical treatment to provide support to the topic under study. There are three historical trends concerning quantitative research method that is research design, measurement and test process and statistical analysis. In this method, the research still includes a collection of data which is done
Qualitative data on the other hand, provides data that the researcher must draw results from using inductive reasoning. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, the two research methods differ in terms of what they are designed to do. Qualitative research aims to explain how and why certain things happen. Because quantitative research has no way of showing clear cut causality, it can be said that quantitative research is intended to be conclusive. Putting it in a simpler analogy, quantitative research would do measurements hundreds of rooms to figure out that a room’s brightness level correlates highly with the position of its light switch, whereas a qualitative research makes the observation that flicking the switch makes the room