Chapter 3 Research Methodology
3.3 Research Method and Design
3.3.1 Quantitative Research vs Qualitative Research
In general, there are two major types of research methodologies currently being applied. The first is quantitative research and the second is qualitative research. A review on the definition and nature of qualitative research and quantitative research gives an overall comparison on their respective characters and applications. Statements and definitions on qualitative research and quantitative research are made from different angles. In terms of the purpose of the research, Cooper & Schindler (2011, p.160 -161) defined qualitative research as “aiming to achieve an in-depth understanding of a situation.” while “quantitative research attempts precise measurement of something”. By looking at the type of questions answered by research, Barbour (2008, p.31) believes that qualitative research asks different sorts of questions – “not those relating to outcomes or strengths of association, but questions about processes, understandings and beliefs.” By explaining the techniques and method used for qualitative research, Flick (2007, p.2) states that “qualitative research uses text as empirical material (instead of numbers), starts from the notion of the social construction of realities under study, is interested in the perspectives of participants, in everyday practices and everyday knowledge referring to the issue under study”. Cooper and Schindler (2011, Exhibit 7-2, p.163) have done a comprehensive review on the distinctions between qualitative and quantitative research, from which the main characteristics distinguishing the two types of research methods can be summarised in the
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36 following aspects, i.e. cost and time, flexibility and possibility to be adjusted, researcher involvement and impact on researcher, insights and meaning, data security, sponsor benefit.
• Cost and Time – Depend on Sample Size and Methodology
“Qualitative research normally uses a smaller sample size” (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p.164), this means fewer participants are involved, the total time a researcher spends on interviews usually is less than the time spent with quantitative research methodologies such as conducting a survey which involves a large number of participants which is typically time consuming. The cost associated with a limited number of interviews is lower too. The end result however coming from the information gathered can be very efficient because it has come from participants who are highly relevant to the research topic, their expertise, experience and knowledge in the related area are providing concentrated, high value input for the research.
Quantitative research on the other hand will take much more time and cost (Flynn, Kakibara, Schroeder, Bates & Flynn, 1990, p.252). Surveys and questionnaires from a large sample base are required in order to achieve a convincing result. The time spent on facilitating a survey, collecting data, entering data into computer system and analysing the data is significant, at the same time, cost will increase because more man-hours are involved in all these activities as well as the IT support often needed to carry out the survey. Even before surveys and questionnaires are conducted, preparing the right questions to be asked is a time consuming process as well.
• Flexibility and Possibility to be Adjusted
Methodologies used by qualitative research such as interviews and focus groups are of an inductive manner. The researcher leading the interview or focus group will have a pre- designed question structure in mind but they do not have a firm idea of what information and conclusion the interview will provide because the purpose of qualitative research is to find out a reason or a way of doing things, so the research will be directed to the final answer as the interview progresses. Sometimes, in this process they may be presented with
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37 new ideas from a different angle that leads to changes of the pre-designed questions, or the “change of original focus as data is generated and preliminary analysis suggests a new or slightly shifted emphasis” (Barbour, 2008, p.30). The research can still continue with the new focus taking place and the researcher carrying on the interview by taking into consideration the adjusted focus, modifying the questions and discussions during the interview process to get more relevant information to support or assist with the conclusion. Quantitative research however commences with its pre-set questionnaire or survey, and once it gets started, it has to go ahead with no chance or adjustment. It is non-reversible unless started again from the very beginning. So with quantitative research the flexibility and possibility to adjust during the course of the research is very limited. A researcher should be very careful with the design of the questionnaire as there is only one opportunity to collect all necessary data. It is not possible to withdraw halfway through a survey, and neither can they make any change along the way.
• Researcher Involvement and Impact on Researcher
Qualitative research requires the researcher to be part of the interview, to organise it, conduct it, and even share their personal experience and story to get the participants to a comfortable position to openly discuss the questions. It requires a high level of competence from the researcher in regards to their knowledge in the area of the research topic, because only someone with considerable knowledge of the topic can conduct and manage the interview successfully. It also requires the researcher to demonstrate a high level of interpersonal and communication skills in the interview to maximise the amount of useful information from the participants without putting them under pressure or in a zone of discomfort. Such requirement will see the researcher being involved at the emotional level. It requires more personal effort and the information they obtain from the interviews will certainly impact them physically and mentally. “Researchers do report feelings of exhaustion and tiredness when undertaking research interviews, often feeling quite overwhelmed by the nature of the data.” (Dickson-Swift, James, Kippen & Liamputtong, 2009, p.71).
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38 Researchers doing quantitative research will not need to immerse themselves into the research to the extent a researcher doing qualitative research has to. They design the survey, and then they can conduct it from distance with limited or without direct contact with participants. Today, a lot of surveys are facilitated via computer and the internet, and often analysed by software as well, hence the minimum involvement of the researcher. Even when the survey is conducted face to face, the participants will actually deal with the survey, not feeding information directly to the researcher. So, quantitative research will have less researcher involvement and less impact on researcher at the personal level.
• Insights and Meanings
The methodologies applied by qualitative research usually offer better insights of the research topic. For example, benefits of case studies include the ability to examine a topic in greater depth. “Researchers can focus on a specific topics and/or company(s), allowing a thorough examination of numerous factors and nuances. Case studies provide a richness of description and first hand observation of phenomena in a natural setting. Often case studies yield unintended insights, which can lead to new avenues of inquiry. The best case studies provide a foundation for further examination.” (Boyer & Swink, 2008, p.340)
Similarly, interviews will yield more in depth understandings and comments on the research topic as well, because the participants are often possessing great expertise, are high in professional skills and knowledge, and rich in experience in the area that the topic is focusing on. They will not only just simply answer the question, but will more likely also provide more valuable information, suggestions and ideas which may lead the researcher to view the topic from a new or different angle, extend the focus or give a much deeper understanding of the topic. Types of interviews range from structured, semi-structured and unstructured (Edwards & Holland, 2013, p2), with structured interviews being the more quantitative type of approach and the semi and unstructured interviews being more typical qualitative approaches.
Quantitative research, limited by the research methods it adopts, which usually is a survey, will not give the researcher the opportunity to come into close contact with the participants to get the level of detail and the amount of information that qualitative research can offer.
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39 The receipt of the information is through the survey, which is one-off, one way communication, and where once the question is answered, it is done. Both the researcher and the participant will not have a chance to clarify anything further, the researcher gets a simple answer from either a multiple choice question, or just a few simple words which are then later coded and analysed. In some circumstances, the participants may give an inappropriate answer due to misunderstanding of the question, or lack of knowledge etc. The quality of the data collected through a survey can be limited by the simple and unified answers. This is why quantitative research is often used to answer the more straight forward ‘what’ and ‘when’ questions and not the more complex ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions.
• Data Security
Qualitative research usually requires a small sample size with fewer participants involved. The participants are often selected because each of them possesses highly concentrated information, expertise, experience and knowledge closely related to the research topic. Due to the close relationship between the participants and the research topic or the research area, they have a better sense of what is highly confidential/sensitive, the importance of maintaining confidentiality, and are willing to be responsible for the sponsor’s privacy. The small number of participants also makes it easier to keep the research activities from being leaked to the public or competitors.
Quantitative research on the other hand is survey based which means a large number of participants are involved. The participants may come from different background and business areas, and have little sense of what level of confidentiality is required by the research topic. The large number of participants involved also makes it difficult to maintain a high level of data security, as leakage can happen easily at any stage. Furthermore, conducting the survey often goes out in a more public manner, which is frequently more easily noticed by outsiders and the competitors (Cooper and Schindler, 2011, p.163), thereby giving out signals of the intention or purpose of the research which can be then decoded by competitors on what the sponsor is doing, and raise alert or awareness for competitors to look at the same area soon after or take actions accordingly.
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• Sponsor Benefit
In qualitative research, the sponsor can have the opportunity to take part in the data collection process of the research; this will give the sponsor some significant benefits. The sponsor with his earlier involvement in the data collection can get the information and feedback in a real time manner, or at a time soon after the interviews take place. They can also get first hand data without any coding, conversion or interpretation; this avoids the misinterpretation of the data, and enables the sponsor to pick up some minor details of high interest and importance which otherwise might be overlooked by the researcher or the data processor. The sponsor may also want to discuss further a specific topic with some participants if they prefer, this gives the sponsor the freedom and flexibility to investigate certain issues or topics along the way. The sponsor can also ask for a change or modification of the research direction based on the information they get while the research is progressing, and therefore this may avert getting to the end of the research only realise the research has gone wrong in some way.
In quantitative research, the sponsor does not have the luxury of being involved during the data collection process; they have to wait until all data has been collected, analysed and interpreted. It also means once the research has started, there’s no opportunity to change and any flexibility for the sponsor to do any modification is not possible at all.