Question

What are the differences between a qualitative research design verses a quantitative research design?

When would it be appropriate to use one design over another in investigating a business process problem? For example, a toothpaste company wants to find out what the demand for a tooth whitening gel is among male customers between the ages of 30–40 years. What research design would be appropriate for the company to use?

Answer 1

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I have tabulated differences between the 2 types of researches here:

Qualitative Research	Quantitative Research
Qualitative research is the research where researcher relies on the views of the participants	Quantitative research is the research where researcher decides what to do and what not to
It is conducted to explore the situation and find out any new concepts, theories or phenomena	It is conducted to explain or prove the theories
Common research objective is to explore and gain understanding of the problems or reasons	Common research objective is to describe, explain and quantify the problem
Research questions include ‘How’ and ‘Why’	Research questions include ‘What’ and ‘When’
Scientific method of research is Exploratory i.e. bottom-up, where new hypothesis or theories are generated from the collected data	Scientific method of research is Confirmatory i.e. top-down, where the researcher will test hypothesis from the collected data
It follows Inductive reasoning method (looking for emergence of any theory) i.e. Starts from Observation, then we find out the Pattern, make the Tentative hypothesis and finally form the Theory	It follows Deductive reasoning method (fitting data in theories) i.e. Starts from the Theory, from which we form Hypothesis, make the Observation and finally confirm our Hypothesis
Data collected are more in words and images	Data collected are more in numbers and statistics
Data collection methods are mainly In-depth Interviews (IDI), Focus Group Discussion (FGD), observation and document reviews	Data collection methods are mainly structured interviews, surveys, statistical records
There are multiple ways of reaching from point A (start) to point B (end)	There are specific/certain ways of reaching from point A (start) to point B (end)
Sampling is mostly ‘non-random sampling’	Sampling is mostly ‘random sampling’
It gives more information of limited cases	It gives limited information of more cases
It is considered to have wide angle range	It is considered to have narrow angle lens
It can have methodological innovations	It cannot have methodological innovations
Study of the whole subject is done	Only specific variables are studied here
Data collection is less structured	Data collection is more structured
Sample size is not an important issue	Sample size is an important issue
The Inquiry is process oriented	Inquiry is result oriented
No statistical tests required	Statistical tests are necessary to prove the hypothesis
Hypothesis is generated here	Hypothesis is tested here
Findings are less generalizable	Findings are more generalizable
Results are very descriptive	Results are quite specific
Report of qualitative researches are narrative including direct quotation of the participants	Report of quantitative researches are more statistical showing the relationship between the variables
Challenges in analyzing data: · Small sample size · Large volume of data · Researchers bias · Creative process	Challenges in analyzing data: · Good statistical analysis required · More sample size required to generalize or the analysis will be of less importance

Answer to 2nd part:

All evidence that the research is more "structured" and that the sample group of study is more defined Points out the fact that the research design is Quantative Research