Part 1 – Identifying Qualitative and Quantitative Research Characteristics
Research processes provide a pathway towards knowledge acquisition. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are two distinct research methods that compare variedly. While both share the foundational aim of knowledge acquisition, they differ on diverse fronts. Qualitative research methods usually focus on answering the why question and are generally centred on subjective phenomena that cannot be quantified numerically. Quantitative research, on the other hand, develops a statistical picture of a connection through numerical data analysis. This paper analyzes qualitative and quantitative research characteristics via the lens of identified qualitative and quantitative research.
The Identified Articles
The first article is qualitative research by Devkota et al. (2021), centred on mental healthcare. The article analyzes the factors that affect the utilization of mental health services. The article is grounded on the conceptual framework that mental health and mental healthcare services have many influencing factors at different socioecological factors. The second article is a quantitative research by Poynton-Smith et al. (2023) analyzing the attitudes towards people with mental health conditions.
While maintaining the normative objective of adding to the knowledge base on mental healthcare and resource utilization in mental health, the two articles differ in their approaches. Significant differences are evident in the setting, the use of numbers to define the data used, the sample size, the representation of the findings, and data collection and analysis techniques.
Qualitative Research
Several characteristics make the research by Devkota et al. (2021) qualitative. Firstly, the research gives insight into factors affecting mental healthcare by gaining people’s perspectives and opinions. It also uses interview methods as the sole data collection tool. The use of interviews to obtain others’ perspectives on the topic under research is a defining feature of qualitative research. As evident in the article, the research utilizes face-to-face interviews to interrogate participants’ perspectives on mental healthcare. This makes the research qualitative.
Another defining characteristic of qualitative research evident in the article is the setting and the nature of the data collected. Busetto et al. (2020) report that qualitative research is performed in a natural setting, with small samples used during data collection. Additionally, data collected in qualitative research is usually in the form of words, written or spoken texts, and individual ideas on the topic under study. This was the case in the selected research. As evident in the article, the study setting was in a western hilly district of Nepal. The sample size was also small, with only 32 people participating in the study. Verbal responses to the interviewed questions were the sole modality of data collection in the study. These features are consistent with qualitative research.
Quantitative Research
There were several features definitive of quantitative research in the article selected. To begin with, the sample size used was large. As evident in the article, 17,000 people participated in the study. The use of a large sample size is consistent with quantitative research (Barroga & Matanguihan, 2022). The study was also performed in a controlled setting. The participants were drawn from pre-identified stakeholders and followed a capacity-building program performed on the population. The use of a controlled setting, rather than the natural setting, is also definitive of quantitative research methodologies. This makes the research quantitative.
The use of numbers was also conspicuous in the research. The study findings were represented in numerical forms. As evident in the article, the data obtained were represented in percentages and corresponding bar graphs. The use of numbers in the representation of the result findings, along with graphs, is consistent with quantitative research.
There is evidence of the use of statistical analysis in the research. Statistical analysis is a common feature of quantitative research. It allows the research to put into perspective the numerical data obtained from the research process. It also enables the establishment of cause-effect relationships between the tested variables (Barroga & Matanguihan, 2022). The research utilized diverse statistical analysis tools. These included multiple regression analysis, chi-squared analysis, T-tests, and SPSS Statistics v27. This makes the research quantitative.
The method used was also consistent with quantitative methods. Statistical and mathematical techniques are common processes in quantitative research. The article provides significant evidence of the use of statistical and mathematical techniques. These include descriptive statistics to define the demographic features of the participants, formulas, and ratios, among others. These features are consistent with those of quantitative research.
The technique used in data collection was also suggestive of quantitative research. The use of questionnaires and surveys is common in quantitative research. These data collection tools are valuable in collecting information based on numerical evidence (Barroga & Matanguihan, 2022). In the quantitative research selected, there is evidence of the use of questionnaires during the post-training evaluation of attitude improvement. This suggests that the research method used is quantitative.
Major Differences
The articles selected demonstrated pertinent differences between quantitative and qualitative research. These differences were centred on diverse aspects such as the setting, sample size, techniques, methods, and data. There was evidence of the use of a large sample size in quantitative research. In terms of the setting, qualitative research is conducted in a natural setting, with the views and opinions collected reflecting the lived experiences of the participants. Quantitative research, on the other hand, is done in controlled settings. On the aspects of data qualitative research uses non-numerical data and is often represented in words or texts. Consistently, quantitative numbers employ numbers significantly as data is usually represented in numbers. On the domain of technique, qualitative research often employs interviews during data collection, whereas quantitative research utilizes surveys and questionnaires. Despite their differences, qualitative and quantitative research are integral to research processes. Both contribute to knowledge acquisition and creation. The choice of either will often depend on the nature of the proposed study and the research questions.
References
Barroga, E., & Matanguihan, G. J. (2022). A practical guide to writing quantitative and qualitative research questions and hypotheses in scholarly articles. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 37(16). https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e121
Busetto, L., Wick, W., & Gumbinger, C. (2020). How to use and assess qualitative research methods. Neurological Research and Practice, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42466-020-00059-z
Devkota, G., Basnet, P., Thapa, B., & Subedi, M. (2021). Factors affecting utilization of mental health services from Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities of Western Hilly District of Nepal. PLOS ONE, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250694
Poynton-Smith, E., Orrell, M., Osei, A., Ohene, S.-A., Ansong, J., Gyimah, L., McKenzie, C., Moro, M. F., Drew-Bold, N., Baingana, F., Carta, M. G., Tawiah, P., Brobbey, K., & Funk, M. (2023). A quantitative analysis of human rights-related attitude changes towards people with mental health conditions and psychosocial, intellectual, or cognitive disabilities following completion of the Who quality-rights e-training in Ghana. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-023-00609-3
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Question 
Write a 700- to 1,400-word analysis about the articles in which you:
Explain what characteristics make the study and research methods used quantitative.
Part 1 – Identifying Qualitative and Quantitative Research Characteristics
Explain what characteristics make the study and research methods used qualitative.
Analyze the major differences between the 2 types of research methods.
Refer to Quantitative and Qualitative Terminology for examples of qualitative or quantitative language that may be used in each article.