Qualitative and Quantitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Qualitative and Quantitative Research - Essay Example This implies that the two methods are dependent on the data needed by a research and the subject of the research itself. In some cases, both of these methods can be used together. Pluralistic research is the term used to refer to a situation in which both the qualitative and quantitative approaches are mixed in one research project. The mixture of both of these research methods could result in a number of benefits and also come with costs or disadvantages to the researcher. This paper gives a review of the points of divergence between the two methods of research. Advantages and disadvantages of combining the two methods of research in one project are also given. From the definition of the two research method, significant differences are. This difference comes from the use of the method. While qualitative methods mainly try to give a justification of a phenomenon, the quantitative method aims at giving the amount of data to support or disapprove a hypothesis. This means that the data that will be obtained in a qualitative research is also of substantively different from the type obtained in quantitative research (Pierce 2008). In ordered to explain a fact or a phenomenon, reasoning is the only possible way to achieve this. The data that will be available, in this case, are descriptions of different processes or occurrence within a phenomenon. In the quantitative method, the data usually obtained gives a numeric value of the aspect being measured. This value can be the frequency of an occurrence or the magnitude of a phenomenon. As such these methods vary in terms of the data collected and the purpose of research. While the purpose of the quan titative method id to measure the numeric value of a phenomenon, the qualitative method aims ad delivering the meaning or the reason behind the occurrence (Bryman, 1988).