Accumulates Data in the Form of Numbers

¶ … accumulates data in the form of numbers that can be assessed in an objective fashion, usually involving equations. It frequently takes the form of an experimental design. "Quantitative research gathers data in numerical form which can be put into categories, or in rank order, or measured in units of measurement. This type of data can be used to construct graphs and tables of raw data" (McLeod 2008). For example, a study of the efficacy of a program to prevent teenage suicide might compare the suicide rates of two demographically similar groups of teens: the experimental group that experienced the intervention and the control group that did not. However, not all quantitative assessment methods take the form of formal experiments and quantitative approaches can encompass surveys and other numerical data collection methods (Sakar n.d.). Quantitative research is most useful to gather information from a wide array of subjects and to hone in on a specific phenomenon. The research question is established beforehand, usually following a literature review. Questions are relatively narrow, to better enable data comparison.

In contrast, qualitative research is narrative in form and is devoted to accumulating data about the specific, particular experiences of different human beings. The population may be very small and the results may not be generalizable to other groups. This can take the form of "diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews and unstructured observations" (McLeod 2008). The researcher does not embark upon the study with a clear idea of what he or she will learn or not learn. For example, in the case of a qualitative research study of a teen suicide prevention program, the researchers might speak with the participating students before, during, and after the intervention, to gain a sense of how their perspectives of suicide changed. Responses of subjects may be ' coded' for comparative analysis (such as labeling certain responses pertaining to media conceptions of suicide vs. experiences of suicide derived from personal experience). Codes can be used to produce data set, but the classification of information is usually done after-the-fact and is more subjective in nature than in quantitative research. Qualitative research may yield unexpected findings, given its open-ended nature, in contrast to quantitative research which will either prove or disprove an experiment's hypothesis or collect information on a specific subject matter.