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Qualitative And Quantitative Research Essay

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In this report I am going to be comparing and contrasting quantitative and qualitative methods of research. Quantitative data is data that is generally focused on numbers for example methods like questionnaires and official statistics. Qualitative data is data that is a lot more in depth for example interviews and observations. I am going to be comparing questionnaires with interviews and official statistics with observations. Questionnaires are used to collect quantitative data as the results can be expressed with numbers. An example could be a questionnaire about the service a health care setting may provide. However, interviews on the other hand collect a more in depth answer as it usually is a face to face meeting. An example of this could be a job interview or a meeting between a person and their doctor. A difference between both these methods is that a questionnaire can be filled in quite quickly compared to an interview which it would take more time to complete as the amount of detail that is collected. Another difference is that with questionnaires people don’t have to write their name on the questionnaire so it can be anonymous whereas interviews have a formal meeting so the interviewer will know who the person is that is taking part in the interview, but this puts people at risk of feeling humiliated or …show more content…

Official statistics are used to collect numerical data known as statistics which can change over time. An example is that depression affects 1 in 10 people in the UK (NHS). This shows number of people that have a particular health issue and this number can change overtime. Observations are used to collect a range of data about people, cultures etc. an example of an observation could be a nursery worker watching how one particular child may interact with others around

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