Quantitative and Qualitative Form of Inquiry, Coursework Example

The process of research or inquiry is often defined under the capacity by which a person or a group of people come together to gather data that would specifically be pertaining to a particular situation or topic that is relatively important to the society during a specific span of time. To be able to come up with a well-patterned and well-defined form of research, two approaches are noted today to have a great impact on the capacity of individuals [or group of individuals] to come together and gather the data needed for the establishment of good process of inquiry. The qualitative and the quantitative approach of research are among the most common forms of inquiry being used by researchers today. To note, these two procedures of research do have some considerable aspects of differences that must be carried into consideration.

One particular aspect of difference is that goal or the aim of the research that is handled under the said approaches. For qualitative inquiry, it is most often than not that the topic or the issue being resolved has a broader scope than that of the issue addressed in a quantitative study. The description of the study is also seemingly directed towards the whole picture of the generality of the situation when it comes to qualitative study whereas the presentation of the problem is more focused when the study is based ion quantitative approach.  When it comes to the overall presentation of the research methodology used, it could be analyzed that qualitative studies are most often than not exploratory, which means it is expected by the researchers that other influential matters could still change the final results of the study, while quantitative researches are more conclusive and directive in defining the results and how they relate to the issue at hand.

Considerably, it is because of the aspects discussed above that researchers consider qualitative approach to inquiry at the early beginnings of the research. Notably, the generality of the said methodology helps them to see the overall situation and thus respond to the matter in a broader approach. Nevertheless, when the onset of a more focused discussion of particular points of research becomes concerned, then the application of the quantitative approach of research is being opted for use respectively.

Reference

Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.