Here’s what it’s all about:
Interviews, surveys, experiments, observations – during your degree, you’ll come across a variety of research methods, because: academic research takes many different forms and involves a range of methodological approaches. But what all research methods have in common is this: they aim to answer an academic question.
By the time you start writing your dissertation, at the very latest, you’ll probably come across the distinction between quantitative and qualitative research methods. Although both approaches involve collecting data – in other words, they are empirical research methods – they use fundamentally different types of data collection and analysis to find answers to the research question.
In this article, we provide an overview of research methods and highlight the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research, as well as their application in academic papers.
Before we look at the differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods, it is worth taking a look at the main types of scientific research methods.
| Research method | Category | Typical examples |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative research | Empirical | Surveys, experiments, standardised observations |
| Qualitative research | Empirical | Interviews, focus groups, diaries, content analysis |
| Mixed methods | Empirical | Combination of qualitative and quantitative methods |
| Literature review | Non-empirical | Literature review, theory development, conceptual analysis |
💡 Not every academic paper requires its own data collection. Many bachelor’s and master’s theses are based solely on the systematic analysis of academic literature.
We can illustrate the key differences between research methods using an example from psychology. An interesting question here might be: do we dream about emotionally intense experiences more frequently the less we talk about them during the day?
This question can be investigated psychologically by measuring dream content, emotionally intense experiences and the extent to which people talk about them.
➡️ We usually decide whether to use a quantitative or qualitative research method as early as the stage of choosing the type of measurement.
Quantitative research methods aim to answer a research question by carrying out measurements on as many people as possible and then analysing the results statistically. It is important here that the measurements can be expressed in numerical terms.
These measurements are often carried out using the following methods:
If, for example, we want to measure whether someone has had an emotionally intense experience, we can ask the person: ‘Did you have an emotionally intense experience today?’. We can specify the answer to this question as a simple yes/no format, for which we use the numbers 0 (= no) and 1 (= yes).
Each person answering this question is thus assigned a corresponding number, and these numbers constitute our data. We can now analyse this data quantitatively or statistically, for example by counting the frequency of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers from all respondents.
If we are also interested in how intensely the emotional experience was perceived, we could ask a follow-up question: ‘How emotionally intense was this experience for you today?’. A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response format is no longer suitable here, but we can now use a scale ranging from 1 = ‘not at all emotionally intense’ to 5 = ‘very emotionally intense’, which we can also analyse statistically.
These figures or data from the participants then enable statistical analyses. In this way, we can systematically determine whether there is a general correlation between the frequency with which emotional experiences are discussed and the frequency of emotional experiences in dreams.
The results of such quantitative studies are usually readily generalisable, meaning they can be applied to other people in general. However, this often means they provide a picture that lacks sufficient nuance; it may not necessarily apply to every individual, but rather reflects general tendencies and trends.
Quantitative research can provide important insights into general correlations and differences, thereby answering many research questions effectively and objectively. However, it usually fails to provide a deeper and more individualised understanding of a research question.
Qualitative research methods generally involve studying significantly fewer people than quantitative research methods. However, the aim is to examine these individuals in great depth and detail, for example by conducting interviews that include follow-up questions. This allows participants to express their impressions, opinions and experiences at length.
These studies are usually very labour-intensive to carry out and analyse. On the one hand, a great deal of time must be set aside for arranging appointments, documentation and so on; on the other hand, a very large volume of data is generated – every response must be documented verbatim and analysed.
To better manage the effort involved in such studies, qualitative research methods are usually applied to only a small number of people. However, many qualitative analysis tools now also offer support through artificial intelligence. This can make the analysis process considerably easier.
Examples of qualitative research methods include:
For our example research question from the field of psychology, we could use the popular qualitative research method known as the diary study. We could ask participants to keep a dream diary and to write down the dreams they can remember every morning upon waking. Furthermore, we could ask them to keep a regular diary as well, noting down whether they have spoken to anyone about their experiences.
These diary entries could then be examined, for example, using a systematic qualitative content analysis to uncover possible links between daily experiences and dream content. The focus would be on whether an emotional experience that was not discussed is more likely to feature in dreams than an emotional experience that was discussed.
Even though the analysis of qualitative data is carried out very systematically (for example, by establishing clear categories), its significance is often limited to the individual participants who were studied. Qualitative research methods allow for an in-depth understanding of the experiences of the participants under study. This enables answers to the research question to be found; however, these answers can hardly be generalised, as the study usually focuses on individual cases.
To help distinguish between the two, here is a concise overview of the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research.
| Criterion | Qualitative research | Quantitative research |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Understanding and interpreting | Measuring and comparing |
| Sample | Rather small | Rather large |
| Data | Texts, statements, images | Numbers and measurements |
| Data collection | Interviews, observations, diaries | Surveys, experiments, standardised observations |
| Analysis | Content analysis, interpretation | Statistical methods |
| Results | In-depth insights | Generalisable conclusions |
| Suitable for | New or under-researched topics | Testing hypotheses |
Now that we have illustrated the differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods using an example, you are no doubt wondering which methodology you should choose for your research project. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have their respective strengths and weaknesses.
The strength of qualitative research lies in its ability to explore a question in great depth. This allows new insights to be gained into a field of research about which little is yet known. This can lead to the formulation of new assumptions (hypotheses). These assumptions can then be tested very effectively using quantitative research methods. This makes it possible to determine to what extent the assumptions can be generalised.
The good news is that both approaches complement each other perfectly, enabling a research question to be answered from different perspectives! That is why some academic projects combine qualitative and quantitative research methods. This approach is known as mixed methods.
The choice of the appropriate research method always depends on your research question.
| If you … | Then … is more suitable |
|---|---|
| want to understand individual experiences | Qualitative research |
| want to measure correlations | Quantitative research |
| are investigating a new or under-researched topic | Qualitative research |
| want to generalise your findings | Quantitative research |
| wish to take both perspectives into account | Mixed methods |
💡Tip: Never choose the method first and then the research question. In academic work, the research question should always determine which research method is most appropriate.
As you can see, there isn’t just one ‘correct’ research method. Both approaches provide very valuable answers to research questions, although the choice depends, amongst other things, on the perspective you wish to adopt:
Ideally, with the appropriate resources, both research methods can be combined, for example in large-scale projects that aim to explore a question in depth.
