Quantitative Research Methods Quantitative Methods Many researchers still tend to use one approach, but not the other. Not only is the divide personal, it often sorts out researchers into topics of study. As a result, many academics assume that quantitative investigation only concerns elections,voting systems, party manifestoes and political attitudes rather than having a morę generał application. Quantitative researchers arę known as political scientists; the rest often have the labels of students of politics, area specialists, biographers and public policy specialists. Some qualitative researchers think that quantitative work is underpinned by a crude version of positivism.Instead, qualitative work describes complex realities, acknowledges that researchers cannot separate their values from the political world, engages with and seeks to understand the beliiefs and aspirations of those who arę being researched and rejects the idea that there arę universal rules of human behaviour.

Definition of ‘Science’ “An objective, logical, and systematic method of analysis of phenomena, devised to permit the accumulation of reliable knowledge” (Lastrucci 1963:6) (Lastrucci 1963:6)

Complications with Observation in Social Science

Rise of “Positivist” Social Science August Comte ( )  Experience is the foundation of knowledge  Quality of recorded observation is the key to knowledge

Logical Empiricism Again, knowledge is based on experience– but metaphysical explanations of phenomena are incompatible with science. We should only attempt to answer “answerable” questions.

Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives "There's no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0“ – Fred Kerlinger "All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding“ – Donald Campbell

What are the advantages of using the Internet for Social Work Research? Advantages – it is easy, fast, and inexpensive; it is widely accessible and can be used from many locations. A near- free resource, it is always open and easy to acquire information from and store such information electronically. Data can be linked together, it has a democratizing effect as there are no restrictions on posting information. It can store and transmit more than black and white images and has almost limitless capacity.

What are the disadvantages of using he Internet for Social Work Research? Disadvantages – it has no quality control, there is no peer review for content that conforms to standards of science, almost anything can be posted. What is free is limited, many excellent sources are not available or subject to special and sometimes costly subscriptions. Finding sources can be time consuming and sources can be unreliable. Ranked sites or those highly rated can be misleading. Sources may be unstable and difficult to document. For-profit information may be distorted or misleading in terms of the norms of science. Searches tend to be broad yet shallow, missing deep structural issues and questions dealing with scarcity, such as those whose voice has been stifled.

Historical flashback : Quantitative methods, such as the experiment, have been used partly in order to maintain the appearance of psychology as a scientific discipline with valid knowledge claims. During the 20th century there was a shift away from seeing quantitative methods as the only valid way of gaining data – but also a realization that both methods are needed.

Quantitative research is the term used to describe:: Descriptive and explanatory methods. Hypothesis testing. The use of statistical data to confirm findings. Testing previous theories. Producing “objective” data. Examining the effects of interventions, experiments, programs, or policies. Describing what has occurred in specific situations or people’s opinions using pre-developed research questions and response categories. Data collected from a systematic or randomly collected sample that is used to assess what is happening in a larger population (generalization). Replication of research from a previous study.

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods Quantitative methods relate to numbers. Data must be able to be numericised and presented in terms of statistical patterns/ associations. Commonly positivist Qualitative methods – non quantifiable, focus on values, processes, experiences, language and meaning. Data is often words/ text. Commonly non-positivist Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses, This workshop not about methodological elitism

One way to think about the difference between Deductive and Inductive methods is to think about “Detectives.” Detectives apply general theories to revolve problems (a quantitative approach). Qualitative researchers examine what happens in specific situations and try to develop new theories based on that situation.

Differences between quantitative and qualitative research Aspects of ResearchQuantitativeQualitative Relationship between researcher and subject DistantClose Relationship between theory/concepts and research ConfirmationEmergent Research StrategyStructuredUnstructured Image of Social RealityStatic and external to actorProcessual and socially constructed by actor Nature of DataHard, reliableRich, deep