A500.6.3.RB - Qualitative Research

A500.6.3.RB - Qualitative Research

Being a tech geek, I was excited to first start reading it. Then I kept reading and was disappointed, not about gadgets at all. The reading from A500.6.1CR uses a website from Virginia Tech Universities Journal of Technology Education to explain the difference between Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research.

Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research.

          Sometimes research does not involve simple numbers that you can analyze. When that happens, where do researchers get their data? Qualitative Research is more in-depth information that may be difficult to convey quantitatively. Qualitative Research has the ability to be used to be more descriptive in the analyze it provide. Scientific research is characterized as logical, systematic, replicate, and empirical. Principal differences between the typical scientific (quantitative) approach to problem solving, and the qualitative approach involve: (1) the assumptions that each method makes about the world; (2) how the process of research should be conducted; and (3)what constitutes legitimate problems, solutions, and criteria of proof.

          One limitation - which could also be argued a strength - of qualitative research is that is defines the reality it purports to measure. If you think about it, terms such as "strength," "power," "endurance," "honesty," "personality," and "integrity" only exist according to a definition. You cannot see strength or honesty unless you first define what it means to you. Once you define a term you have made it objectively real. This is good in the sense that now you know exactly what you mean and it can be measured. Unfortunately, it also means that your scale of measurement shapes your understanding of the term. In practical terms consider the term "aggression." Aggression only exists to the extent that you are able to come up with a way of measuring it. The measurement you make then indicates a person’s level of aggression. But we need to ask ourselves the basis upon which we can conclude that this is a valid test? What if someone else were to come up with a different test for aggression - which would be a more valid measurement?

          Being the true “tech geek” and Apple fan that I am, I recently read an article on the satisfaction marks of the Apple watch from a recent poll conducted by CNet.

Among 145 Apple Watch owners questioned, 54 percent said they're "very satisfied" with the device, while 33 percent said they're "somewhat satisfied" with it, resulting in a hefty 87 percent who gave the watch a good grade. Only 6 percent said they're "somewhat unsatisfied" with it, with another 6 percent saying they're "very unsatisfied." This is a great example of Qualitative Research.

References

Whitney, L. (2015, September 15). Apple Watch scores high satisfaction marks in recent poll. Retrieved from http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-watch-scores-high-satisfaction-marks-in-recent-poll/