Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Business Settings Research Paper

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Research Methodologies and Implications for Modern Businesses

Today, two of the primary methods of collecting relevant information and interpreting it in unique ways to benefit business operations are qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Although these two research methodologies share some commonalities, they both differ in terms of what types of data is used for analysis and how the resulting analysis is applied in real-world settings. The purpose of this signature assignment is to provide a review and reflection on these two research methodologies to develop timely and informed recommendations for business practitioners concerning which research strategy is optimal for their purposes. A summary of the research concerning qualitative and quantitative methodologies and key findings concerning their use in real-world business situations are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

Qualitative methodology

Business practitioners in companies of all sizes and types are frequently faced with complex problem situations that defy easy explanations, and identifying which qualitative methodology is best suited for their purposes and needs is therefore the first step. In sum, qualitative research relies on text, pictures, recordings, empirical observations and virtually any other non-numeric dependent data to answer a guiding research question. In this regard, Chong and Yeo (2015) advise that, “Qualitative research is a practice of examining studied subjects in natural settings and then transforming and making sense of the studied phenomenon through the interpretation of gathered field notes, photographs, conversations, and the other similar representation” (p. 258). Although making sense of any studied phenomenon is what life is all about, the case is different in organizational settings because the phenomenon of interest may not be particularly relevant to business practitioners’ lives outside their jobs. This means that in the majority of cases, the answers needed for a given research question will require a design that transcends business practitioners’ personal experiences and interests.

While this process involves extra effort on the part of business practitioners, they will invariably enjoy a significant return on their investments in gaining a better understanding concerning how qualitative research designs can be used to make sense of the studied phenomenon. For example, business practitioners also have several different qualitative research strategies available, depending on what type of questions and answers they require and selecting the optimal qualitative methodology is thus the next step. In this regard, researchers at the University of Utah advise that, “Rather than by logical and statistical procedures, qualitative researchers use multiple systems of inquiry for the study of human phenomena including biography, case study, historical analysis, discourse analysis, ethnography, grounded theory and phenomenology” (Qualitative research, 2018, para. 2).

A brief description of each of selected qualitative research designs is presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Brief description of selected qualitative research designs

Type

Description

Biography

This research design draws on written histories of an individual’s life and may overlap with the case study approach (see below).

Case study

This design is “research is which one studies a few people or cases in great detail over time” (Neuman, 2008, p. 530).

Historical analysis

This research design “examines different cultures or periods to better understand the social world [and] the development of a concept, social theory, or set of findings over time” (Neuman, 2008, p. 536).

Discourse analysis

According to Zeeman and Poggenpoel (2002), discourse analysis “has its roots in linguistics, literary studies, and anthropology [that] does not describe and explain the world [or] make any claim on the truth [but is rather] a reflexive process that is directed at change and progress” (p. 97).

Ethnography

This research design uses field research to collect detailed data concerning various cultures, typically, but not always, those different from the business practitioner (Neuman, 2008).

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For example, Creswell (2003) advises that, “An ethnography is a description and interpretation of a cultural or social group or system [in which] the researcher examines the group's observable and learned patterns of behavior, customs, and ways of life" (p. 58).

Grounded theory

This research design is a form of social theory that is based on empirical observations of specific concrete details (Neuman, 2008).

Phenomenology

This research design generally “describes the meaning of the lived experiences for several individuals about a concept or the phenomenon" (Creswell, 2003, p. 51). The overarching objective of this type of research design is to develop an improved understanding of the fundamental elements involved in real-world experiences (Creswell, 2003).

Taken together, it is clear that the qualitative research designs described in Table 1 above require different approaches and usually provide vastly different results. Furthermore, in sharp contrast to the conventional criteria that has been established for the validity of quantitative research, however, there remains a profound lack of consensus concerning the criteria that should be applied to qualitative research (Newman & Benz, 1998). Consequently, applying any of the foregoing qualitative research designs must take into account their respective limitations in order to achieve the best possible results. This also means that business practitioners may need to use a quantitative research design which remains the gold standard in research today as discussed further below.

Quantitative methodology

Like qualitative methodologies, quantitative methodologies seek to answer guiding research questions in the most complete fashion possible, but the latter relies strictly on some type of numeric measure for this purpose (Neuman, 2008). Given the ability of computer-based applications to process even enormous amounts of quantitative data, it is not surprising that there are also a number of different quantitative research designs available to business practitioners today, including those briefly described in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Brief description of selected quantitative research designs

Type

Description

Surveys

This design is perhaps the most commonly used quantitative research design that most people are already familiar with and is defined by Neuman (2008) as “social research in which one systematically asks many people the same question, then records and analyzes their answer” (p. 546).

Correlational design

According to Groat and Wang (2013), “Broadly speaking, [correlational designs] seek to clarify patterns of relationships between two or more variables, that is, factors involved in the circumstances under study” (p. 269). The variables in correlational designs are not controlled (i.e., an analysis of the relationship between intelligence quotient and the prevalence of clinical depression) (Quantitative approaches, 2018). In addition, Groat and Wang (2013) note that, “correlational design is distinct from qualitative design [and] although both strategies focus on naturally occurring patterns, qualitative research is more attentive to the holistic qualities of phenomena” (p. 269).

Experimental

This design is “research in which one intervenes or does something to one group of people but not to another, then compares results from the two groups” (Neuman, 2008, p. 535). Besides classic experimental designs, some other commonly used experimental designs include randomized, crossover, and nested (Quantitative approaches, 2018).

Quasi-experimental

This is “an experimental design [that is] a variations on the classical experimental design” that business practitioners] “use in special situations or when they have limited control over the independent variable” (Neuman, 2008, p. 542). According to the definition provided by Center for Innovations in Research and Teaching, quasi-experimental designs “test for casualty with suboptimal variable control; independent variable not manipulated” (Quantitative approaches, 2018, para. 6). Some commonly used quasi-experimental designs include pre- and post-tests, post-test….....

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