Numbers are everywhere and they are directing our daily lives. We make our decisions based on different kinds of numbers "essay writer". For example, if you are to begin writing your research paper, you will consider a set of numbers before taking a decision, e.g. you will consider the time available, the word limit, the amount of grant, etc. before making your final decision. People think that researchers only use qualitative research methods in social sciences research. They are completely wrong; numbers hold the same importance in social sciences as in natural sciences. But the question arises how can researchers collect data in the shape of numbers while working in the social domain?
The knowledge of different qualitative and quantitative analysis methods and tools is necessary for a researcher for carrying out well-structured and effective research. You can either choose one of the two research approaches or can use a mixture of the two according to the requirements of your research. Before you put pen to paper, you must know all the data collection and analysis methods and tools. You need to have knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative research methods and tools. However, for the sake of this article, we will only focus on quantitative research methods and tools. Here, we will discuss what quantitative research is, how it differs from qualitative research, and what some important data analysis methods and tools are used in quantitative research.
What is quantitative research?
It is a way of systematic examination of an event or a group of people to collect and analyze data and then generalize the results to the whole group. It is widely used by researchers to discover hidden patterns between different variables. It is also used to extrapolate results and generalize findings of a sample group to a wider population. Researchers, even in social sciences, use quantitative research when they want to get clear, black and white, objective, and conclusive answers.
Quantitative research vs qualitative research
If you are going to dive into a research project, you must know the differences between qualitative vs quantitative research. Where qualitative research deals with intangible concepts like words, and their meanings, quantitative research deals with hard facts and figures recorded in the form of numbers and statistics. Quantitative data is descriptive and regards information that one cannot record in the form of numbers but can only observe. On the contrary, quantitative data is only recorded in the form of numerical values.
Quantitative research methods
Quantitative research is not only used in natural science but also in social sciences. One can use quantitative research to either formally test a hypothesis or make a prediction and extrapolate results based on eth collected data. To collect quantitative data, you can use the following research methods:
Surveys
It is the most fundamental tool for the collection of quantitative data "write my essay". In surveys, questionnaires, containing a list of questions, are distributed among the sample or targeted audience. These days, one can easily distribute questionnaires online to hundreds of potential respondents. However, the drawback is that very few respondents take the questionnaire seriously. You can even give numbers to abstract things like sadness, and happiness to get quantifiable results.
Observation
Mostly, observation is used to collect qualitative data, however, one can also carry out systematic observations to collect quantitative data. One can carry out a simple numerical observation like counting the numbers of cars passing from a certain point or how many students enter the class in time and how many get late. There is also behavioral observation, in which the observer has to judge the behavior of the people like how many people are driving rashly on the road. Observation is carried out in a natural setting, therefore, it is a very inexpensive method of data collection. However, it could be tiring and time-consuming for the observer.
Experiments
In experimental research, a researcher has to test a hypothesis. As it is evident from the name, you have to test available theories that could be more than one, by performing different experiments. A theory is no fact but merely an extrapolation or a supposition. Through your experiment, you have to prove or disprove the hypothesis by analyzing the available data. In experiments, you have a set of independent variables and dependent variables. You have to control the independent variable and record its effect on dependent variables. For example, you can conduct class half an hour later than the usual time to see if the latecomers will start arriving in class, on time.
Secondary research
One of the most inexpensive and easiest ways of collecting quantitative data is by going through the already collected data. You can always find useful data that was initially collected for some other research or some other purpose. For example, one can use the records that are kept by an institution like attendance in schools, national surveys, historical records, number of patients being admitted to a hospital. You can organize the available data according to the needs of your research.
Quantitative data analysis
To drive inferences from the collected raw data, you have to analyze it. Before you try to analyze it, it is necessary that you process it. For example, data collected through surveys, observations, and experimentations need to be transformed from words into numbers. Thereafter, you can analyze data by inferential statistics or descriptive statistics or you can use them both.
In inferential statistics, you make suppositions, predictions, and generalizations based on the available set of data. On the other hand, in descriptive statics, you have to provide a summary of the collected data. This can include the mean value or range of data. Moreover, you can also present your data on graphs, frequency tables and scatter plots, etc.
