Research methods

Characteristic	Quantitative research	Qualitative research
Type of data	Phenomena are described numerically	Phenomena are described in a narrative fashion
Analysis	Descriptive and inferential statistics	Identification of major schemes
Scope of inquiry	Specific questions or hypothesis	Broad, thematic concerns
Primary advantage	Large sample, statistical validity, accurately reflects the population	Rich, in-depth, narrative description of sample
Primary disadvantage	Superficial understanding of participants’ thoughts and feelings	Small sample, not generalizable to the population at large