Welcome to this lecture that enumerates the differences between quantitative and qualitative research. In lesson 9, we said that at every stage in your research (whether consciously or unconsciously), you will make a number of types of assumptions. These include: assumptions about human knowledge (epistemological assumptions), about the realities you encounter in your research (ontological assumptions) and the extent and ways your own values influence your research process (axiological assumptions). These assumptions lead to paradigms.

Each of the paradigms explained in lesson 9 leads to research approaches which we have discussed in lesson 10. We have two main approaches: Basic Vs. Applied and Quantitative Vs. Qualitative. These two including their characteristics have been discussed. In todays lecture, we are going to explore the differences between Quantitative and Qualitative approaches. The two approaches have differences between they subscribe to different paradigms with different philosophical assumptions. While quantitative collects numerical data that is subjected to statistical analysis, qualitative collects narrative data that is inductively analyzed. Other differences are in terms of the purpose, reality, ontology, epistemology, sampling techniques, instruments used etc