What is quantitative research?
Quantitative is a method of collecting numerical data that can be consistently compared and analyzed. It answers questions of how many, how much, and how often—and it can address a broad range of across the natural and social sciences, from economics and sociology to psychology and marketing.
Researchers use quantitative research to get objective, representative answers. They gather from a sample of people and generalize it to a larger population—to answer questions about product preferences, political persuasion, or demography, for example.
A hotel owner, for instance, could survey a small sample of customers about their products and services, then generalize the analyzed results to their whole customer base and use them to maintain or improve the service.
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Quantitative research methods
Researchers employ several quantitative methods, depending on the phenomenon they’re studying.
Observation
This method involves gathering information by observing behaviors or counting subjects relevant to a study. For example, a researcher could sit in a classroom while a teacher is teaching and record which students are and aren’t paying attention.
Survey
The is one of the most popular quantitative methods. It involves asking individuals questions—in person or, more typically, online—usually via a questionnaire that mixes single-choice, multichoice, ranking, rating, and occasionally .
For example, a researcher could administer a questionnaire to first-year international college students about their college experiences using various question formats.
Experimental
This scientific approach works with . Researchers usually approach experimental studies with specific hypotheses to test, often using two groups of participants: one that receives the “treatment” and one that doesn’t.
For example, a researcher might test a short-term mindfulness treatment for individuals with depression. One group receives the mindfulness treatment, another doesn’t. The experiment is to see whether the treated group experiences fewer depressive symptoms than the untreated group.
What is quantitative analysis?
Quantitative analysis is the process of manipulating and evaluating collected, measurable data. The goal is to understand the behavior of a given phenomenon and answer a —and, in a scientific setting, support or refute a hypothesis.
A business owner, for example, might analyze quantitative sales data alongside customer questionnaire data to figure out whether the business is doing well or needs changes. Quantitative analysis can give you a clearer view of your business’s past, present, and potential future.
What do quantitative analysts do?
A quantitative analyst is an expert in designing, developing, and implementing algorithms to answer research questions. They use quantitative methods to help companies make sound business and financial decisions.
Their primary responsibility is applying quantitative methods to identify opportunities and evaluate risks. In financial businesses, quantitative analysts:
- Manage portfolio risks
- Test new trading strategies
- Program and implement trading strategies
- Improve the signals used to evaluate trade ideas
Understanding quantitative analysis
Analysts use quantitative analysis to assess a business’s past, present, and future, and you can use it to track your own business’s progress.
Governments also use quantitative analysis to make monetary and economic policy decisions, and the financial services industry uses it to analyze investment opportunities—for example, deciding when to buy or sell securities based on macroeconomic conditions.
Quantitative analysis versus qualitative analysis
If you’re pursuing a career in research or business analysis, you need to understand both quantitative and qualitative analysis.
Quantitative analysis, at a basic level, relies on numbers and discrete values collected from the research. In contrast, relies on content—like language or text data—that either can’t be expressed in numbers or doesn’t have sufficient scale to be counted or coded.
A business owner wanting to understand their business better might survey a representative sample of customers. A website owner could analyze quantitative site metrics—length of visit, links clicked, areas of the site visited—to see which parts of the site work well and which need optimizing. Those measures can then be correlated with sales or other outcomes to shape the site’s and marketing strategy.
Businesses use qualitative analysis to get greater depth—the “why” behind the “what.” For example, they might ask customers who gave a product a low quantitative score why they gave that rating and how the product could improve.
Advantages of quantitative research
Done right, quantitative research can drive business success and build a general understanding of key metrics and customer behavior, wants, and needs. Consider it for these reasons:
It’s efficient and fast
With a defined reporting structure and outputs, an experienced quantitative researcher can complete the reporting and analysis phase quickly—though defining and structuring the questions takes some time upfront (versus unstructured ).
It’s objective and requires limited interpretation
Quantitative research relies on standardized statistical processes and rules to answer research questions. Performed correctly, data from small sample groups can be extrapolated to represent the views of larger populations.
It’s focused
The goals of quantitative research are set at the beginning of the study, forcing researchers to clearly understand and define their objectives.
Disadvantages of quantitative research
It’s only appropriate in certain cases
The method is only relevant when data can be captured in numbers. It can’t handle non-numerical data—like long-form verbal or textual responses that aren’t easily coded into numerical responses.
It’s challenging to analyze the data collected
Making sense of the numbers is difficult without knowing statistical methods. Drawing conclusions requires knowledge of research methods and data analytic techniques, which take time to learn and can be complicated to apply.
What are the limitations of quantitative research?
Requires vast resources
The method demands a considerable investment of time, energy, and money. You need to prepare and structure the questions, test their clarity and relevance, and work out distribution. Some respondents may also expect payment or incentives—such as entry into a prize draw.
Requires many respondents
Quantitative research generally needs relatively large samples so the inferences drawn are robust and reliable. Finding that audience—especially where incidence is low—can be both time-consuming and expensive.
Research is limited in its scope
Quantitative research can only explore what its predefined questions cover, since the specific questions must be agreed before analysis. Qualitative research, by contrast, doesn’t define specific numbers and forms of questions in advance.
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