Qualitative Research vs. Quantitative Research: What is the difference?

Research can be a great tool for membership organizations. When the proper questions are asked, the answers can be revealing and sometimes surprising. Findings can be powerful tools for needed change.

Researchers gathering information about associations and other membership organizations often use two methods of research to obtain one set of results: qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Qualitative research tends to be more exploratory, whereas quantitative research tends to be more confirmatory.

Qualitative research is typically completed first. Researchers ask questions of a small sample of participants and collect data from open-ended questions to uncover themes and patterns. Qualitative inquiry seeks to understand human behavior and the reasons why and how the behavior occurs.

Quantitative research is designed to establish whether patterns and themes seen in the qualitative research are also visible in the larger membership population. Using the qualitative data to fine tune the questions, the quantitative research surveys a large sample to test hypotheses generated from the qualitative research. The overall goal of quantitative research is to have the ability to estimate the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of a specific population.

How does the data collection from each methodology differ?

Associations often use these research methods to gauge member perceptions about the organization and to find out whether members are pleased or disappointed by the benefits and services a group offers its members.

Qualitative information is often gathered in focus groups, telephone interviews, research intercepts, and more recently using online bulletin boards and discussion groups.

Quantitative information is usually collected through written or online surveys. Using an online methodology rather than a written one, is far less expensive, faster, and because of the widespread use of computers in all age ranges, it is no longer considered a biased medium for data collection.

How is the information from each methodology used?

Both types of data are valuable sources of information. They are used in somewhat different manners in order to achieve an end result that is truly informative.

Qualitative research relies on the use of open ended questions, seeking opinions as well as factual information. Questions are designed to be interesting, stimulating, but not leading. Because the information is often gathered from a small sample, the data is used as a directional guide to help refine and focus larger, quantitative studies.

Quantitative research consists mostly of closed-ended questions (those with answer choices provided for the respondent). The research generally includes many participants designed to discover the prevalence of agreement or disagreement with the ideas and opinions revealed in the qualitative research. With a large enough sample, the findings are considered representative of the population and can be used as the foundation for strategic decisions and strategies. (See our previous blog post on sample size for questions regarding what is representative of your population.)

Both qualitative and quantitative research questions used in member research often ask about reasons for joining, programs that are most important and why, professional challenges being faced, resources that are desired but not offered, and perceptions about the association’s brand and tagline. Demographic information is also collected in order to understand differences between segments within the membership.

While the two research methods are different, each has a significant role in the process of inquiry and discovery. Better understanding of the two can give you greater control and utility the next time you conduct research. When used together properly, these two approaches can yield actionable data your association can use to better understand membership.