Comparison of qualitative and quantitative research methods

Table of contents

1 Historical background

2 Characteristics of qualitative and quantitative research
2.1 Quantitative research
2.2 Qualitative research
2.3 Comparison of qualitative and quantitative methods

3 Qualitative and quantitative methods - opposites or complements?

4 Bibliography

1 Historical background

In order to understand the separation of qualitative and quantitative research, it is worth taking a look at the development of research in empirical pedagogy. Considering education and the upbringing as branches of science, in which philosophy and pedagogy intertwine, has its origin in the century of pedagogy¹. The humanities idea of pedagogy was then predominant until the Second World War.

There was a clear separation between humanities and natural sciences. On one hand, for Wilhelm Dilthey², there was the natural science, as not interpretative but universally valid laws, which can be proven by measurements. The humanities, on the other hand, wanted to understand historical matters. It considered them within a complex context and tried to understand the historical change.

But this separation of methods between understanding, interpretative spiritual science and explaining natural science, which looks for universally valid laws, was questioned with the "realistic turn", since it was assumed that the spiritual science could learn from the natural sciences. Heinrich Roth, as a representative of the "realistic turn" (1960s) (cf. Oelkers, 2012, p. 7), no longer wanted to use only hermeneutic interpretation of classical texts for the humanities, but also ask what reality looks like. How can the reality of the humanities be grasped empirically in such a way that a controlled, verifiable, scientific approach is created? Humanities should no longer be merely speculative but present reality in a comprehensible way. This laid the foundation for qualitative research.

From measuring and creating general rules on the one hand and hermeneutic interpretation on the other, two different methods arose: qualitative and quantitative empirical research.

2 Characteristics of qualitative and quantitative research

2.1 Quantitative research

Quantitative research is based on theoretical concepts and hypothetical assumptions and empirically searches for the connection between a cause (e.g. a certain teaching method) and the effect (e.g. a certain learning behavior) (cf. Dörpinghaus, Poentisch, & Lother, 2006, p. 129). Standardized methods are used to survey as many people as possible who select answers from predetermined possibilities (cf. Nadja Kutscher, 2004; cf. Schaffer, 2009, p. 59).

The hypotheses, which guide the research, are translated into measuring processes, i.e. defined operationally, whereby the conditions of the pedagogical world are symbolically represented by numbers (cf. Krüger, Heinz H., 1994, p. 226). With the help of descriptive statistics, the data is evaluated and the information obtained is then condensed in order to obtain generally valid statements about large groups of people or situations (cf. Dörpinghaus, Poentisch, & Lother, 2006, p. 129). A standardization which has conceptualized categories in advance is intended to guarantee reliability and intersubjectivity (cf. Dörpinghaus, Poentisch, & Lother, 2006, p. 130).

2.2 Qualitative research

Qualitative research works with non-standard methods (e.g. open questions). Dörpinghaus et.al name three characteristics: The aim is to work with methods that do justice to the complexity and differentiation of reality. The subjective significance of the object for the person concerned is questioned and thirdly they name the researcher’s reflexivity, since their subjectivity cannot be excluded (cf. Dörpinghaus, Poentisch, & Lother, 2006, p. 132).

Heinz Krüger states that qualitative research is based on an understanding that views the social world as a world defined by interactive action (cf. Krüger, Heinz H., 1994, p. 204). Therefore, it is not surprising that qualitative procedures in social work have increased in importance in recent years (Schaffer, 2009, p. 60). Thus, in the entire field of social sciences, there is hardly an area in which qualitative research is not also carried out (cf. Keddi & Stich, 2008, p. 1).

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¹ Erster Lehrstuhl für Pädagogik an der Universität Halle (Ernst Trapp 1779) (vgl. Jost, o.A.)

² Wilhelm Dilthey (1833 – 1911), an important pedagogue within the humanities and philosopher, wanted to explore the rules of human spiritual life, contrary to the prevailing naturalism. He therefore questioned the difference between natural science and spiritual science, between explanation and understanding. (Cf. Oelkers, 2012, p. 2f)