What Is Quantitative Marketing Research?

Quantitative research is generally conducted in order to obtain statistical results for the entire population of a particular research object. Qualitative research has the characteristics of exploratory, diagnostic, and predictive. It does not pursue precise conclusions, but only understands the problem, finds out the situation, and obtains perceptual knowledge. The main methods of qualitative research include: group interviews with several people, in-depth interviews requiring detailed answers, and various projection techniques. In quantitative research, information is represented by some number. When processing and analyzing these numbers, we must first determine the scales on which the information is measured and processed. SS Stevens divides the scales into four types, namely nominal scales, sequential scales, Pitch and scale.

Quantitative research methods

There are three fundamental differences between qualitative research and quantitative research:

Quantitative research methods have different philosophical systems

First, the philosophical systems on which the two approaches depend are different. As a quantitative research, its object is an objective existence that is independent of the researcher. As a qualitative research, the research object is closely related to the researcher. Become an integral part of the research process. Quantitative researchers believe that their research objects can be divided into several parts like anatomical sparrows, and the overall understanding can be obtained by observing these components. Qualitative researchers believe that the research object is an indivisible organic whole, so they examine the whole and the entire process.

Quantitative research methods have different perceptions of people

Second, the two research methods differ in their understanding of the person. Quantitative researchers believe that all people are basically similar; qualitative researchers emphasize human personality and differences between people, and then find it difficult to simply classify humans into several categories.

Quantitative research methods have different purposes

Third, the goal of quantitative researchers is to discover the general laws of human behavior and to give a universal interpretation of things in various environments; in contrast, qualitative research attempts to make special explanations of specific situations or things. In other words, quantitative research seeks to expand breadth, while qualitative research seeks to discover depth.

Due to the different methodological orientations, there are obvious differences between quantitative methods and qualitative methods in practical applications. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Researcher role positioning (roleoftheresearch): Quantitative researchers strive to be objective and deviate from data analysis. Qualitative researchers are part of the data analysis. For the latter, the data would not exist without the active participation of researchers.

2. Research design (design): The design and assumptions in the quantitative study were identified before the study began. Plans in qualitative research evolve as research progresses, and can be adjusted and modified.

3, research environment (setting): quantitative research using experimental methods to control variables as much as possible. Qualitative research is conducted in the field and in the natural environment. It strives to understand the development and change of things under normal conditions, and does not control external variables.

4. Measurement tools: In quantitative research, measurement tools are relatively independent of the researcher. In fact, the researcher may not be personally involved in data collection. In qualitative research, the researcher is a measuring tool, and no one can replace him.

5. Theory building: The purpose of quantitative research is to test the correctness of the theory. The end result is to support or oppose the hypothesis. The theory of qualitative research is part of the research process and is "data driven".