Lately, I have been led to reflect about the research methods that I know and use. When I was first encountered academic research, some years ago in my studies, I was presented with an array of quantitative methods. This, I was told, was the way to do research: accurate, objective, and clear. I was impressed and eager to learn more. Over the following years, I put together a knowledge foundation about quantitative research methods. When I think of what I know about quantitative research, I always picture it as a nice little toolbox: I can almost see the shining metal of the lid and inside the large number of snug compartments, all clearly labelled and filled with useful instrument. All instruments have an assigned place and assigned use. They are sharp and precise, some with fiddly buttons and digital displays, promising – as if by some unknown magic – to transform any amount of raw data into accurate and objective results. There is a sense of order in the quantitative toolbox; and also a smell of novelty, like in a new car – because I rarely use it.
Most of the time when I do research, I use qualitative methods. Those are not stored in a shiny toolbox. They are more like a leather workbag – baggy and slightly worn. The instruments lie in a heap and keep getting entangled. They are blunt and difficult to use. There are no magical buttons here: it’s all blood and sweat and a lot of creativity. The content of my qualitative workbag has not been presented to me, but mostly collected through my own initiative. Some instruments I have even forged myself, after looking over the shoulders of other researchers.
The qualitative tools are old friends and I like to use them. But every time I reached for my qualitative workbag a felt a slight twinge, when I glanced at my quantitative toolbox and noticed the layer of dust, slowly settling on its highly polished lid. And then last year, I suddenly landed in a small resaerch project that promised to be all about quantitative work. I happily opened my toolbox and selected the proper instruments. I gave them the data and pushed the buttons – but they just wouldn’t work! The data we were using were not suitable, they needed more precise data, clearly categorised and quantified. What was wrong? The methods we have selected were correct – we couldn’t have achieved our aims with qualitative methods. But we were dealing with people and their output and it just refused to fit clearly into our prepared variables. We adjusted our assumptions and made the data fit. We honed our procedures and agreed on more precise definitions. We made our quantitative tools do their magic and finally got the results. Then, when writing them up, we painstakingly tried to recall all that had to be done to reach our conclusions. Later on I carried out another two small quantitative projects, with the same experience: there was just as little objectivity in quantitative research as there was in the qualitative. The results nicely presented in a table may appear more precise, but they were based on just as many assumptions and intuitive interpretations as any narrative report of qualitative research.
This experience was an eye-opener for me. I did not feel sorry or disillusioned; on the contrary, it has helped me to shed the unnecessary respect I had for using quantitative research methods. I have realised that neither qualitative nor quantitative tools are perfect. The have a different purpose and are very likely to do well when combined. In the future, I will probably take my quantitative toolbox along with my qualitative workbag more often. I might even get a large crate and store all the instruments together. It will give me more flexibility and help to do better research. I have read in many places, that I am not supposed to do that; read things about different paradigms and assumptions about objectivity of research. But to me, researchers are artisans: their work is based on proper tools, but their success depends on how they use it. Research is just as much about experience, creativity, and intuition and wisdom coming from deep understanding for ones work. As for the methods researchers use, they are tools of the trade: no worse and no better than the researcher, who uses them.
Filed under: Methods Tagged: | qualitative research, quantitative resaerch
