Research Guides: Qualitative & Quantitative Research: About Research

About Research Methods

Differentiating between qualitative and quantitative research can sometimes be difficult. This guide will explain the differences and show you how to recognize and find examples of both types of research.

SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new window
A research methods tool that helps you explore methods concepts, design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct research, and write up your findings.
Once you have accessed the database:
1. Click on Research Tools.
2. Click on Methods Map.
3. Choose Data Collection,Qualitative data analysis, or Quantitative data analysis from the the list on the right.
4. Click on the Search all content link in the center of the page.
Good to Know
- Users must create a free Profile to save and share research and create reading lists.
- To create a Profile, click on Profile and then Create Profile.
- After you create a Profile and login, a My Profile hyperlink will appear, allowing you to organize and share your lists and searches.
Search Tips
- Use Browse to find topics, disciplines, and content type such as Books, Journal Articles, Little Green Books, etc.
- Use the Methods Map option in the Research Tools section as a visual method of browsing the resources available.
- Use the Search box to search for specific terms or phrases.
- Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases: “qualitative analysis.”
- Use the asterisk (*) to look for all forms of a word root: analy* will find analysis, analyze, analyzed, etc.
- Use connectors AND, OR, NOT to separate terms and phrases: "qualitative analysis" AND interactive.
- To expand or refine your search, use the Quick filters options located to the left of the search results page.
- Use Advanced Search to search for multiple elements in one search such as keywords, publication date, content type, etc.

Qualitative Research vs Quantitative Research

This chart compares qualitative and quantitative research, and will show you how to recognize both types of research.

Qualitative Research	Quantitative Research
Understanding and interpreting social interactions and behavior	Testing theories, describing with statistics, and making predictions
Specially chosen small groups	Randomly selected large groups
Words	Numbers
Subjective	Objective
Observations and interviews	Experiments and surveys
Open-ended questions	Controlled responses
Narrative report	Statistical results

Qualitative & Quantitative Research

About Research Methods

Qualitative Research vs Quantitative Research

Hunt Library

Contact Us

Library Information

University Initiatives