Qualitative or Quantitative Research — Which is better?

Qualitative or Quantitative Research Which is better?

They are just different.

Swipe right to see how to use each method in a research project.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is more about building scenario based perception and understanding about topic, adoption, industry and market landscape, functional knowledge about business and value chain etc.

vs

Quantitative Research

MEANING

Quantitative research on the other hand, deals with the quantification of results especially numeric values in terms of sales, profits, revenues, response rates, growth rates, etc.

OBJECTIVE

Perform numerical and statistical analysis through prescribed variables

• Intuitive • Subjective • Imaginative • Holistic • Free-wheeling

CHARACTERISTICS

• Realistic • Planned • Discriminative • Structured

Develops initial understanding

PURPOSE

Recommends final course of action

Explore more about focused topic and build the logical thought process

Qualitative Research

vs

Quantitative Research

Feelings, attitudes, opinions and thoughts of human beings.

DEALS WITH

Hard facts and statistical data

Inductive

REASONING

Deductive

Purposive

SAMPLING

Random

• Narrative data such as product/technology functioning, value addition,use cases.

• Industry trends DATA • Regulatory analysis COLLECTION • Value chain/supply chain • Business models • Survey responses for open ended questions.

• Numerical data such as Product/ technology sales, profit, cost, etc.

• Peer/competitor share contribution in the market • Market component growth rate • Survey responses for close ended questions.

Qualitative Research

Exploratory • to broaden the understanding about the focuses topic, • to put as many ideas and variables for analysis as possible, • to gain the functional expertise about the business and to build the industry knowledge for focused domain.

• DROC analysis • PESTLE analysis • PORTER’s 5 Forces • Regulatory landscape • Strategic initiative mapping • Value Chain Analysis

vs

Quantitative Research

RESEARCH TYPE

Conclusive • to derive actionable insights, to defined different markets (application, country) based on their opportunity sizing and growth potential, • to estimate and forecast different markets, technology penetration / adoption, consumer buying patterns.

FRAME WORKS

• Competitive landscape • Market Sizing • Market Forecast • Adoption Matrics • Pricing analysis and forecast