I think what is best, is to give a definition of each, with a short general description. Qualitative data try and explain data through holism. It’s concerned with depth and so usually methods such as interviews or observations are used, where more than just yes and no answers are given. Quantitative data on the other hand, applies numbers to variables. It isn’t concerned with detailed answers, which you can gain from an interview but short answers that can be easily applied to statistics, such as data from closed ended questionnaires. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in science. But is qualitative research less scientific than quantitative research?

Many would argue that qualitative data isn’t as scientific as quantitative methods. One reason being that quantitative data can be put into statistics, which can be easily analysed. This allows researchers to find correlations or significant differences and compare studies in a more reliable way; for example the same structured closed ended questionnaire can be given out by many researchers, this type of method is easily repeatable and so you can test its reliability. It is hard to compare studies using qualitative methods, which gain detailed information, for example, participant’s wont use the same language in an interview, so how can we compare and find whether they had the same view? Furthermore, quantitative methods used are usually replicable, whereas qualitative methods such as interviews are hard to repeat exactly the same, for example the researcher used can influence results. Another qualitative method would be natural observations, which cannot be truly repeated because you are unlikely to get the same variables to observe. This is a major problem with case studies, for example the case study of Genie. Lots of data was gained from genie and how her neglected childhood compromised her learning, such as affecting her ability to speak.  Here is a link for the case study of Genie: http://highschoolbioethics.georgetown.edu/units/cases/unit3_4.html

However, not only would it be unethical to put children in the conditions Genie faced, but the way data was collected (very detailed), makes it difficult to compare to other neglected and deprived children. Without other research supporting a theory, it is difficult to make a scientific law and therefore it would seem that quantitative methods are better for producing scientific laws and therefore this may be interpreted as being more scientific.

What others may take into consideration is what is “scientific”.  The English dictionary gives this definition, “the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms”. So what we could do is to see whether quantitative methods of research study the nature of behaviour more closely to this definition than qualitative data does. When looking at the definition, both quantitative and qualitative data use the methods stated in the definition. However what is key here is the formation of laws. To form laws the type of research has to be valid and reliable and with quantitative methods it is usually easier to test their reliability, as they are usually more replicable than qualitative methods. For example, it is easier to replicate a structured closed ended questionnaire than it is to replicate an interview. Some may also argue that quantitative research follows a more deductive approach, which is what psychologists aim to do as it is seen as more scientific (the way to create a scientific law). Atieno (2009), suggests, “quantitative research paradigm…is empirical in nature; it is also known as the scientific research paradigm”. Qualitative research on the other hand, uses inductive reasoning, which is seen as less “scientific”. However it may be argued that qualitative methods are used first if you don’t know what the research question is. Then quantitative methods are used later to compare data.

In conclusion, science is a contested concept. There are so many disciplines within science, there is no unified view to what science is, so when considering what research is either more or less scientific you should be careful. What is scientific? What is more scientific depends on what area of science your research takes part in. For social sciences such as sociology, they tend to use more qualitative methods of research, where data is collected in a natural setting rather. And they want to find out how a construct may affect society. Whereas, medical areas of science tend to use more quantitative methods, where data is usually collected in labs and they want to find out whether a new drug has a significant difference. In fact what a lot of scientific researchers now do is to conduct mixed methodology, where they use both quantitative and qualitative methods to get a better picture of what they are researching. Snyder (1995) used both qualitative and quantitative methods when researching computer-assisted writing. She stated that both types of research methods can be used if, “studies are planned carefully and carried out conscientiously”. Here is a link: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/gentrans/pop2f.cfm