We explain what the quantitative method is, the types of research in which it is used and its characteristics. Also, its difference with the qualitative method.
What is the quantitative method?
The quantitative method is a set of scientific strategies that are used in research to obtain information expressed in numerical data. In this way, a topic or an object of study can be analyzed taking into account its measurable characteristics, that is, those that can be expressed through numbers.
In other words, a quantitative method is anyone who uses numerical values to study a phenomenon. For example, if you want to know how many people have reached the full university level in a population, the quantitative method will be used to determine that number. First, a survey will be carried out to obtain the data; Then, how many people have finished university and how many have not will be counted, and finally the information will be processed to express it in percentages or graphs.
Quantitative research methods are useful when the problem to be studied contains a set of data that can be represented by mathematical models. In this sense, The elements of the investigation are clear, defined and limited. In turn, the results obtained are numerical, descriptive and, in some cases, predictive.
Quantitative research is often used in the field of exact sciences and in many social sciencesand it is considered the opposite methodology to qualitative research.
See also: Research methods
Characteristics of the quantitative method
The quantitative method is characterized, above all, because requires numerical variables to be able to express the research problem. That is, the data analyzed must always be quantifiable or expressible in a quantity.
Furthermore, the quantitative method:
- Used to formulate laws and generalizations. As quantitative data is usually generalizable, this method is used to explain and predict phenomena, as well as to refute or prove hypotheses or theories.
- Uses specific procedures to obtain data. It employs specific procedures, such as surveys, experiments, and observations, to produce data.
- Provides information about a population. It allows describing characteristics of a set of elements called population. Generally, the entire population is not studied, but rather a representative sample of it.
- It is an objective method. It does not include interpretations or points of view, but rather numerical data, impersonal explanations about a phenomenon and, in many cases, its causes.
- Uses deductive logic. It is characterized by starting from a hypothesis or some theory that seeks to be verified, since it goes from the general to the particular.
Variables of the quantitative method: In this method, generally, we study how two variables are related:
- Independent variable. It is the characteristic or phenomenon that is analyzed and, when manipulated or modified, causes the dependent to vary.
- Dependent variable. It is the consequence of the characteristic or phenomenon analyzed and is modified when the independent varies.
For example, if the relationship between the price of gasoline and the price of food is studied, the independent variable is the price of gasoline and the dependent variable is the price of food, since, when the price of gasoline changes, The price of food also varies.
Types of quantitative research
There are different types of quantitative research:
- Descriptive research. It specifies important properties, characteristics and features of the phenomenon studied through objective dynamics of observation, analysis and demonstration. For example: a group of sociologists conducts a survey to find out the characteristics of the economic situation of a population.
- Analytical research. It consists of establishing a relationship between the variables of the phenomenon studied. Results are recorded in order to verify or refute a previously established hypothesis. For example: a group of veterinarians studies how a disease is transmitted in a population of sheep in a certain area. To do this, they analyze why some animals present symptoms and others do not.
- Experimental research. It is about obtaining information through controlled experimentation, so that the variables that determine a phenomenon can be understood and eventually manipulated, in order to establish what its causes and/or effects are. For example, a group of agronomists studies the resistance of a variety of carrots to various climates. To do this, laboratory tests are carried out in which different types of climates are recreated with the aim of determining what modifications occur in that type of vegetables.
Examples of quantitative method
Some simple examples of the application of the quantitative method can be:
- An opinion poll. For example, before a presidential election, a survey is conducted to determine the possible number of voters for each candidate. From the results, a prediction could be made regarding the true outcome.
- A study of the number of cases of some disease. For example, you can study how it is distributed geographically or according to the age of the population. It could also be complemented with a survey regarding eating, health or social habits to try to find a link between the data.
- Recording the effectiveness of an antidote against snake venom. For example, the survival rate of animals of the same breed bitten by a type of snake is compared with those animals that have received the antivenin in time.
Quantitative and qualitative method
The quantitative method is focused on the application of specific techniques that allow obtaining results expressed in numbers. On the other hand, in the qualitative method, interpretive techniques are applied to obtain a description that makes it possible to analyze and understand a phenomenon in depth.
This difference is fundamental for the field of research, and is usually expressed in the following way: the quantitative method looks for quantities, while the qualitative method looks for qualities.
In addition, they are distinguished by other issues. For example, the quantitative method allows producing objective data to draw solid conclusions that can be generalized to an entire population. In contrast, the qualitative method is used to produce information that only explains in detail one or a few particular cases and, therefore, cannot always be extended to describe others.
In an investigation, one or another method can be chosen depending on which is the most convenient. However, in many investigations, both are frequently applied. For example, in research on agricultural work in a region, the quantitative method can be used when conducting a survey to obtain numerical data about that population and, in turn, the qualitative method can be used when interviewing some of the subjects. involved to learn more about the phenomenon.
- scientific method
- Analytical method
- Deductive method
- Methodology
References
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- Cadena-Iñiguez, P., Rendón-Medel, R., Aguilar-Ávila, J., Salinas-Cruz, E., Cruz-Morales, FDR and Sangerman-Jarquín, DM (2017). Quantitative methods, qualitative methods or their combination in research: an approach in the social sciences. Mexican Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 8(7), 1603-1617.
- López, N. and Sandoval, I. (2016). Quantitative and qualitative research methods and techniques. University of Sonora. https://pics.unison.mx/
- Rojas Cairampoma, M. (2015). Types of Scientific Research: A simplification of the complicated incoherent nomenclature and classification. Redvet. Veterinary Electronic Magazine, 16(1), 1-14.
- Sedronar. (sf). Methodological strategies: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed. https://www.argentina.gob.ar/
- National Autonomous University of Mexico. (2017). Research approaches: quantitative and qualitative. https://uapas1.bunam.unam.mx/
