The Two Main Research Types – A Brief Overview

In this module, we will have a short overview of the two main types of research before we dive further into learning more about each in detail.

Content includes:

1. Qualitative methods brief introductory overview
2. Quantitative methods brief introductory overview

Objectives:

1. Identify the three main types of qualitative research.
2. Describe the processes of inductive versus deductive reasoning, and the types of research for both.
3. Distinguish quantitative experimental and nonexperimental research.

Here we go! We are now going to start learning a bit about research. Remember, research is the underpinning for EBP. Research provides the evidence, and EBP takes that evidence and embeds it into practice to improve clinical outcomes.

The two major classes of research are:

• Qualitative Research – subjective, seeks a human’s experience as a narrative
• Quantitative Research – objective, seeks to statistically make inferences about a sample to generalize to the larger population

We need to have a solid understanding of the difference between the two main types of research before we study the nuances of each.

Three Main Types of Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research: Qualitative research is rooted in research that originated in anthropology, sociology, and psychology. Qualitative research is not experimental, it seeks to understand the lived experiences in humans and seeks to understanding meaning, and it is subjective in nature. The overarching goal of qualitative research is theory-generating. It is an inductive process (inductive reasoning). Most often, qualitative research features an interview style. This allows the researcher to ask open-ended questions and the participants share their experiences and/or explanation of particular meanings in life.

Qualitative research differs from quantitative research in that:

1. It is completely subjective.
2. It utilizes an inductive (versus deductive) approach.
3. It does not utilize a hypothesis.
4. It generates a theory from the data to explain the social phenomenon that the researchers were interested in.
5. The researcher is involved with the participants for data collection.
6. The data is analyzed with a thematic nature. That is, themes from the collected narratives are analyzed to see trends or themes in what the participants shared.
7. The results are not generalizable to the population.

There are three types of qualitative research designs:

Inductive versus Deductive Reasoning

The main difference between inductive and deductive reasoning is that inductive reasoning aims at developing a theory while deductive reasoning aims at testing an existing theory.

Think of inductive (theory producing) as to qualitative research and deductive (theory testing) as to quantitative research.

Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to broad generalizations, and deductive reasoning the other way around.

Both approaches are used in various types of research, and it’s not uncommon to combine them in one large study.

Knowledge to application link.

Here is a qualitative study in which the researchers conducted interviews in order to obtain the subjective perspectives of the participants.

 

Quantitative Experimental and Nonexperimental Research.

Quantitative Research: In quantitative research, the goal is to utilize the statistical data to generalize results to the population studied. Some key features include utilizing the statistics to help answer the clinical question and determine whether the hypothesis is indeed statistically supported.

There are two main types of quantitative research:

1. Experimental: In experimental research, the researcher introduces an intervention or treatment.
2. Non-Experimental: In non-experimental research, the researcher does not introduce an intervention or treatment, but instead acts as a bystander. Meaning, they collect data without introducing a treatment.

We will explore those two types in much detail in the next module.

Quantitative research differs from qualitative research in that:

1. It is completely objective.
2. It utilizes a deductive (versus inductive) approach.
3. It utilizes a hypothesis(es).
4. It tests a theory.
5. The researcher is usually not directly involved with the participants for data collection in order to minimize bias.
6. The data is analyzed statistically in order to generalize results to the larger population.

Knowledge to application link.

Experimental Research: In the following article, the researchers introduced an intervention, which was a “Program for Enhancing the Positive Aspects of Caregiving” (a particular education program).

 

Knowledge to application link.

Non-experimental Research: In the following article, the researchers did not introduce an intervention or treatment. They handed out surveys for the participants to complete about their activity and depression levels.

Video: Qualitative Types and Experimental/Nonexperimental Research

Hot Tip! Do not let nonexperimental research trick you into thinking it is qualitative in nature just because it does not utilize an intervention.

In summary, there are two main approaches to research designs: Quantitative and qualitative. They each seek to answer questions, but quantitative research is meant to generalize its findings to the population whereas qualitative research seeks to understand phenomenon and develop theories about the human lived experiences.

References & Attribution

“Light bulb doodle” by rawpixel licensed CC0

“Orange flame” by rawpixel licensed CC0.

Chen, P., Nunez-Smith, M., Bernheim, S… (2010). Professional experiences of international medical graduates practicing primary care in the United States. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(9), 947-53. 

Haedtke, C., Smith, M., VanBuren, J., Kein, D., Turvey, C. (2017). The relationships among pain, depression, and physical activity in patients with heart failure. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 32(5), E21-E25.

Pankong, O., Pothiban, L., Sucamvang, K., Khampolsiri, T. (2018). A randomized controlled trial of enhancing positive aspects of caregiving in Thai dementia caregivers for dementia. Pacific Rim Internal Journal of Nursing Res, 22(2), 131-143.