IRM4729
Assignment 03
Due 29 August 2025
, IRM4729
Assignment 3
Due 29th August 2025
Research Script
1.1 Comparative Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs
Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research designs. Which research
design is best suited for your research problem? Justify your answer
Research designs provide the foundational framework for a study, guiding the entire
process from data collection to interpretation. Two dominant paradigms, qualitative and
quantitative, offer distinct yet complementary approaches to inquiry. Qualitative
research is an exploratory, inductive approach focused on understanding subjective
meanings, experiences, and social realities. It seeks to answer "how" and "why"
questions through the collection of rich, non-numerical data from sources such as
interviews, focus groups, and case studies. Its primary strength lies in its ability to
provide profound, contextual understanding, revealing nuanced insights that might be
overlooked by more structured methods. However, it is often limited by small sample
sizes, which can make it challenging to generalize findings to a broader population.
In contrast, quantitative research is a confirmatory, deductive approach that
emphasizes objective measurement and statistical analysis. It is designed to test
hypotheses, identify relationships, and generalize findings. Data is collected in
numerical form through structured instruments like surveys, experiments, and
standardized tests. The key advantages of this design are its objectivity, replicability,
and the capacity to analyze large datasets to establish statistically significant patterns.
Nevertheless, it can be critiqued for its rigidity, potential to oversimplify complex
phenomena, and failure to capture the contextual richness of human experience.
Assignment 03
Due 29 August 2025
, IRM4729
Assignment 3
Due 29th August 2025
Research Script
1.1 Comparative Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs
Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research designs. Which research
design is best suited for your research problem? Justify your answer
Research designs provide the foundational framework for a study, guiding the entire
process from data collection to interpretation. Two dominant paradigms, qualitative and
quantitative, offer distinct yet complementary approaches to inquiry. Qualitative
research is an exploratory, inductive approach focused on understanding subjective
meanings, experiences, and social realities. It seeks to answer "how" and "why"
questions through the collection of rich, non-numerical data from sources such as
interviews, focus groups, and case studies. Its primary strength lies in its ability to
provide profound, contextual understanding, revealing nuanced insights that might be
overlooked by more structured methods. However, it is often limited by small sample
sizes, which can make it challenging to generalize findings to a broader population.
In contrast, quantitative research is a confirmatory, deductive approach that
emphasizes objective measurement and statistical analysis. It is designed to test
hypotheses, identify relationships, and generalize findings. Data is collected in
numerical form through structured instruments like surveys, experiments, and
standardized tests. The key advantages of this design are its objectivity, replicability,
and the capacity to analyze large datasets to establish statistically significant patterns.
Nevertheless, it can be critiqued for its rigidity, potential to oversimplify complex
phenomena, and failure to capture the contextual richness of human experience.
