Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
Qualitative research is described as “ideas or evidence drawn from personal observations, interviews, or texts that is augmented by the researchers own ideas and logic.” Quantitative data is “based on hypotheses and research designs yielding numerically stated values of observed data.” (Rosenberry & Vicker, 2017). All of the information gathered from quantative and qualitative research is used to develop new ideas and insights on mass media.
Upon doing my own research on qualitative vs. quantitative data, I found an article where a study was done using qualitative research where a study was performed on a focus group to see the participant's awareness of short food supply chains. This study was performed with the growing number of people wanting to have more direct contact with food suppliers, rather than deal with an intermediary with the goal of improving food traceability and price transfer. This study was done on a focus group of 32 people with the main objective being to understand consumers’ awareness and acceptance of SFSCs. The focus group was divided into eight different sections where they asked the group a variety of questions about their knowledge on social media and the short food supply chain. The results showed that no more than 7% of the participants could provide a general definition of the concept. Although when presented with the information on the short food supply chain the participants were interested in hearing more about it. Results showed that less than 7% of the focus group was reluctant to use this method to purchase their food products. This study shows the results of how knowledgeable or not the participants were on the short food supply chain and whether or not they would be willing to adopt to this method to purchase their food.
Another article where a quantitative research study was done on comparing media/market exposures and family factors in predicting adolescent alcohol use. The study had 6522 participants between the ages of 10–14 and they were surveyed through a confidential phone study over a span of 2 years. The results varied over the years going from 11% to 25% and from 4% to 13%. The adolescents showed that they most likely began drinking because of movies and the alcohol their parents had ay home. In conclusion to this study, the results suggest that family focused interventions would have a larger impact on alcohol onset, and that limiting media exposure to adolescents could could help prevent both onset and progression.
Both of these forms of research are beneficial to find a results and prove a hypothesis. In personally found the qualitative research method to be more clear. The focus group was asked very specific questions which I felt helped drive the best and most accurate results of the study.
