Science: Is quantitative research superior to qualitative research?

[noname223]

I don't have much knowledge on it. I try to educate myself but this is kind of a blind spot for me. Another reason why I am only a fraud who deceives people into thinking I was very educated or intelligent.

I have met some professors with different opinions on it. Some said one cannot really say which method is superior. It depends on the circumstances. Though when I read about it I read often that quantitative research is in many instances the better option.

I once met a STEM science professor who was the smartest guy I ever met. He was als extremely educated. I annoyed him with my behavior. He saw through my charade to pretend that I was be very educated. I think some of my behaviors are pretty pathological but damn this man was very annoyed by me. I won't repeat all the details of this story. I think I have done this enough in this forum. I think he had a high trust in statistics, data analysis and quantitative research. I think he said gut feeling or similar stuff is in most cases only deceiving. I will never ever reach the level of this guy. He was in complete different dimension.
But it fueled my wish to educate myself. Though I think neglect some scientific methods/standards. I think I use way too often only qualitative methods but I want to change that.

Here is an article which seems to be informative.

15 Reasons to Choose Quantitative over Qualitative Research

www.formpl.us

Here are some quotes.

"Qualitative research is regarded as exploratory and is used to uncover trends in thoughts and opinions, while quantitative research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics."

I think the following is for many common sense. Qualitative research seems to be better when the goal is exploration of a new field or problem (understanding why and how of social phenomena)
But of course it depends also on the academic discipline.

"Quantitative research is used to quantify behaviors, opinions, attitudes, and other variables and make generalizations from a larger population. quantitative research uses quantifiable data to articulate facts and reveal patterns in research. This type of research method involves the use of statistical, mathematical tools to derive results."

Here there is the conclusion more or less.

"Quantitative research is more preferred over qualitative research because it is more scientific, objective, fast, focused and acceptable. However, qualitative research is used when the researcher has no idea what to expect. It is used to define the problem or develop and approach to the problem."

I will only list their 15 reasons but the details can be found in the article.

• More scientific
• Control-sensitive
• Less biased/objective
• Focused
• Deals with larger samples
• Repeatable
• Arranged in simple analytical methods
• Generalizable
• Relatable
• More structured
• Pertinent in later stages of research
• Consistent with data
• More acceptable
• Fast
• Useful for decision making

Personally I don't feel an in-depth love for statistics and quantitative methods. I try to improve my knowledge and understanding of it. But in some ways it rather bores me. This is probably why I will remain a wanna-be smartass.

Please lecture me on this topic and explain all the mistakes in this post. I only have half knowledge on it.

 

[Maudlin]

I am only a fraud who deceives people into thinking I was very educated or intelligent.

You question things, and that makes you bright. Unless you're shilling for a propaganda point, or virtue signaling, you're not a fraud.

Please lecture me on this topic and explain all the mistakes in this post

No.

Smile, your posts entertain me. Thank you... I need distraction from my pain. It keeps my mind sharp.