Correct Answer - Option 1 : Both Statement I and Statement II are true
According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie, “research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed phenomenon. It involves inductive and deductive methods.”
Statement I: Qualitative research is an umbrella term to refer to various research strategies that share certain characteristics. The data collected have been
termed ‘soft’ i.e. rich in description.
Explanation:
- Qualitative research is a research strategy that usually emphasizes words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data. (Bryman 2008a: 366)
- Qualitative research is an umbrella term for an array of attitudes towards and strategies for conducting an inquiry that is aimed at discovering how human beings understand, experience, interpret, and produce the social world. (Sandelowski 2004: 893)
- Qualitative research focuses on the study of complex human and social problems in totality, unlike the scientific method of concentrating on the study of fragmented variables or situations or events.
- Qualitative research places the main emphasis on the researcher who narrates and interprets phenomena in terms of meanings derived from people's experiences, events, etc. Hence, the human and subjective approach is highlighted.
- The studies are conducted in a natural setting i.e., to observe the events without making any manipulations or controls on variables studied. It involves a variety of data gathering techniques and approaches of qualitative nature viz., case study, interviews, dialogues, observations, personal experience, life story, visual data like photography, etc. These data are gathered from varieties of Qualitative Research sources. Therefore, the research data collected in qualitative research has been termed soft i.e. rich in description of people, places, conversation, etc.
Thus, the statement I is correct.
Statement II: Quantitative research is mainly hypothetico deductive and employs mostly statistical techniques for data analysis.
Explanation:
- Quantitative research is defined as a systematic investigation of phenomena by gathering quantifiable data and performing statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques.
- Quantitative research collects information from existing and potential customers using sampling methods and sending out online surveys, online polls, questionnaires, etc., the results of which can be depicted in the form of numerical.
- After careful understanding of these numbers to predict the future of a product or service and make changes accordingly.
- Quantitative research is mainly hypothetico deductive and employs mostly statistical techniques for data analysis.
- A hypothetico-deductive method is an approach to research that begins with a theory about how things work and derives testable hypotheses from it. It is a form of deductive reasoning in that it begins with general principles, assumptions, and ideas, and works from them to more particular statements about what the world actually looks like and how it works. The hypotheses are then tested by gathering and analyzing data and the theory is then either supported or refuted by the results.
Thus, statement II is correct.
Therefore, option 1 is the correct answer.
