Q.What distinguishes 'quantitative' data analysis from 'qualitative' data analysis in psychology? Illustrate your answer with examples.
Quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis differ chiefly in how the underlying data is represented and, correspondingly, in what kind of technique is used to analyse it.
The quantitative method works with data that has been converted into numbers, typically the close-ended responses gathered through psychological tests, questionnaires and structured interviews, where answers are given as scaled scores (say, 1 for low up to 5, 7 or 11 for high) or scored simply as right (1) or wrong (0). A psychological attribute, such as intelligence or academic achievement, is turned into a quantity, and statistical procedures such as measures of central tendency, variability, or correlation coefficients are then used to compare individuals or groups. Example: comparing two classes' average scores on a standardised achievement test using the mean and standard deviation is a quantitative analysis.
The qualitative method works with data that has not been, and often cannot meaningfully be, converted into numbers, typically the descriptive material generated through participant observation or unstructured interviews, such as a respondent's own words, field notes, photographs or recordings. Instead of statistics, the researcher uses content analysis to identify recurring thematic categories within this material, and narrative analysis is one specific technique used to understand how a person has organised and given meaning to their own experience. Example: analysing a mother's own account, in her own words, of losing a child, to understand how she has made sense of her grief, is a qualitative analysis, since reducing her experience to a number would lose exactly what makes it meaningful.
The essential distinction is that quantitative methods analyse data already converted into numbers, using statistical procedures such as averages, variability measures and correlations (as with test scores), while qualitative methods analyse descriptive, narrative data directly, using techniques such as content analysis and narrative analysis (as with a respondent's own account of a personal experience), and the two approaches are complementary rather than competing.
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