This week was about the concept of quantitative methods, what defines them, how they are used and the differences compared to qualitative methods. As an example of a wholly quantitative paper we were given: IEEE VR 2012 - Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality
by Ilias Bergström and his colleagues.
I must admit that this week felt quite underwhelming compared to the previous subjects (which could be seen as a relief). Not as much to ponder and figure out; ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ are words I’ve heard and used before, now I can use them with a bit more clarity though. As I see it now (after the lecture and seminar), quantitative is in its purest form about numbers, things you can measure and calculate. It is about gathering data with a specific goal in mind, having prepared what you want to find out - focusing on singular points and then finding connections between these. Qualitative methods on the other hand is for going into depth but also branching out into unknown territory, when numbers just won’t suffice. When dealing with human interaction and designing for the human mind, finding flaws and improvements are a lot easier with qualitative methods. Might also be good when designing the test itself, even if the end result is using quantitative methods to reach conclusions.
An example brought up in the seminar where qualitative methods trump over quantitative is if you want to find out how living as a homeless person in London is. Creating a questionnaire probably won’t suffice as you won’t get detailed enough information for writing a conclusion about your findings. You might have to interview the homeless, live like one and integrate into their community to actually learn something - and that information gained is qualitative, something more than statistics.
At the lecture I learned that the experiment of Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality was only using quantitative methods to reach the final result. They did however use interviews (qualitative) during the creation process of the experiment to iterate and develop it. I also found it interesting that since Ilias Bergströms experiment others have continued with other similar projects exploring the adaptation of a virtual body. Like being projected into a muscular man versus a weak and fragile man had a significant impact on a weightlifting exercise. We were also introduced to something called “Statistics hell” by Andy Field which could prove to be a good resource in the future, mostly to refresh my memory from the course: Probability and Statistics.
Lastly on the seminar we came to the conclusion that replicating a quantitative method is nigh impossible because of the ever shifting circumstances of the human world. Time, place, tools, competence, resources, etc. all play a role in that particular experiment which makes it unique!
Hi!
SvaraRaderaGreat reflection! I agree with you that this theme did not spark as much discussion as the previous ones, the concepts were much clearer. I liked how we discussed that qualitative is actually sometimes better than quantitative because it does feel like in our area of study quantitative is often seen as the better and more reliable alternative, but that is not always the case!
Keep up the good work!
Hej,
SvaraRaderaYour reflection was the first one that really got me thinking for this theme, interesting read! In the end of your post you mention that quantitative research can never be replicated due to external factors. This got me wondering how we can even say that quantitative research is so quantifiable. If we cannot even reproduce a research, we might not get the same results and might therefore generalise from different results on the same topic. Maybe this means that we have to be more critical about study results we read? I will take this discussion up again with some classmates! Thanks!
Hey!
SvaraRaderaI agree with you that this theme was a bit underwhelming compared to the previous ones. But I'm glad you still managed to clarify some concepts.
It is interesting how you point out that it is difficult to replicate qualitative data because they are dependent of external circumstances. Quantitative method does eliminate this problem, but I would argue that not completely.
Hi, very interesting post. You have a good understanding about the concepts of quantitative and qualitative method and you explained them in a clearly way that i can easily follow it. I also agree with you that sometimes qualitative method has a distinct advantage than quantitative. But it is not absolutely, it will depends on the situation for what you want to research, the qualitative can have more detailed in some specific field but if the tested population too large, it will be a hard work. However, i know you know how to choose them related to your post. Nice job!
SvaraRaderaHi,
SvaraRaderaI enjoy reading your reflection a lot. You made an excellent work on summary. Your discussion on quantitative an qualitative research is so neatly organized as well as accurate to the key point. I agree with you a lot on those. In particular I appreciate that you pointed out that 'Qualitative methods are also branching out into unknown territory'. It is very inspiring. Thanks to your well-written blog, I think my understanding of this theme is further improved. Thanks for sharing your insightful thoughts.