INTRODUCTION
In this assignment I will
explain the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative
research and give relative examples relating them to the mass media.
Quantitative Research is
research that is collected and data that is absolute, for example numerical
data and it is usually displayed in graphs and tallies, so that it can be
compeered in as unbiased and quick way, therefore one advantage of quantitative
research is that the research is unable to be bias and it is very easy and
quick to read, so it is very good to use for presentations.
Advantages of Quantitative
research is that the results are easily analyzed and easy to compare against
other data; this comes useful when magazine company wants to know how much more
popular or unpopular a competing magazine is, because the research is
statistically reliable it gives the company a good indication of whose selling
the most issues. For example a magazine such as ‘India Today’ will want to know
how well their competitors are doing such as ‘Outlook’.
Qualitative research is
research that requires a more in-depth response, it allows you to ask personal
question and collect more data on people, this is best used in T.V shows when
they get the personal response from viewers, It allows them to find out about
how some people feel about a certain story line and weather they think it will
be appropriate, for example, Eastenders regularly like to know whose watching their
program and what they think about it and the current story line.
Qualitative of research
is easily accessible, this is useful for companies who need to access the
information easily and quickly, this works out well for the film industries
when they ask people coming out of the cinema weather they thought the film was
any good.
DISCOURSE ON QUANTITATIVE VS
QUALITATIVE IN MASS MEDIA
Debates on qualitative versus
quantitative research have reached their peak and today qualitative research is
accepted as a normal set of approaches among others. Media research has long
been dominated by quantitative methods and contributed much to their
development in the whole field of social sciences. Today, sociology, education
and also, in part, communication science make wide use of qualitative methods.
In general, it is not always clear what is meant by qualitative research. Often
it is associated with data gathering by ethnography and open interviewing as
opposed to standardized surveys. It is important to note that qualitative
methodology consists of data collection and data analysis. There has been much
development in general methodology, strongly connected to epistemological
considerations on how it is possible to perceive reality. Methods of data
collection are also very developed; most difficulties are connected to rules
for qualitative data analysis.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative
Research is primarily exploratory research.
It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and
motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or
hypotheses for potential quantitative research. Qualitative Research is also
used to uncover trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper into the
problem. Qualitative data collection methods vary using unstructured or
semi-structured techniques. Some common methods include focus groups (group
discussions), individual interviews, and participation/observations. The sample
size is typically small, and respondents are selected to fulfill a given quota.
The
qualitative tradition in mass communication research may have been relatively
slow in developing its contributions to the field in the form of journals,
conferences, textbooks, and handbooks, at least compared to mainstream
quantitative work. This has been due, in part, to factors of social history, as
already noted: the dominant social construction of reality for a long time has
remained quantitative, not least among the sociopolitical agents and
institutions that confer legitimacy and funding on science, thus creating a
structural bias against qualitative studies
Three types of Qualitative methods
TABLE
6.1
|
COMPARISON
OF QUALITATIVE METHODS
|
METHOD
|
STUDY
FOCUS
|
ANALYTIC
FOCUS
|
DISCIPLINES
|
Ethnography
|
culture/cultural
group
|
describe
a culture/cultural group
|
Cultural
Anthropology
|
Grounded
Theory
|
cultural
groups
|
generate
theory about a basic social process
|
Sociology/
Symbolic Interaction/ Criminology
|
Phenomenology
|
individual
experience
|
discern
the essence of the lived experience
|
Philosophy/
Psychology/ Sociology
|
Approach
of Qualitative Research
n Qualitative research – different
assumptions/ approach than quantitative research
n Emphasis on seeing the world from the
eyes of the participants
n Strive to make sense of phenomena in terms
of the meanings people bring to them
n Holistic emphasis – studying the
person, group, culture in the natural setting
Step in quantitative research
Quantitative (Linear)
↓ Define a Research Problem/Question
↓ Review the Literature
↓ Formulate Hypothesis or Refine Question
↓ Make Operational Definitions
↓ Design or Select Instruments for Data
↓ Obtain Ethical Approval
↓ Collect Data
↓ Analyze Data
↓ Interpret Findings – Refer to Literature Again
↓ Determine Implications – Draw Conclusions
Core
Activities in Qualitative Research
Qualitative approaches on:
- Literature review
- Explicating researcher’s
beliefs
- Role of participants: subject
or informant?
- Selection of participants
- Setting for data collection
- Approach to data analysis
- Saturation
Data
Collection Methods in Qualitative Studies in mass media
n Three data collection strategies
introduced:
1.
Participant observation
2.
In-depth interviews
3.
Focus group interviews
n Qualitative researchers may combine
more than one method
Methods
of Evaluating Qualitative Research in mass media
n Developing
standards of quality Lincoln and Guba’s classic work shed light on how to
assess truth in a qualitative report
n Offered
four alternate tests of quality that reflect the assumptions of the qualitative
paradigm:
·
Credibility
·
Dependability
·
Transferability
·
Confirmability
Advantages and Limitations
n Focus
on the whole of the human experience and the meanings ascribed to them by
participants
n They
provide the researcher with deep insights that would not be possible using
quantitative methods
n The
major strength of qualitative work is the validity of the data it produces
n Participants
true reality is likely to be reflected
n Major
limitation is its perceived lack of objectivity and generalizability
n Researchers
become the research tools and may lack objectivity
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative
Research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or
data that can be transformed into useable statistics. It is used to quantify
attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables – and generalize
results from a larger sample population. Quantitative Research uses measurable
data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research. Quantitative data
collection methods are much more structured than Qualitative data collection
methods. Quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys
– online surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys and kiosk surveys, face-to-face
interviews, telephone interviews, longitudinal studies, website interceptors,
online polls, and systematic observations.
Burns
& Grove (1987)
“...
a formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical data are utilized to
obtain information about the world" and "a research method which is
used to describe and test relationships and to examine cause-and-effect
relationships".
Types
n Experimental
n Survey
n Meta-Analysis
n Quantitative
Case Study
n Applied
Behavior Analysis
n Longitudinal
Approach
of Quantitative Research
n Empirical
Verification through observation or experimentation
n Ruling
out simple explanations prior to adopting complex ones
n Cause-Effect
n Probability
of response
n Replication
of response
Step
in quantitative research
Pros
of Quantitative Research
n Clear interpretations
n Make sense of and organize
perceptions
n Careful scrutiny (logical,
sequential, controlled)
n Reduce researcher bias
n Results may be understood by
individuals in other disciplines
Cons
of Quantitative Research
However the information
collected in a Quantitative method doesn’t give you additional information for
example the emotions, motives, feelings and opinions of the subject are not
taken into account.
Another disadvantage may be
that the data would need regularly updating so this could lead into spending
more money, for example a T.V show would need to do test each week to find out
the amount of ratings they have and compeer them with previous data collected
to see if the popularity of the programme is increasing or decreasing, and
depending on the ratings they receive would play a major part in determining
the out-come of the show.
n Can
not assist in understanding issues in which basic variables have not been
identified or clarified
n Only 1 or 2 questions can be studied at a time,
rather than the whole of an event or experience
n Complex
issues (emotional response, personal values, etc.) can not always be reduced to
numbers
Example of Quantitative
research in mass media
If a research project used a
survey to assess the impact of English language
mass media on how NRI immigrants in the New
Delhi area adapt to their new environment. In addition to mass media use, the
survey also took into account cultural preferences, language fluency, and
demographics as possible predictors of cultural adaptation NRI immigrants in a
large and multicultural metropolitan area of the India . Hypotheses were tested
by using bivariate correlations to determine the relationships between the
independent (language, media use, demographics) and dependent (cultural
adaptation) variables. In addition, a discussion of intercultural communication
and some characteristics of the Non Residential Indian community are provided.
CONCLUSION
Qualitative
research, one of the two primary approaches to the conduct of social science
research, is a superior means for conducting meaningful research mass
media. The numerous advantages of
qualitative methods provide a depth of understanding of mass media system and
processing that far exceeds that offered by detached, statistical
analyses. Because of the differences in
the data, how data is collected and analyzed, and what the data and analyses
are able to tell us about our subjects of study, the knowledge gained through
qualitative investigations is more informative, richer and offers enhanced
understandings compared to that which can be obtained via quantitative
research.
The
superiority of qualitative research arises from the core differences in what
qualitative and quantitative research are, and what they are able to contribute
to bodies of knowledge vents, people, interactions, settings/cultures and
experience. As one leading proponent of
qualitative methods has explained, “Quality refers to the what, how, when, and
where of a thing – its essence and ambience.
Qualitative research thus refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions,
characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and descriptions of things.” (Berg, 2007,
p. 3). Notice that what is missing from
this definition is the “amount” or quantity of whatever it is that is being
studied. The number, or numerical
descriptions of things and their relationships is not The focus of qualitative
research, that is the focus of the “other” form of social science research:
quantitative
methods. Quantitative research is typically considered to be the more
“scientific” approach to doing social science.
The focus is on using specific definitions and carefully
operationalizing what particular concepts and variables mean. Qualitative research methods provide more
emphasis on interpretation and providing consumers with complete views, looking
at contexts, environmental immersions and a depth of understanding of concepts
So, why should social scientists use qualitative methods? What is the benefit of such an approach to
the study ofmass media? In simple terms,
qualitative methods are about gaining true understandings of the social aspects
of how crime occurs and how the agents, structures and processes of responding
to crime operate in c ulturall y-grounded contexts. Qualitative methods provide a depth of
understanding of issues that is not possible through the use of quantitative,
statistically-based investigations.
Qualitative methods are the approach that Centralizes and places primary
value on complete understandings, and how people (the social aspect of our
discipline) understand, experience and operate within milieus that are dynamic,
and social in their foundation and structure.
REFERENCES
