5 Common Misconceptions about Quantitative Research

Introduction:

Nowadays, quantitative research has become highly difficult for candidates as they do not understand its main purpose. It is mostly used in psychological, economics, mathematical, and social sciences. You need to gather a vast range of numerical values and structure them quantitatively to make data-driven decisions. The method used with quantitative data is statistical analysis and computational analysis. Students get overwhelmed by the strategies, methodologies, patterns and techniques used in quantitative research. Do Not Worry! In this article, you will learn about the most common misconceptions about quantitative research and how you can reduce them.

10 Misconceptions about Quantitative Research and How Can You Overcome them:

Every research method follows two steps, same is the case with quantitative research: collecting the data and understanding the patterns within. First, you need to plan where you get the data from and start researching it. After collecting a large amount of data, you need to analyse it. However, the quantitative method does not apply to all types of research. Every research has its benefits and weaknesses. The perceptions of the student about quantitative research are that it is costly, time-consuming, and difficult. Let us tell you about the misconceptions of data analysis in detail and how to overcome them in a quantitative approach to produce effective results.

Misconception #1: Difficult to Analyse Quantitative Data:

Quantitative research requires statistical analysis. You may face difficulties when analysing the data without the right statistical approach. This misconception occurs at the start of the quantitative research, where the researcher has to find the comparative data. It mostly occurs when you do not understand the research question or the problem.

The data that responds directly to the research question is beneficial for you. So to overcome this misconception, understand the research problem and start analysing the quantitative data accordingly. You may hire a PhD dissertation writing service in case of any issues. Statistical analysis eases the process of quantitative data identification based on trends and patterns.

Misconception #2: Unclear Presentation of Quantitative Data:

Social science students use a quantitative approach to learn about the social world and its interactions to produce desired results. It is mostly concerned with studying individuals based on a particular population. Quantitative research falls on the phenomena in which the researchers observed different variables and their values in the population. As the population is involved, the students often present incorrect data

In quantitative analysis, scientists use a scientific approach to evaluate the questions about the sample population. Without the scientific approach, researchers make an improper presentation of the data and then you will make a lot of mistakes. The risk of mixing up the values of quantitative data is very high. This misconception usually occurs when you do not plan the data presentation when you are gathering the data. Remember, you will have false results if you do not properly present the data.

You will not get the right direction if you do not observe the data properly. So use the following steps during quantitative research to overcome this misconception:

• Observe the data.
• Put the data in the draft first by cleaning and transforming it.
• Make proper distribution of the data.
• Start calculation of the population data.

Misconception #3: Quantitative Research is Time- Consuming:

You may fall into the misconception that collecting a quantitative amount of data is a very time-consuming process. In this process, you must conduct surveys, collect the data, and then analyse it from different aspects. You have to use a large population group in the quantitative analysis. At this step, you need to achieve accurate results for the targeted population, which is time-consuming. If the result is incorrect, all your effort will go to vain, and you must start researching and analysing again.

It indeed requires a lot of time to analyse quantitative data sets. You must follow some steps and schedule your time to complete your quantitative approach on time. The steps that overcome this misconception are:

• Set your schedule to collect quantitative data.
• Not seeing the irrelevant data as it wastes your time.
• Once you achieve the data population, analyse it to ensure it is relevant or not.

Misconception #4:  Quantitative Requires A Large Number Of Resources:

It is also a common misconception that the researcher thinks they need many resources to gather the quantitative data. Collecting quantitative data requires many sources, for example, surveys, experiments, interviews, online books, published paper calculations etc.

The easy process of doing quantitative research is to make a questionnaire for the individuals and send them online to get the desired answers. This way, you surely get the right data and your desired answers to your research question. You do not need to go out to conduct surveys or interviews.

Misconception #5: Quantitative Approach Is Costly:

Students may think it is expensive to use a quantitative approach, and some cannot afford it. It is necessary to evaluate various individuals’ views in the quantitative approach. Some students conduct interviews with individuals to gather their views. For this purpose, you need to decide the place where you conduct interviews and the resources you will need. You will also need storage space in your laptop for the interviews so that you can analyse them after you are done. The equipment cost will add up, and this will end up being a costly endeavour is a common misconception.

You can overcome using various online platforms for this. You can conduct online interviews on zoom and get the viewpoints of different people from different backgrounds. It is also beneficial to ask in-depth questions to the individuals for your research project.

Conclusion:

This article tells you the mistakes and misconceptions you may have faced while using a quantitative approach. The article addresses these misconceptions and provides tips to overcome these. Quantitative research has many benefits; one of the major is that it produces accurate results relevant to your research topic. It is easy to analyse using various statistical approaches to generate a quality research paper. You can use the Quantitative approach properly and generate quality analysis without any concern. Best of Luck!

Author Bio:

Robert Fawl is a professional Content Writer based in London, UK. He is an author and blogger with experience in writing different academic assignments. If you need dissertation help online to write your dissertation, you can contact him.