What Is Quantitative Research?

| Definition, Uses and Methods

Published on June 12, 2020 by Pritha Bhandari. Revised on December 8, 2021.

Quantitative research is the process of collecting and analyzing numerical data. It can be used to find
patterns and averages, make predictions, test causal relationships, and generalize results to wider
populations.

Quantitative research is the opposite of qualitative research, which involves collecting and analyzing non-
numerical data (e.g. text, video, or audio).

Quantitative research is widely used in the natural and social sciences: biology, chemistry, psychology,
economics, sociology, marketing, etc.

Quantitative research question examples

 What is the demographic makeup of Singapore in 2020?

 How has the average temperature changed globally over the last century?
 Does environmental pollution affect the prevalence of honey bees?
 Does working from home increase productivity for people with long commutes?

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Quantitative research methods

You can use quantitative research methods for descriptive, correlational or experimental research.

 In descriptive research, you simply seek an overall summary of your study variables.
 In correlational research, you investigate relationships between your study variables.
 In experimental research, you systematically examine whether there is a cause-and-effect
relationship between variables.

Correlational and experimental research can both be used to formally test hypotheses, or predictions, using
statistics. The results may be generalized to broader populations based on the sampling method used.

To collect quantitative data, you will often need to use operational definitions that translate abstract
concepts (e.g., mood) into observable and quantifiable measures (e.g., self-ratings of feelings and energy
levels).
Quantitative research methods

Research How to use Example

method

Experiment Control or manipulate To test whether an intervention can reduce procrastination in

an independent variable to college students, you give equal-sized groups either a
measure its effect on a procrastination intervention or a comparable task. You compare
dependent variable. self-ratings of procrastination behaviors between the groups after
the intervention.

Survey Ask questions of a group of You distribute questionnaires with rating scales to first-year

people in-person, over-the- international college students to investigate their experiences of
phone or online. culture shock.

(Systematic) Identify a behavior or To study college classroom participation, you sit in on classes to
observation occurrence of interest and observe them, counting and recording the prevalence of active and
monitor it in its natural passive behaviors by students from different backgrounds.
setting.

Secondary Collect data that has been To assess whether attitudes towards climate change have changed
research gathered for other purposes since the 1980s, you collect relevant questionnaire data from widely
e.g., national surveys or available longitudinal studies.
historical records.

Quantitative data analysis

Once data is collected, you may need to process it before it can be analyzed. For example, survey and test
data may need to be transformed from words to numbers. Then, you can use statistical analysis to answer
your research questions.

Descriptive statistics will give you a summary of your data and include measures of averages and
variability. You can also use graphs, scatter plots and frequency tables to visualize your data and check for
any trends or outliers.

Using inferential statistics, you can make predictions or generalizations based on your data. You can test
your hypothesis or use your sample data to estimate the population parameter.

Examples of descriptive and inferential statisticsYou hypothesize that first-year college students
procrastinate more than fourth-year college students. You collect data on procrastination levels of the two
groups using 7-point self-rating scales.
First, you use descriptive statistics to get a summary of the data. You find the mean (average) and
the mode (most frequent rating) of procrastination of the two groups, and plot the data to see if there are
any outliers.

Next, you perform inferential statistics to test your hypothesis. Using a t-test to compare the mean ratings of
the two groups, you find a significant difference and support for your hypothesis.
You can also assess the reliability and validity of your data collection methods to indicate how consistently
and accurately your methods actually measured what you wanted them to.

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Advantages of quantitative research
Quantitative research is often used to standardize data collection and generalize findings.
Strengths of this approach include:

 Replication

Repeating the study is possible because of standardized data collection protocols and tangible definitions
of abstract concepts.

 Direct comparisons of results

The study can be reproduced in other cultural settings, times or with different groups of participants.
Results can be compared statistically.

 Large samples

Data from large samples can be processed and analyzed using reliable and consistent procedures through
quantitative data analysis.

 Hypothesis testing

Using formalized and established hypothesis testing procedures means that you have to carefully consider
and report your research variables, predictions, data collection and testing methods before coming to a
conclusion.

Disadvantages of quantitative research

Despite the benefits of quantitative research, it is sometimes inadequate in explaining complex research
topics. Its limitations include:

 Superficiality

Using precise and restrictive operational definitions may inadequately represent complex concepts. For
example, the concept of mood may be represented with just a number in quantitative research, but
explained with elaboration in qualitative research.

 Narrow focus

Predetermined variables and measurement procedures can mean that you ignore other relevant
observations.

 Structural bias

Despite standardized procedures, structural biases can still affect quantitative research. Missing data,
imprecise measurements or inappropriate sampling methods are biases that can lead to the wrong
conclusions.
  Lack of context

Quantitative research often uses unnatural settings like laboratories or fails to consider historical and
cultural contexts that may affect data collection and results.

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