Academic Research Consulting (Qualitative vs. Quantitative)

Introduction

Academic Research Consulting is effective for developing good structure of the research and create good research plan for completing it successfully. The research planning includes strategies, finding data, gathering and interpreting data as well as analysing the information for critical evaluation and meeting the research aim and objectives. The researchers first of all try to understand the research topic by developing suitable background of the study. Writing research reports on findings, verifying the collected data, and presenting research to the clients or respective business executives are the systematic way to complete the research successfully. There is also ethical considerations for maintaining ethics of academic research and ensure authenticity of the gathered data and information. The researcher also maintains data validity and reliability as well as ensures that the data will be protected under Data Protection Act 1998. The researcher also ensures that, the gathered data and information are utilised only for a particular study, and there will be no issue related to data breach under the data protection practice. Relevant and valid data are included in the research for fulfilling the research questions and meeting the aim of the study. There are qualitative and quantitative analysis under the research through which the researchers can progress in the study and complete the research aim and objectives. Choosing the right analytical method to conduct the research is important for the researcher to progress in the study and fulfil the research objectives further. The data analysis methods are of two types which are quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Both the analytical tools are effective for conducting the in-depth analysis and evaluation.

Types of Data Analysis

Qualitative research

The qualitative data analysis is conducted through different methods such as thematic analysis, in-depth evaluation through applying the secondary sources of information. The qualitative data analysis is concerned about non-statistical data and the typical data includes for example gender nationality religion, qualitative information etc., where the researchers are able to analyse the secondary information critically through evaluation and analysis. The sample size is small and the researchers mainly try to interpret the social interactions for completing the qualitative research. The data and information for qualitative research are gathered mainly from the secondary sources of information, such as books, journals, new areas and published articles, which are suitable for the researchers to gather vast range of information to perform the qualitative research. On the other hand, interview is the process of primary data collection, where the interview transcript are analysed through qualitative analysis method by applying the theories and concepts of the study. For the qualitative research, the literature review and thematic analysis are associated to critically evaluate the gathered findings and raw final conclusion.

Quantitative Research

The quantitative analysis method is the practice of analysing the gathered data and information on the basis of the charts, graphs and statistical tools where numeric data is being gathered by the researcher. The quantitative analysis is concerned with numerical data and identifying the average answers and quantitative phenomenon. The data is related to numeric information such as weight, mass, length, size, and many more. The researcher mainly utilises the charts, tables and statistical model such as SPSS to analyse the primary data. On the other hand, the researcher also can choose descriptive analytics under quantitative research, where the charts and tables are analysed through description and applying the theories in the study in order to analyse the current trend and identify the actual feedback of the respondents for further critical analysis. The sample size is mainly large as compared to the qualitative research, where the respondent’s data will be evaluated efficiently through statically models including correlation coefficient, decretive analytics, average mean and median, etc.

Research Methodology and Literature Review

The researchers adopt both the qualitative and quantitative research for conducting the social science studies and perform efficiently to draw final conclusion so that the research aim and objectives can be fulfilled well. In this context, the qualitative analysis subjective analysis with more concern in non-statistical data that cannot be computed, however, the quantitative research includes numeric data. Research methodology for the qualitative study is exploratory in order to explore further activities and concepts related to the study and on the other hand, the quantitative research methodology is often conclusive to analyse correlation and regression through multivariate statistical model such as SPSS Software. For conducting the academic study, both the quantitative and qualitative research is effective for the researchers to perform well and analyse the research topic efficiently.

Discussion

For the quantitative research, the researchers try to identify the dependent and independent variables in the research topic and also develop hypothesis for testing it by applying SPSS statistical model. After gathering numeric data and information directly from the respondents, the researchers try to perform SPSS for analysing correlation between the dependent and independent variables. In this context, positivism research philosophy and deductive approach are being chosen by the researchers for completing the quantitative research. On the other hand, for the qualitative research, the researchers try to utilise literature review and background of the study for improving understanding. The conceptual framework is important for the qualitative study where the researchers also focus on gathering secondary data for further analysis and evaluation. Exploratory research philosophy and inductive approach are also utilised for exploring the concepts and drawing conclusion.

Summary

Hence, both the qualitative and quantitative research is useful for the researchers to perform the academic researches and complete the researches ethically through critical evaluation and data analysis. The researchers must follow the systematic approach of developing background of the study with research aim and significance, literature review, choosing right methods and data findings and discussion in order to complete the academic research successfully.