In the context of psychological research, researchers tend to use statistical methods to derive conclusions on their studies. The research starts with a qualitative observation and ends with a quantitative conclusion. The debate then comes in with this premise.
According to some thinkers, they deny the idea of using statistical method to conclude for a research because it tampers the uniqueness of the subject and might as well the accuracy of the entire study. They think that every subject is distinctive in its own and there’s no single and unified data that could conclude its exclusivity. Thus, the use of quantitative method is perhaps not appropriate enough if we deal on the fastidiousness of a psychological research study. On the other edge, there are still a lot of researchers who use the art of statistics to provide tangible data on their studies. They contend that at least representations of subjects are actually being done so more likely, their study is relevant per se. The quest on the best method to conduct a most demarcated but refined study still remains a question for a lot of psychologists and researchers.
With my own say, I think that we don’t have to choose between the qualitative and quantitative use of conducting a research. These two must always go together if we are aiming for an accurate study. Primarily because number one, if we take away one of these two then we send our study into a deadlock. If we only dwell on qualitative approach, then we can’t maximize the tangible results of the study. It will be very hard for us to conclude and perhaps, the only way for averaging is to use statistics. At the same time, we limit ourselves when we just do observation of a specific study because without the use of statistics we cannot conclude a group data. We cannot provide a plethora of reactions and results among the varying subjects. On the other hand, we cannot also just simply rely on numbers and statistics. We still have to sort to qualitative approaches. If we talk about the accuracy of our conclusion, then we have to weigh the different factors that are affecting the results of the study.
Consequently, the two has to be tied together since the other one can’t work efficiently without the other. Thus, there’s really no necessity of choosing between the two, it’s just a matter of using the two effectively and harmoniously.
