Qualitative & Quantitative Research in Mass Media
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| Qualitative & Quantitative Research Method |
Mass media research, like all research, can be qualitative
or quantitative. Qualitative research involves several methods of data collection,
such as focus groups, field observation, in-depth interviews, and case studies.
In all of these methods, the questioning approach is varied. In other words,
although the researcher enters the project with a specific set of questions,
follow-up questions are developed as needed. The variables in qualitative
research may or may not be measured or quantified.
When to use it
In some cases, qualitative research has certain advantages.
The methods allow a researcher to view behavior in a natural setting without the
artificiality that sometimes surrounds experimental or survey research. In
addition, qualitative techniques can increase a researcher’s depth of
understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.
This is especially true when the phenomenon has not been
investigated previously. Finally, qualitative methods are flexible and allow
the researcher to pursue new areas of interest. A questionnaire is unlikely to
provide data about questions that were not asked, but a person conducting a field
observation or focus group might discover facets of a subject that were not
considered before the study began.
However, some disadvantages are associated with qualitative
methods. First, sample sizes are sometimes too small (sometimes as small as
one) to allow the researcherto generalize the data beyond the sample selected
for the particular study. For this reason, qualitative research is often the
preliminary step to further investigation rather than the final phase of a
project. The information collected from qualitative methods is often used to
prepare a more elaborate quantitative analysis, although the qualitative data
may in fact be all the information needed for a particular study.
Data reliability can also be a problem, since single observers
are describing unique events. Because a person conducting qualitative research
must become closely involved the respondents, it is possible to lose
objectivity when collecting data. A researcher who becomes too close to the
study may lose the necessary professional detachment.
Finally, if qualitative research is not properly planned,
the project may produce nothing of value. Qualitative research appears to be
easy to conduct, but projects must be carefully designed to ensure that they
focus on key issues.
Quantitative research also involves several methods of
data collection, such as telephone surveys, mail surveys, and Internet surveys.
In these methods, the questioning is static or standardized—all respondents are
asked the same questions and there is no opportunity for follow-up questions.
In the past, some researchers claimed that the difference
between qualitative and quantitative research related to only two things:
1. Qualitative research uses smaller samples of subjects
or respondents.
2. Because of the small sample size, results from
qualitative research could not be generalized to the population from which the
samples were drawn.
Qualitative research,
the fact is that sample sizes in both qualitative and quantitative can be the same.
Quantitative research requires that the variables under
consideration be measured.
This form of research is concerned with how often a
variable is present and generally uses numbers to communicate this amount.
Quantitative research has certain advantages. One is that the use of numbers
allows greater precision in reporting results. For example, the Violence Index
(Gerbner, Gross, Morgan & Signorielli, 1980), a quantitative measuring device,
makes it possible to report the exact increase or decrease in violence from one
television season to another, whereas qualitative research could report only
whether there was more or less violence.
For the past several years, some friction has existed in
the mass media field and in other disciplines between those who favor quantitative
methods and those who prefer qualitative methods. Most researchers have now
come to realize that both methods are important in understanding any
phenomenon. In fact, the term triangulation, commonly used by marine
navigators, frequently emerges in conversations about communication research. If
a ship picks up signals from only one navigational aid, it is impossible to know
the vessel’s precise location. However, if signals from more than one source
are detected, elementary geometry can be used to pinpoint the ship’s location.
In this book, the term triangulation refers to the use of both qualitative methods
and quantitative methods to fully understand the nature of a research problem. Although
most of this book is concerned with skills relevant to quantitative research, we
do not imply that quantitative research is in any sense better than qualitative
research.
It is not. Each approach has value, and the decision to use
one or the other depends on the goals of the research.
Reference:
Mass Media Research Introductory: By Roger D. Wimmer, Joseph R. Dominick
