| The two different approaches to
research in the social sciences. (i.e.. qualitative vs. quantitative) |
Research done by professor Ruben G. Rumbaut taken from his book entitled: Origins and Destinies. Immigration, Race, and ethnicity in America. | ||
| Qualitative data/sciencce
is a scientific study in which detailed information is obtained about
complex
issues, sensitive topics or life experiences. The information provides
a
deeper understanding and is used to generate new theories or
hypotheses.
Qualitative could also is something that is not summarized in numerical
form,
such as minutes from community meetings and general notes from
observations.
Qualitative data normally describe people's knowledge, attitudes or
behaviors.
For example say that people are getting very sick in a certain area of
the United States, someone is sent out to collect as much information
about the area and then this information is analyzed to come up with a
logical explanation for the people getting sick. Quantitative data is something measured or measurable by, or concerned with, quantity and expressed in numbers or quantities. This could be from data the a social scientist has collected and is analyzing it, so that he could make an educated guess (hypothesis) for explaining the reason for an occurrence. For example IQ test scores are collected for each type of race to see which race is the smartest. Another example may be that people want to collect the amount of soft drink a certain store sell, so that they know that right amount of soft drinks to buy for their next shipment. |
Put in a nestor table
Bibliography APA: Rumbaut, R. G. & Pedraza, S. (1996). Origins and destinies. immigration, race, and ethnicity in America. Belmount, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Sociology@UCI. (2004). R. Rumbaut. Retrieved May 23, 2004 on the World Wide Web: http://hypatia.ss.uci.edu/sociology/Rumbaut/rgrprof.html Yaukey, D. & Anderton, D. (2001). Demography. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press. |