Reference no: EM131501109

The use of qualitative and quantitative methods allows a more complete and flexible utilization of data than they do each one separately. This type of research is not easy because it requires the collection of data in the same time just to provide validation of the studies. In the articles I was using, the researchers use both methods to collect the data.

After that they compared the findings from qualitative and quantitative data sources, they assessed the information and linked both types of data together. Using both types of data it provided validation for each other and also created a solid foundation for drawing conclusions about the intervention.

Even though the quantitative research is considered a more rigorous because the data is more formal, objective, problem solving, involves mathematics and qualitative research is considered more informal, and more subjective it has been used in many research areas such as nursing and medicine because together it paints a greater picture.

Using only the qualitative research alone it opens many discussions. First, the sample size in a qualitative study is typically small between five to 20 units of analysis.

Second, true random sampling does not define the larger population. Third, some data sources are "richer" than others, and a random sampling strategy could cause the investigator to miss the best opportunities for gaining information (Kuzel, 1999).

In spite of this drawbacks, the quantitative research allows the researcher to immerse himself into a particular culture and daily activities of its people, and quantitative research does not.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2013) reports that some of the advantage and disadvantages in using mixed methods of research are:

Advantages

1) Mixed methods are clarifying the contradictions between the quantitative and qualitative findings.

2) The quantitative research gives a voice to the individuals who participate in the study and help us understand how they feel.

3) Using both methods the researcher are able to collect rich comprehensible data.

For example, if a study is performed in the hospital, where we want to find out about patients falls during one month, if we are looking only to find the numbers of errors and missed opportunities in turning the bed alarms on, or chair alarms on we use quantitative research, on the other hand if we want description of the events that led there we use qualitative research. If these studies are used together it will provide a more complete picture that each study used alone.

Disadvantages

1) It difficult to perform both in the same time, it requires planning to integrate all data.

2) It is costly because it requires a lot of sources and an intense labor to conduct a single study.

3) It requires a multidisciplinary team and expertise.

In conclusion, the integration of quantitative and qualitative data in the form of a mixed methods study has great potential to strengthen and enrich the findings.

Kuzel, A. (1999). Sampling in qualitative inquiry. In B. Crabtree & W. Miller (Eds.) Doing qualitative research (pp. 33-45). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Jones& Bartlett Learning. (2017). Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research or Both.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Mixed Methods: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis While Studying Patient-Centered Medical Home Models.