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TOPIC: QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Qualitative research:

Qualitative research focuses on the quality of things – what is their nature? What are they like? How
can they be described? It often involvesthe views or internal worlds of participants, and may include
data generated through the use of interviews, focus groups, etc. Qualitative research often gathers
data from relatively small samples of people, and can provide a ‘micro’ view of whatever issues you
are examining.

Advantages of qualitative research:

Rich, in-depth detail is possible (e.g. participants can elaborate on what they mean).

Perceptions of participants themselves can be considered (the human factor).

Appropriate for situations in which detailed understanding is required.

Events can be seen in their proper context / more holistically.

Limitations of qualitative research:

Not always generalizable due to small sample sizes and the subjective nature of the research..
Conclusions need to be carefully hedged.

Accusations of unreliability are common (different results may be achieved on a different day/with
different people).

Quantitative research:

Quantitative data focuses on the quantity of things – how many are there? What are the statistical
patterns? It generally takes the form of numbers, and their analysis involves counting or quantifying
these to draw conclusions. Larger sets of data will be involved than is the case with qualitative
research, and statistically rigorous techniques are used to analyse these. Quantitative data often
provide a ‘macro’ view, in that they involve large samples.

Advantages of quantitative research:

Larger sample sizes often make the conclusions from quantitative research generalizable.

Statistical methods mean that the analysis is often considered reliable.

Appropriate for situations where systematic, standardised comparisons are needed.

Limitations of quantitative research:

Does not always shed light on the full complexity of human experience or perceptions

Can reveal what / to what extent, but cannot always explore why or how

Case study: California Wildfire: Oct 2018

California has just emerged from two back-to-back years of record-setting wildfires, including
the Camp Fire, the state’s single most deadly and destructive blaze on record, which killed at least 86
people in October 2018.
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According to the US Forest Service’s latest aerial survey of federal, state, and private land in
California, 18 million trees throughout the state died in 2018, bringing the state’s total number of
dead trees to more than 147 million.
The 2018 results actually represent a decrease in tree deaths compared to 2017 and 2016. But
they’re still far above what’s considered typical. “Normal background levels of tree mortality for
California, what we would typically see through both insects and diseases, is well less than a million
trees per year,” said Sheri Smith, a regional entomologist at the US Forest Service.

The Camp Fire, for instance, racked up nearly $13 billion in losses. The Thomas Fire in 2017 torched
the densely populated Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, leading to at least $1.8 billion in
damages.
the Forest Service conducted restoration work across 313,000 acres, including 63,000 acres of
prescribed burns. In California, state officials convened a tree mortality task force in 2015 to try to
get a handle on all the dead trees. California Gov. Gavin Newsom last month proposed $105 million
in new funding to cope with past wildfires and prevent new ones, on top of $200 million that state
lawmakers approved last year.
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