Qualitative vs Descriptive research

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TOPICS

QUALITATIVE

DESCRIPTIVE

Features

 Study of the human behavior, within the context where it happens.  The aim is to discover and enclose meanings once the researcher becomes immerse in the data  Generate concepts

 Is used to establish the existence of phenomena by explicitly describing them.  The researcher begin with general questions in mind about the phenomenon they are studying and with more specific questions and with a specific focus  the questions are designed in advanced so the focus is certain aspects of the possible data available in the language learning contexts being described

Similarities

 Provide descriptions of phenomena that occur naturally, without the intervention of an experiment or an artificially contrived treatment.  Use data which may eather be collected first hand or taking from already existing.  While qualitative research is also concerned with description.

Differences

 As a type or category of research refers to investigation which utilizes already existing data or non


Differences

Approach

Procedure

 Avoids establishing research questions or hypotheses or identifying, a priory, any variable which will become the focus of the research

 Works with hypotheses, questions and so on.

 Is heuristic and not deductive

 Can be heuristic or deductive (often deductive rather than heuristic)

 Define the phenomenon to be described.  Use qualitative methods to gather data  Look for patterns in the data  Validate initial conclusions by returning to the data or connecting more data.

 Decide on the question  Select the population  Determine methods for data collection  Collect the data  Organize and analyze the data


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