Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research: Education

This article reports on a study that used a qualitative approach called interpretive phenomenological analysis, described in the methodology section. An additional indicator that the study was qualitative is the small sample size (15 participants).

This article reports on a qualitative study utilizing in-depth interviews as the data collection technique. The abstract states that the study used qualitative methods, so this study is not hard to classify. However, this study is an example of how the "small sample" generalization for qualitative studies does not always hold true. This study used 79 participants, but it is still qualitative.

This article reports on a quantitative study. The study utilized test measures to determine the effect of one variable on another over time, which suggests a quantitative study. Additionally, the methodology section of the article mentions that quantitative analysis was used.

This article reports on a longitudinal quantitative study. Longitudinal studies look at the same participants over time, in this case 6 years. The extremely large sample size (1,106 participants) and the multiple tests and measures used as data are indicators of a quantitative study. Additionally, the purpose of the study was to examine the correlational relationship between multiple variables, which also suggests a quantitative study design.