Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Is qualitative research better than quantitative research? Explain your answer.

Case study 3: You are the manager of a busy restaurant in a 4 star hotel in the inner city. Your staff turnover is very high.

The disadvantages of using quantitative data are that methods can be impersonal as the data cannot be supplemented with opinions or personal perspectives; “poor interview questions or interviewer may form bias” (Brunt 1997: 16); and findings may not always be representative due to potential respondents declining participation.

It is evident from case study 3, that one research method is not better than another. Each research method has its own use, advantages and drawbacks and will be used according to what needs to be measured. In some instances the methods can be used in a mixed approach so that the researcher is able to better understand the data collected, the end result being a rich in - depth understanding about the population at hand.

Reference List

Brunt, Paul (1997) Market Research in Travel and Tourism Oxford: Butterworth and Heinemann

Flick, Uwe (1998) Designing Qualitative Research 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications

Jennings, Gayle (2001) Tourism Research. 1sted. Milton: John Wiley and Sons Australia

Miles, Matthew B. and Huberman, A. Michael (1997) An Expanded Sourcebook Qualitative Data Analysis. 2nded. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications

Van Maanen, John( 1979) Reclaiming Qualitative Methods for Organisational Research: A Preface.

Administrative Science Quarterly 24 (4): 520

Veal, Anthony J. (1997) Research Methods for Leisure and Tourism A Practical Guide 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education

Walle, Alf H. (1997) Quantitative Versus Qualitative Tourism Research. Annals of Tourism Research. 24(3): 524-36