Quantitative Research Approach

Rosalie J. Hall & Hsien-Yao Swee

Quantitative research approaches increase our knowledge by gathering data that can be manipulated mathematically. This allows us to answer questions about the meanings of psychological concepts, as well as to determine their levels and variability as well as the relationships among them. Quantitative research approaches may be contrasted with qualitative approaches, which tend to collect data expressed in nonmathematical, symbolic representations sometimes referred to as thick descriptions , and place less focus on estimating the strength and form of relationships. The data associated with quantitative approaches can result from simple measurement operations such as counts or categorizations, or from more complex operations that may involve the creation of measurement scales that function as psychological yardsticks. For example, quantitative research approaches have allowed industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists to develop self-report measures of a construct called job satisfaction (JS), to determine that JS has a variety of different aspects or facets (such A ...

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