Overview of Types of
Quantitative Methods
Now that we have discussed the basic steps involved in quantitative research, let's examine some of the most common methods (ways of making observations) that can be employed when doing quantitative research.
There are literally hundreds of different types of quantitative methods that can be used, but we will focus on three methods that are most commonly used.
I Types of Quantitative Methods
A Experiments
One of the most common methods for collecting and analyzing data are experiments.
Experiments are useful because they allow researchers to identify causal relationships among variables.
They are primarily used when you want to know if a change in one variable causes or produces a change in another variable.
B Surveys
Survey research simply consists of asking people to provide information.
Many different ways that surveys can be used.
Nice thing about surveys is that you can ask people about their feelings, their behavior, etc.
Good when you want to know what people think or what people think they do.
C Content Analysis
Simply describes of the content of message.
Typically employed in mass media research.
Summary
Each tool provides a different type of information and relies on different types of statistical techniques.
Also, keep in mind that there are many other quantitative methods that can be used. These only represent the ones that are typically used.