ABSTRACT
Quantitative research grows out of the positivist and postpositivist traditions. Most quantitative research tends to ignore or play down the importance of social factors in determining what research questions get asked and how social factors may affect the answers. Quantitative researchers often start with a theory that generates testable hypotheses, proceed to collect mostly numerical data, and then subject the data to tests, usually statistical in nature. By the late 19th century, amidst growing concern over some of the ills of civilization and economic development, wilderness had come to evoke nostalgic images of a simpler, trouble-free time. Cronon’s take on wilderness is a good example of the approach of many qualitative researchers.
