ABSTRACT
There is confusion in the social and health sciences about the difference between quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. Much of the confusion, as indicated in the last chapter, comes from equating these paradigms with the way data are collected. Investigators often associate “subjective” methods of data collection, such as open-ended interviews, with the qualitative approach and “objective” methods of data collection with the quantitative approach. The type of data collection is not adequate to distinguish between the two paradigms.
