First, let’s be clear what we are talking about when we use the terms ‘quantitative,’ ‘qualitative’ and ‘data.’ The word ‘data’ is the plural of ‘datum’. A datum is a single piece of information. All research involves gathering and analysing information, which may be quantitative or qualitative. In psychology we work with both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data are any that come in the form of numbers. We use numbers to measure an amount, range or frequency in our data. Qualitative data are any not in the form of numbers. In psychology this is most commonly in the form of words but might be pictorial, musical or in the form of a facial expression.
One thing to note is that both quantitative and qualitative data concern what people think and feel — that is not exclusive to the qualitative approach.
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