“Quantitative vs. qualitative research”

Summary: This article discusses the differences between research of quantitative data versus qualitative data. They talk about the significance of numbers in being more reliable, however, discuss how “qualitative research is not objective data to be quantified, but meaningful relations to be interpreted”. They talk about socially constructed realities as a key part of qualitative research and how symbols make up those realities for us to interpret (the denotative and connotative meanings). It then discusses the history of research methodologies in the communication field going from quantitative to qualitative. They discuss the different perspectives between the transmission view and ritual view of communication and how they serve as metaphors to the differences in quantitative and qualitative research. As it starts the discussion of textual analysis they define “text” as things we make meaning from and give the developmental history behind the idea of text analysis. It talks about content analysis from quantitative research and how qualitative research would attempt to make connections from the text to larger issues in society. To end the article, they discuss the role of semiotics in both quantitative and qualitative research as the producer of signs. The signifier portrays the physical assets of something (for example the letters in a word) whereas the signified is the idea characterized (for example fragrant flower with thorns). These signs are evaluated by codes that are constructed from agreed upon understandings from culture to understand how we make meaning in our lives.

Personal Example: When the article was talking about how qualitative research was all about interpreting texts, it made me think of popular songs that were misinterpreted. In particular “Imagine” by John Lennon. “Imagine” was produced in 1971 (Vietnam War period) and the positive rhythm made people think that it was about solving world peace and having unity. In an interview, he reveals that it was actually more of a communist manifesto. There is even a line in the lyrics saying, “Imagine no possessions/I wonder if you can/No need for greed or hunger/A brotherhood of man”.  

Reading Connection: On page 15 the article says, “qualitative textual analysis would look at the news coverage in its entirety and would attempt to make connections between Black Friday and larger issues in contemporary American society”. This made me think how “Imagine” connected to world peace and communism and how from the qualitative research perspective how the historical context made America interpret this song the wrong way. People did not like communism and the U.S. role in the war so maybe these negative feelings mixed with the positive feelings of the rhythm and popularity of John Lennon made people ignore a possible meaning behind the lyrics and interpret it the way they wanted it to seem.