Quant vs Qual

This article goes into detail describing the differences between quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative view of research looks at the scientific aspect of communication and focuses on being systematic, accurate, and precise. This type of research uses numerical data and correlation between variables, offering a more statistical representation of data. On the opposite end, qualitative data is more based on interpretation and more theoretical and political in nature. One major point in this article is the difference between accurate information and our society’s construction of reality, how feelings and expression can’t be measured by a number and are more complex. Due to this shift, media had been increasingly studied using qualitative research and divided into the two categories of transmission and ritual views of communication. Transmission deals with the sharing of ideas through technology in order to control, while the ritual method focuses on maintaining a common culture through the sharing of beliefs, customs, and ideas.

This article reminds me of the different ways we interpret language and how this shift from dominantly quantitative to qualitative ways of looking at media has changed the way students are educated. A few examples that come to mind are how we interpret texts through different lenses such as the “marxist” perspective, and how educators have begun to encourage students to formulate unique views of texts and film. Today, the arts and specifically technology(transmission),has allowed our generation to communicate emotion and abstract ideas on a mass scale. Movies such as Marriage story, Uncut Gems, and, Joker all contain symbolism that could be researched using quantitative methods, however, the meaning lies within the qualitative analysis and the subjective interpretation of the film.

Due to rapid pace of technological expansion, I think this qualitative form of viewing text and language will continue to become more integrated into our daily lives. Especially on political sites, the lack of quantitative data and a greater emphasis on qualitative data has impacted how people approach fact and opinion. It seems as if the facts aren’t as reliable as they used to be and that people are more likely to believe socially constructed realities. In other words, people hear what they want to hear, and the way language in interpreted and analyzed today is all dependent on the person. These two methods have shifted over time and I believe will continue to shift as our society’s values and traditions evolve.