Glossary

The purpose of a qualitative analysis is to get a range of responses on an issue from a variety of perspectives, valuing unique responses as much as consistent ones. Qualitative analysis methods can include focus groups, individual observations, in-depth interviews, or documentary accounts. Qualitative assessments can often be used as a means of generating research questions and identifying themes that can later be used in a quantitative analysis. Qualitative analyses are subjective, meaning that they depend on the particular people included, and can be shaped by interactions with the researcher or other participants. [CIHR]

Quantitative analysis attempts to understand the world objectively, rather than as different individuals might perceive it. It relies on compiling numerical data from many individuals into a single value, such as an average, or mean, that can be assessed by statistical tests. The goal of quantitative analysis is to be unbiased, which is why control groups and blinding are important considerations in constructing quantitative research studies. Statistical analyses applied to quantitative data define exactly how likely a result is to have occurred by chance alone, which helps the user understand how representative the results are for the entire population. [CIHR]