Labro, Ceferina A.

QUALITATIVE VS QUANTITATIVE

In the field of study in criminal justice and criminology there are two
important methods that are being applied. These are the Quantitative and
Qualitative methods. But on these two methods, the qualitative approach is
being recognized as more efficient than the other methods since it gives
more information and meaningful research as it describes the essence and
real structure or characteristics of a given subject or study. Thus, it offers a
wide range of enhanced understanding, concepts and descriptions of things.
Meanwhile, the term that is being applied when it comes to the amount or
numerical descriptions of a thing or in which that is considered to be
scientific is described as Quantitative approach, however, the Qualitative
method provides a more detailed-concepts or a complete view over the
context that is more useful in terms of developing knowledge or ideas of a
certain subject. But not all the times that the Qualitative approach is being
used all the time by the scientists or scholars because there are some
criminologists that prefers the method of quantitative research over the
qualitative research. In the field of criminology the quantitative research
proven that it has the ability to make correct predictions rather than focusing
only on the same issue in which the qualitative research is more apply. But in
some cases, scholars believe that quantitative research is the product of
qualitative approach as it describes the settings and formulate theories of its
own to make surveys or to create data and information. This is similar to the
work of an ethnographer who seek to provide the descriptions of the setting
for the content analyst to collect information relevant to the study. Therefore,
qualitative method relies on analytic descriptions while quantitative method
is for distinct measures.

Rationale: Yes, I agree that the qualitative method is superior than the
quantitative method in a sense that if we are looking for the characteristics
of a given study that will enable us to generalise the information we
gathered from a certain area like population, etc. and use it extensively to
formulate a theory or an idea, the qualitative approach is more applicable.
Because I also believe that quantitative methods are only best when you

want to compare data in a systematic way, make generalisations to the

whole population or test theories with hypothesis, and the other hand, the
qualitative method or approach is best especially when you are exploring a
subject which you dont know much in advance. In short, if we are looking for
quantitative differences like for beliefs and attitudes we usually employ
quantitative research and if we are trying to illuminate meanings related to
the differences, we are now employing qualitative research.

QUALITATIVE APPROACH:
Advantages
it help us gather the true understanding of the social aspects like on how
crime occurs and how we are going to deal with it.
Provide a depth of understanding of crime, criminals and justice system
operations.
More informative and offers enhanced understandings.
Provides more emphasis on interpretation providing consumers with
complete views, looking at contexts, environmental immersions.
Disadvantages
Provides only anecdotal or non-scientific examples of marginally interesting
and valuable insights.
Provides little value of addressing how crime and societal responses to crime
transpire.
It usually takes time to complete the whole process in this method unlike on
the quantitative approach.
It has poor predictive abilities
>as for the advantage Qualitative approach that provides a depth of
understanding of crime, criminals and justice system operations, it simply
means that the qualitative approach give us a true definition or meaning on
how these activities occur and tap into the aspects of identity that shape the
experiences of victims.
> as for the disadvantage, in Qualitative approach It usually takes time to
complete the whole process in this method unlike on the quantitative
approach. In this divergence, some researchers have provided in depth
explanations about the benefits and distinctions between the two

methodological approaches, although some propose to employ mixed

methods but the thing is that for qualitative approach, one cited reason for
the dearth of qualitative studies is that this type of research can be time
consuming, particularly for data collection, considering the ample time
needed to locate and interview participants.

Conclusion:
I therefore conclude that in the study of different methods in the field of
criminal justice or criminology there are two approaches that are being applied
depending on the value and importance of the subject as well as the efficiency
of these method in covering the study. On the first part I was introduced on the
definition and the essence of Qualitative approach and how it efficiently works
when it comes to a deeper understanding on a related study in criminal justice
system. I was also able to differentiate these two approaches and at least
provide some insights about these methods. First, the Quantitative and
qualitative research studies have utility based upon the problem and the
purpose. Quantitative research is based on hard facts that are arguably
objective. The research is proven with surveys, graphics, statistics, and charts
that are driven by numbers or quantity as for content analysis. There are times
the numbers are hard to dispute. Qualitative research, on the other hand, is by
necessity hard to quantify in a statistic. It is based on, studying or thorough
research, interviews, testimonials, and case studies that can often be disputed.
Additionally, there are scholars that considered this approach as bias, because
its more on personal experience. What distinguishes this research from
quantitative approach is the use of interviews and other ethnographic
techniques to explore the perspectives, the social organization, and the
behaviour of offenders. Personal interviews with offenders can inform about the
techniques, motives, and rationalizations of crime. Knowing how offenders
enact their crimes, perceive criminal opportunities, and manage potential risks
can be the basis for designing and implementing successful crime prevention
programs. Despite the insights gained from quantitative and qualitative
methodologies, contemporary scholars still disputing over which is best. There
is one example of qualitative approach that explain the reliability of this
research this is called ethnography. Ethnography is used to refer to a qualitative
study of a social group or culture in which a researcher compiles a detailed
description of processes and outcomes related to the phenomenon of interest.
An example of ethnography would be a study of prison inmate social systems
and adaptation to incarceration in a particular prison. Meanwhile for

Quantitative approach, a good example would be from a content analysis that

uses measurement or statistical method. These measure or variables are then
analysed with statistics in order to make sense of the information for
subsequent interpretation. Statistics, therefore, are also pieces of information,
the difference being that the statistical information is a more general summary
of the information gathered by a researcher. As we all know numbers are
assigned to pieces of information only when a researcher intends to apply
statistics in order to produce new information that cannot be obtained through
verbiage. Unlike qualitative research, where a researcher remains to new
information, the types of information gathered from a quantitative study are
determined before data collection begins. This is one reason why quantitative
research is used primarily for theory or hypothesis testing, because such
research involves collecting information that has already been described or
predict in a specifically worded hypothesis derived from a testable theory. But
whenever or wherever its possible these two approaches will always play a
significant role in the methodological research in the field of criminology.