Abstract:
Quantitative research appears to be highly conventional, rule-bound, and predictable. However, this chapter argues descriptively from the author’s own research experiences that there are many qualitative, interpretive judgements underpinning quantitative research found in testing of curriculum knowledge and surveys of participant opinions and attitudes. The processes of defining a domain, validating an instrument, preparing data, and choosing a statistical analysis approach require many sophisticated qualitative judgments, belying the perception that quantitative research is somehow different to qualitative research. The chapter argues that the divide between qualitative and quantitative methods is unhelpful.
