Quantitative research, which includes surveys of all kinds, works by statistical description. The questions are answered in a form that can be translated into numbers, and those numbers are used to describe the population being studied. Our quantitative methods draw from both the social sciences and marketing research.
Quantitative research...
- usually involves a survey of one kind or another (online, phone, intercept, etc.).
- is great at gauging the importance and prevalence of key issues or outcomes; identifying and comparing different audience segments; prioritizing among various possibilities; benchmarking your organization against its peers; and tracking changes over time.
- is vulnerable to a variety of methodological biases and “errors” and therefore requires technical knowledge at every stage—questionnaire design, sampling, collection, coding, and (especially) analysis.
- often follows and is shaped by qualitative research in a multi-step research process.
- usually involves a relatively large number of respondents.
- can, if the sample is representative, be used to draw inferences about whole populations, estimate segment sizes, etc.
- doesn’t always provide the “why” behind the respondents’ answers.
To read more about the quantitative services we offer, please click through the menu on the left.
