A comparison of qualitative and quantitative research: for Housing Studies and MBA students (information from perplexity.ai)
My question: "What are the differences between qualitative and quantitative research Housing Studies and MBA study with regard to the following aspects: favored research philosophies, favored research methods (with particular design characteristics in their data gathering and data analysis tasks, and favored types of research questions to address?"
The reply: "Qualitative research in Housing Studies and MBA programs tends to emphasize understanding meanings, experiences, and processes, whereas quantitative research emphasizes measurement, testing relationships, and generalizable patterns. These contrasts show up in the favored philosophies, preferred methods and design features, and the types of questions that are usually posed.
Favored research philosophies
Quantitative work usually aligns with positivism or post-positivism, assuming a relatively stable, measurable social reality and favoring objectivity, hypothesis testing, and causal explanation. In Housing Studies this underpins survey-based analysis of affordability, overcrowding, or policy effects, while in MBA it underpins market research, performance metrics, and causal models of behavior.
Qualitative work usually aligns with interpretivism/constructivism (and sometimes critical or feminist paradigms), assuming socially constructed realities and emphasizing subjective meaning, context, and multiple truths. In Housing Studies this supports studies of lived experiences, neighborhood meanings, or domestic life, while in MBA it supports work on organizational culture, leadership sense-making, and employee identity.
Pragmatism and critical realism often support mixed or flexible use of qualitative and quantitative methods in both fields, combining concern for real causal mechanisms with attention to meanings and practical problem-solving. Housing Studies frequently uses these to connect structural conditions (markets, policies) with lived experience, and MBA research uses them to link performance data with managerial narratives and strategic decision-making.
Favored methods and design characteristics
Quantitative studies favor structured instruments (large-scale surveys, structured questionnaires, standardized indices, secondary datasets), probability or large samples, and pre-specified variables. Data gathering emphasizes reliability and replicability (fixed questions, closed-ended scales, standardized procedures), and analysis centers on descriptive and inferential statistics (correlation, regression, modeling, hypothesis tests).
In Housing Studies, such quantitative designs are used to model affordability, crowding, tenure choice, satisfaction, or policy impacts using housing surveys, administrative data, or census-type sources. In MBA, they underpin customer/employee surveys, market segmentation studies, financial and performance modeling, and experimental or quasi-experimental studies of interventions.
Qualitative studies favor flexible designs such as semi-structured or in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, case studies, narrative or ethnographic work, often with purposive or theoretical sampling and relatively small samples. Data gathering emphasizes openness and depth (open-ended questions, iterative probing, field notes, documents), and analysis centers on coding, thematic or narrative analysis, analytic induction, and constant comparison rather than statistics.
In Housing Studies, qualitative methods are used to explore residential satisfaction, housing careers, neighborhood attachment, domestic violence, or informal housing practices in context-rich ways. In MBA, they are used to examine leadership styles, organizational culture, change processes, consumer meanings, or strategy implementation, frequently via insider case studies and multi-level organizational narratives.
Favored types of research questions
The table below contrasts typical question types that fit each approach in Housing Studies and MBA work. (Examples are generic rather than specific project prescriptions.)
|
Dimension |
Quantitative
- Housing Studies |
Qualitative
- Housing Studies |
Quantitative
- MBA / Business |
Qualitative
- MBA / Business |
|
Main aim |
Measure
patterns, test hypotheses about housing conditions or policy effects. |
Understand
lived experiences, meanings, and processes around housing and home. |
Measure
market or organizational patterns and test models of behavior/performance. |
Understand
how actors interpret, negotiate, and enact business practices. |
|
Typical
question focus |
"How
many?", "To what extent?", "What is the relationship
between X and Y?" (e.g., income and affordability, tenure and
satisfaction). |
"How
do people experience?", "What meanings do residents attach
to?", "How do processes unfold over time?" (e.g., living in
subdivided units, coping with displacement). |
"What
is the effect of leadership style on performance scores?", "How
satisfied are customers with service attributes?", "Which factors
predict turnover intention?" |
"How
do employees make sense of leadership practices?", "How do teams
experience digital transformation?", "How is brand meaning
constructed in customer narratives?" |
|
Orientation
to generalization vs depth |
Prioritizes
generalizability, comparability across groups, and statistical significance. |
Prioritizes
depth, contextual richness, and theoretical or analytic generalization rather
than statistical generalization. |
Seeks
broad patterns across markets, firms, or units to support decisions and
forecasting. |
Seeks
deep understanding of specific organizations, teams, or customer groups to
inform theory and practice. |
A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.
