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Good afternoon.

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This is Albert Einstein here
at the Louvre Museum in Paris

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with queen Elizabeth
II of Great Britain.

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Good afternoon.

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It is a pleasure I am sure.

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Our purpose here today is
to compare and contrast

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qualitative versus
quantitative research.

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As a leader and reader
of people for 60 years,

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we will speak for
the qualitative side.

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And as the ultimate
scientist and rationalist,

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I will be the quintessential
quantitativitist

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if that's even a word.

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As a gentleman, I will
allow Queen Elizabeth

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to start the debate.

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Thank you, Professor Einstein.

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And thank you for
letting us choose

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the location for our discussion
surrounded by works of art

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in this wonderful museum
in the heart of Paris.

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This setting illustrates two
of the fundamental features

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of qualitative research, first,
that the research involves

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looking at qualities that
cannot be easily quantified

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and, second, that the researcher
herself becomes immersed

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in the situation being studied.

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Your majesty, that is
certainly different

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from my quantitative approach.

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I like my variables to be
measurable in some commonly

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accepted fashion.

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And the quantitative
methodology stresses

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that the observer should be
dispassionate, objective,

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and neutral.

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A quantitative
researcher strives

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not to allow himself to
influence or be influenced

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by whatever he is researching.

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You see, your grace, in
quantitative research,

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we clearly set out our
premises and hypotheses

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before we start and determine
exactly what measurements we

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will make and exactly
how we will make them.

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Oh my, Albert, you
quantitative researchers

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are so decisive and
sure of yourselves.

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In qualitative research, one
does not assume nearly so much

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before one starts.

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One certainly has a
plan for gathering data,

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but one is free to make
personal observations

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and interpretations.

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And study participants are asked
about their experience, not

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simply poked and
prodded and measured

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with standardized and calibrated
scientific instruments.

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One then uses
inductive reasoning

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to look for themes and
patterns in one's observations

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relevant to the
research problem.

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Only after identifying
such themes and patterns

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does one begin using
deductive tools and reasoning

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to further analyze the data.

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Pardon me, Elizabeth,
but that is absurd.

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With all due respect,
quantitative research

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involves using
inductive reasoning only

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before the start of the
project to formulate theories

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and postulate hypotheses.

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Once the research starts,
it is all about gathering

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predetermined data and using
deductive reasoning and logic

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to support or refute the
hypothesis under scrutiny.

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Your qualitative approach
sounds like a recipe for chaos.

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I thought you were a
monarchist, not an anarchist.

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Relax, Al, and try not to
get your knickers in a twist.

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Qualitative research may seem a
wee bit uncontrolled and loosey

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goosey to you.

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But you must admit that
quantitative research can

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sometimes feel
like being strapped

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in a straitjacket
locked in a rubber room.

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Not that one would know
what that feels like,

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but you get one's point.

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Reality is
complicated and messy,

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and research methodology needs
to take that into account.

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Liz, baby, you make
some very strong points.

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You've got a good head on your
shoulders under that crown.

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I propose that we
meet halfway and agree

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that there is a role for both
quantitative and qualitative

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research methodologies,
perhaps even in the same study.

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By synergistically combining
both approaches in a mixed

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method design, the results
of the whole research project

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might very well be greater
than the sum of its parts.

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Shall we dance?

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Oh, Al, one thought
you would never ask.

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Say Al, do you think one is
ready for the follies best

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share?

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