Compare and Contrast Essay on Qualitative and Quantitative Study

In most cases, people undertaking research projects find themselves confusing the application of quantitative and qualitative analysis in data collection. Many people think they can use the two terms interchangeably. Thus they end up making a huge mistake in the process. First, it is important to know the meaning of each of the terms so as to understand how to apply then in carrying out research. Additionally, this will help in simplifying the research problem by knowing exactly what to look for when carrying it out. The distinction between quantitative and qualitative research is similar to the comparison between artificial and human intelligence. Quantitative analysis mainly focuses on exact variables such as debt and profit ratios, returns and inputs related to them. Such variables get used in coming up with fixed answers regarding a research question, and they are evident from the way they stand out independently. This variable can also get programmed in computers to thus helping come up with a quantitative analysis in just a short period.

On the other hand, qualitative methods mainly use intangible inputs which are not exact as they mostly depend on experiments rather than mathematical methods. This method of analysis deals with contributions that prove hard to capture regarding numeric. An example of these includes customer satisfaction, trustworthiness, employee motivation, competition, shifts in workplace dynamics and much more. Use of qualitative methods in analyzing a research problem is almost similar to listening to your guts making it more time to consume than qualitative analysis but also inexpensive. Qualitative analysis helps a lot especially in analyzing the behavior of people in a particular business setting. Checking if they get satisfied, whether they are comfortable, and also the turnover rate at the end of a particular duration helps measure the commitments of employees to the business. The analysis checks on the methods of motivation, the relationship between employees, how grievances get addressed, thus analyzing how conducive the environment is for a person to work in it. This helps come up with strategies for enhancing the relationship between employees and the management so as to strengthen the employee's commitment to the business.

However qualitative analysis proves hard in such a setting as it involves interactions with the employees and some dont let out their views easily. The type of treatment they receive and the mood in the workplace affects such an analysis in a big way. Otherwise, a researcher gets forced to peruse through bulky reports and filings so as to get a grasp of the variables that affect employee organizational commitment. As a result, it is clear that a qualitative analysis aims at measuring things while a quantitative analysis aims at understanding them better. However, an analysis that is purely quantitative in nature gets affected by different factors. These factors include biases among the employees, the presence of some blind spots, and even over searching which can lead to a pile-up of information which hardens the process of data sorting.

This paper serves as a comparison between a published qualitative and quantitative studies on the variables that affect employee organizational commitment. This studies were performed by different intellects and helped in compiling issues pertaining commitments of workers to their jobs. The engagement of employees is describable using contrasts. They include continuance commitment, normative commitment, and affective commitment. When an employee agrees to a long-term work commitment with a particular, it means that he or she has a deep affection for the workplace thus leading to job satisfaction. As a result, these commitments reflect a lot on the overall performance of the business after the given period. Different organizations use many incentives in retaining their customers. As time changes and technologies advance, they offer skill enhancement workshops that add on the experience and productivity of the worker thus increasing their trust and loyalty to the workplace. The human resource practices impact commitment in a major way. These methods include a development of relationships with the management, provision of favorable workplace conditions, encouraging teamwork and rewarding those who excel in their jobs so as to foster competitiveness and motivate workers.

In the quantitative analysis, different methods helped in determining the given variables. The first method involved the use of a sample of various organizations offering the same services. The researcher visited the human resource offices of these organizations and used then to distribute questionnaires to the employees (Nguyen Mai & Nguyen 2014). So as to measure the job satisfaction levels, the researchers used the five-point Likert scale which included nine variables that helped measure the degree of satisfaction according to their answers. This range mostly involves checking the satisfaction and the loyalty of an employee to his or her workplace. The employees provide information on what they like about their job, the workplace and things they would change given the power to do so. They applied various methods in testing the accuracy of the hypothesis. The major one, the multi-variety regression model, compares the practices of the human resource department with employee's dependent variables through checking compensation, the relationship between management and staff, workplace environment and suitability of available conditions, and lastly the spirit of working together for employees and management.

As a result, the researcher discovered a particular relationship between the practices of the human resource department with and employee commitment to the organization. Furthermore, the author indicates that job satisfaction acts as the unifying factor on these two inputs. Tables and charts helped in showing the correlation of the independent variables in such a way that they assisted in measuring the level of commitment. This quantitative analysis contributed a lot to the formulation of policies and strategies for some organizations. Dependence on one variable leads to lack of employee satisfaction in the other sectors covered by the rest of the variables. Companies should focus on affection based orientation rather than income-oriented approach as this enhances the loyalty and commitment to the enterprise. Most of the problems faced in a business mostly get attributes from bad leadership and mismanagement. It is clear that use of quantitative methods helps in determination of the variables and its application produces more accurate and provable results as compared to qualitative analysis.

Currently, many organization employs commitment based strategies so as to retain their most productive employees over a period of time. The above results to a more stable workforce and better customer services methods thus creating a positive impact on the performance of the business. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have never been able to fully identify the relationship the co-dependence between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. The next analysis concerns a qualitative study carried out by some authors. Dynamism and competition among organization offering the same services lead to the implementation of methods that mostly aim at enhancing the employee commitment levels. Different variables help in determination the above research in an attempt of understanding what makes a worker so loyal to the company. This is a breakdown of the components of the analysis carried out so as to help compare the effectiveness of both the qualitative and quantitative studies. Historically, the human resource department plays a significant role in the retention of employees as it is the department concerned with hiring, promoting, firing, awarding and also motivating workers. It has the mandate of addressing any issues that concern employees and avoid favoring and any other underlying issues that may make it biased.

As the authors state, a qualitative study is more preferred by many intellects in the conduction of research methodology tasks. So as to expound on his view, the author provided the following reasons to back up his statement. Firstly application of qualitative analysis helped them in getting a better grasp of the matter at hand by using their thoughts and views which represent non-statistical information (Ortiz Lau & Qin 2013). This information helped a lot in the collection of data concerning the engagement of employees in their work, and job satisfaction as the primary variables that influence organization commitment level. The study shows the application of real life interactions with workers and other respondents thus helping the researchers expound on their understanding and knowledge of the research problem. The qualitative study also facilitated privacy through the control of the interaction environment. Data collection was also conducted electronically through recordings so as to store them for future reference. From the research, it is clear that encouragement and enhancement of the development of personal goals help increase employee commitment. One advantage using qualitative methods is that the researchers acquired useful and unanticipated information which proved helpful in the research.

The only problem faced in the use of qualitative methods is the fear of the employees concerning the information they provided. The researchers countered this by promising utmost privacy and confidentiality. Both approaches though offer different explanations on how variables affect the commitment of the employees. Nonetheless, they also share the same approach regarding variables. In the start, both studies utilize the same research question which aims at bringing clarity of the issue under discussion. Additionally, the two studies designed to identify the problems affecting the commitment of employees and eradicating them thus bridging the gap. It makes both of the studies relevant and applicable to the provision of in-depth knowledge to consider when formulating strategies and policies that motivate the employee thus increasing his or her commitment and loyalty (Monday Porter & Steers2013). The quantitative analysis aimed at identifying the variables while the qualitative analysis chief aim was checking the relation between the variables. Prior research helped the authors of both studies to come up with information and compile it in a proper format to make it more understandable to readers.

The difference between these two studies though is the methods employed in data collection. In qualitative analysis, the authors use firsthand information from employees while in quantitative analysis, different hypothesis and data collection methods got applied. Interaction provides more details that the filling of questionnaires which is prone to lack of privacy. The correct application of both studies results in exceptional results as long as they get carried out in the right way. It is evident from both research studies that work engagement and satisfaction on a specified job act as the most critical determining factors of the level of employee involvement in an organization. The two studies though advocate for conduction of further research to help come up with more factors concerned with the research problem. It's clear that this calls for the combined use of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Besides, both studies call for combined research to increase the accuracy of the findings and simplify the work through the combination of efforts and knowledge by the involved parties. The measures used in the two studies necessitate the deeper understanding of the variab...