Answer:
Numbers are everywhere and drive our day-to-day lives. We take decisions based on numbers, both at work and in our personal lives. For example, an organization may rely on sales numbers to see if it’s succeeding or failing, and a group of friends planning a vacation may look at ticket prices to pick a place.
In the social domain, numbers are just as important. They help identify what interventions are needed, whether ongoing projects are effective, and more. But how do organizations in the social domain get the numbers they need?
This is where quantitative research comes in. Quantitative research is the process of collecting numerical data through standardized techniques, then applying statistical methods to derive insights from it.
When is quantitative research useful?
The goal of quantitative research methods is to collect numerical data from a group of people, then generalize those results to a larger group of people to explain a phenomenon. Researchers generally use quantitative research when they want get objective, conclusive answers.
For example, a chocolate brand may run a survey among a sample of their target group (teenagers in the United States) to check whether they like the taste of the chocolate. The result of this survey would reveal how all teenagers in the U.S. feel about the chocolate.
