Quantitative or Qualitative?

Which is better to use qualitative or quantitative data?
Reflecting on my practice I use both. The purpose of collecting data to improve practice, raise achievement levels and student success. It is important to have a clear understanding of what you want to find out and to refer back to your research questions (Easton, 2012).

Qualitative:  I ask students for feedback in the form of mini interviews.  I want to try and get as much information as possible and work hard to ask open ended questions (Barker, Pistrang & Elliott, 2016) and if a student is reluctant to offer their opinions in front of others I will ask them individually. Qualitative provides detail about why something is happening with 'why' questions, but does not provide a greater evidence over numbers because usually conducted over smaller groups.

Quantitative:  I use google slides for surveys on iPads that are quick and provide me with a 'big picture' of what students think. Google slides provide great visuals with pie charts and graphs to easily view the break down of the results. The results provide evidence of 'what' and 'how many' but not the greater detail of why something is happening (Easton, 2012). I often select some groups to participate in the surveys, but not always all due to time restraints. I may select groups depending on their cultural, ability, or engagement for specific findings.

http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/quantitative-vs-qualitative-research-whats-the-difference/

Both have advantages and disadvantages, so I will continue to use both. To further develop my practice I need to try different types rather than doing the same.

References

Barker, L., Pistrang, N., & Elliott, R. (2016). Research Methods in Clinical Psychology An Introduction for Students and Practitioners. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Easton, C. (2012) Data for Self Evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.nfer.ac.uk/schools/data-for-self-evaluation-seced.pdf