Should You Quantify Qualitative Data?

Pigeonholing Qualitative Data: Why Qualitative Responses Cannot Be Quantified. ... By asserting that codes and votes can be counted and hence transform a portion of qualitative findings into quantitative data, these researchers are making the case, knowingly or not, that these codes and votes are discrete items.

Can you quantify qualitative data?

Qualitative data can in fact be converted into quantitative measures even if it doesn't come from an experiment or from a large sample size. ... It doesn't cost more money to quantify or use statistics. It just takes some training and confidence–like any method or skill.

What does it mean to quantify qualitative data?

Quantitative analysis of qualitative data “involves turning the data from words or images into numbers. This can be done by coding ethnographic or other data and looking for emerging patterns.” (3) If qualitative data is in the form of responses to standardized questionnaire surveys, this data may also be quantified.