Which of the following would apply to Quantitative research methodology ? A.…

Concept

A research approach is classified by two things: the philosophy of knowledge that underpins it, and how much of the design is fixed before data collection begins. The quantitative approach is rooted in rationalism — the belief that human beings achieve knowledge because of their capacity to reason — and it runs on a structured, rigid and predetermined methodology whose purpose is to quantify the extent of variation. The qualitative approach is rooted in empiricism — the belief that all the knowledge human beings acquire is from sensory experiences — and it runs on an unstructured, flexible and open methodology whose purpose is to describe variation.

Applying the concept to the five statements

Each of the five statements is one row of the standard comparison of the two approaches (Ranjit Kumar, Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners, Table 1.2), so every statement belongs to exactly one side:

Collecting the rows marked quantitative leaves statements A and E, so the grouping that applies to quantitative research methodology is A and E only.

Cross-check

• The three statements left over — B, C and D — form exactly the qualitative profile: description of variables, empiricism, and the exploration of experiences and meanings. The five statements therefore split cleanly into a quantitative pair and a qualitative triple, with nothing left unassigned, which is why no grouping other than A together with E can be complete.

• Read the philosophy row carefully. In this standard comparison rationalism sits on the quantitative side and empiricism on the qualitative side, which reverses the association many students carry over from general philosophy of science, where measurement-based enquiry is loosely called empirical. In this framework the label refers to the source of knowledge claimed by the paradigm, not to whether numbers are used.