Incorporating Mixed Methods: When should I use quantitative tools?

When deciding between quantitative and qualitative methods, let the question you’re answering be your guide. Quantitative metrics answer “what” and “how often” questions. Analyzing usage metrics can tell you what people are doing in your application or how often two events occur at the same time.

While quantitative methods can provide speedy answers to what is happening, qualitative research reveals the holistic picture. No survey will reveal why a phenomenon is happening like 1:1 interviews can.

For deeper understanding of a topic, the two methods can be complementary. Basic qualitative understanding helps your quantitative research be more targeted and mitigate bias. For example, if you didn’t know anything about what being a student is like, you might collect data on students who attended a class and assume that you had seen every single student enrolled in the class. Without an understanding that students sometimes skip class, you’re missing helpful context to interpret your results.

A common combination of qualitative and quantitative is starting with qualitative and then moving to quantitative. Ash Muraya’s book Running Lean, explains his process of Validate Qualitatively, Verify Quantitatively. In short, you start by understanding what’s happening through observational qualitative research or 1–1 interviews. Once you have a pulse of key insights, you validate them quantitatively through a survey or other quantitative method to ensure that the need you uncovered is common in your user base.

Qualitative first isn’t the only way mixed methods teams operate. Getting quantitative understanding of your user base or how often problems occur in your app can drive qualitative exploration. A technique we use at Lextech is sending out an initial survey of features we’re considering to inform what we explore further in observational sessions and interviews. This works particularly well when you already have a basic understanding of your user base and the scope of the project you’re working on.

An initial understanding of what quantitative research can and can’t do will help you understand where new methods can fit into your practice to help your team reach more impactful insights.

Stay tuned for future Medium posts where I demystify how to get your team up and running with quantitative methods.