Quantitative Data’s Hidden Subjectivity
Our society overemphasizes numbers and quantitative data. Numbers are inherently trusted by default, without much thought given to their limitations.
The thing is, quantitative data is not very intelligent. Even if you throw fancy machine learning at it, it can only tell you how the world is (today). While this is important for getting your bearings, we need other forms of data to understand how our actions impact the world.
People don’t often realize that the person interpreting quantitative data projects their own narrative structure onto it. And their mental model of the world informs that narrative. That mental model is highly subject to personal biases and misinterpretations. This makes quantitative analysis deeply subjective.
There’s a certain irony that qualitative data is often accused of being subjective. Because it is qualitative data that has the power to save quantitative data from its hidden subjectivity.
When you triangulate numbers with qualitative methods, you can stress test your narrative and mental model of the world. Allowing you to project a more accurate narrative model onto your numbers.
Qualitative data is fundamental because it is the only way to answer why. Quantitative can only provide the what. And knowing why is the only way we’re going to take informed actions based on our understanding of the world.
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