Answered By: Amanda Pruka Last Updated: May 09, 2025 Views: 4
In nursing, you will often be asked to determine the research type as well as if an article is quantitative or qualitative. This is easier than it seems at first. Try not to overthink it. If the question is answered with numerical data, it is quantitative. If it is answered with textual data (for example, narratives), it is qualitative.
In nursing, a lot of subjective feelings, such as pain or anxiety, are often quantified with surveys and scales. Because the topic might be subjective, we may assume it is a qualitative study. However, the topic of the study is not relevant. It is the scale or data collected that determines if it quantitative or qualitative.
Quantitative vs Qualitative Studies in Health Sciences
|
Traits |
Quantitative |
Qualitative |
|---|---|---|
|
Common Instruments (how are things measured or recorded) |
Survey with likert or other rating/countable scales | Interviews with open ended questions |
|
Data collected |
Numerical |
Textual (words, not numbers) |
|
Words commonly seen in Abstract, Methods, and Results sections |
Control group, cohort, experimental, correlation, intervention group, randomized, double-blinded, case control, p-value, statistically significant/insignificant |
Interviews, focus groups. textual analysis |
|
Associated Research methods |
Randomized control trials, quasi-experimental design, cohort and case control, correlational studies |
Interviews with open questions, focus group |
|
Example of a study |
The effect of music therapy on treating patients pain and anxiety in emergency department: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18(1). 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-025-00878-4 |
Development and integration of a music therapy program in the neurologic inpatient setting: A qualitative study. Disability & Rehabilitation, 47(9), 2304-2313. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2024.2393439 |
Quantitative and Qualitative Studies in the Levels of Evidence
Level |
Research Designs |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Systematic Review and/or meta-analysis of RCTs (randomized control trials) | Quantitative % |
| 2 | Randomized control trials | |
| 3 | Quasi-experimental Studies | |
| 4 | Non-experimental quantitative studies (cohort and case control) | |
| 5 | Meta-synthesis | Qualitative "..." |
| 6 | Qualitative studies | |
| 7 | Expert opinions: reports from expert panels and organizations, not based on research |
*Adapted from LoBiondo-Wood, G. & Haber, J. (2022). Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (10th ed.). Elsevier. pg. 15
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