Which statement best describes the relationship between qualitative and quantitative approaches?

• A. Qualitative focuses on descriptive data and themes; Quantitative uses numeric data
• B. Qualitative uses statistics only
• C. Quantitative uses interviews only
• D. Qualitative is experimental

Answer: (A)

Understanding how qualitative and quantitative approaches differ in data type and analysis helps. Qualitative research gathers descriptive, non-numeric information—like interview transcripts, observations, and open-ended responses—to uncover themes, meanings, and context. Quantitative research relies on numeric data—counts, measurements, and scales—that are analyzed with statistics to test hypotheses and identify patterns or relationships. The statement that best describes the relationship is that qualitative focuses on descriptive data and themes, while quantitative uses numeric data. The other options mix up methods (interviews or statistics) and describe qualitative as experimental, which doesn’t fit the typical purposes of qualitative inquiry.