Quantitative Research Methods

'To consult the statistician after an experiment is finished is often merely to ask him to conduct a post mortem examination.  He can perhaps say what the experiment died of.'  Ronald Fisher.

Do you want to evaluate and compare the effect of a new treatment with the current gold standard?
Maybe you are interested in the effect of sex or socio-economic status on incidence of a particular disease?
Or perhaps you would like to compare two methods of measurement or evaluate a test in the diagnosis of the true disease status of a patient?

These types of research questions can be answered by quantitative research approaches.  Quantitative approaches include randomised controlled trials, case-control studies, cross-sectional and cohort studies.

The goals of quantitative research can be summarised as follows:

• to draw conclusions about a population by analysing data on just a sample of the population;
• to evaluate the uncertainty in these conclusions; and,
• to design the sampling approach so that valid and accurate conclusions can be made from the data collected.

STUDY DESIGN

A local RDS advisor can help you with:

1. Choosing the best qualitative approach

•  to answer your research question; and,taking account of practical constraints such as cost and time.

2. Choosing your sample

•  so that it is representative of the population you want to generalise your findings to; and,

• sample size - ensuring the sample is large enough to detect meaningful effects.

3. Devising data collection and analyses

• when designing your study protocol;

• examining and minimising any potential sources of bias or problems with data collection;

• identifying suitable outcome measures; and,

• ensuring your methods of analysis answer your research question of interest.

If you require further support on this type of research, contact us via our on-line Client Enquiry Form. Where you can access the RDS EoE's one-to-one quantitative expertise.