Social science research - Assignment Example

Apparently both methods draw considerable advantages and disadvantages and in this essay, I seek to critically evaluate them and on their application in social science works. The main advantage of the qualitative methodology is that, it employs a descriptive, modest, and inductive techniques of data collection that are compatible with social science works (McRoy, n.d.). It is the most advocated method when social workers are studying issues or topics that do not agree with the quantitative research approach.

From a social psychological basis, qualitative method is coherent with person-in-environment of social science professional practice. In dealing with patient’s issues and treatment, doctors, nurses, and clinicians rely on interviews to gather information about a particular client’s illness. Such practitioners, therefore, follow a series of intuitions and working assumptions that are based on observations made through ongoing interaction with the patients. Most training offered to social science practitioner is based on qualitative research, whereby from a qualitative view, they are trained to observe at each case individually (McRoy, n.d.).

Unlike quantitative method that focuses on broader social sciences topics; qualitative approach has the advantage of addressing micro-level studies. The micro-level issues include those of small groups, subjects, or organizations and research that are not so much physical, but rather needs a psychological approach. When qualitative research is applied in such topics, it draws a wide range of facets that depict a picture of wholeness in terms of group(s), person (s) or settings of the situation.

The depicted picture of a study by a qualitative researcher on micro-level topics is holistic because it pulls all the necessary colours, structures, and textures into the painting(Tewksbury, 2009).The after analysis result is plainly contrasting and can never