In social research, both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to gain an insight into social problems. These two approaches are very different but are not mutually exclusive; many of their distinctions are not as clear-cut as they appear. Both approaches have a set of assumptions about society and the social world and these assumptions determine, to an extent, the course a piece of research may take.

Firstly, qualitative research uses words as its basic unit of analysis and this leads the research to be more descriptive and less interpretative than quantitative research (Alasuutari, 1998). Qualitative research would argue that it is necessary to use descriptive methods when studying the social world, as it is complex and fluid and not, in its essence, suited to an analytical approach.

It is in the same vein that leads to another assumption that the social world is a whole consisting of many different structures and parts. This is the naturalistic view and t

As there is an emphasis on scientific respectability, quantitative research often has a predetermined research design. The focus is very specific and the variables are isolated for validity as opposed to qualitative research where the whole context would be studied. The researcher is seen to be able to be completely objective in this type of research and is detached from the study in order for the study to exist independently from the researcher (Alasuutari, 1998).

It is clear that in order to reduce these sorts of criticisms in a piece of research, then both approaches need to be used and the results compared, to further support or invalidate the research. This would mean that two pieces of research would be conducted on exactly the same topic, one using the qualitative approach and the other using the quantitative approach. This concept is called triangulation after the geographical use of triangulation to find the location of a point when two other points are known. The danger here is to take the analogy too far and it must be remembered that there may not be a correct answer to a social problem according to constructivist thought (Fulcher & Scott, 1999).

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