Qualitative and Quantitative Data Collection

Two kinds of evidence

A coach watching a squad collects two completely different sorts of information, often in the same session. One is counted or measured: times, distances, scores, heart rates. The other is described: how the technique looked, what the player said, whether the team seemed to give up in the last ten minutes. Both are data. Knowing which is which, and what each one can and cannot tell you, is the whole of this topic.

Numbers or words?

This is the definition the exam wants, and the easiest way to hold it is by what the data looks like when you write it down.

Match each method to what it produces

Which are quantitative?

Select the TWO pieces of quantitative data.

• The distance a runner covers in a Cooper 12-minute run
• A performer's resting heart rate in beats per minute
• A coach's judgement that a shot looked rushed
• A player saying they enjoyed the new training session

Subjective does not mean useless

Quantitative data is usually objective: the stopwatch does not care who is holding it. Qualitative data is usually subjective: it depends on the judgement of the person collecting it. Students often conclude from that that qualitative data is the weaker kind. It is not. A stopwatch can tell a coach that a sprinter is two tenths slower than last month. Only a trained eye can say that her arm action has shortened. The number finds the problem; the description explains it. A good analysis uses both.

Which data do you need?

A sprinter's 100 metre times have got worse over six weeks. The coach wants to know WHY. What should they collect?

• Qualitative data, such as filmed observation and notes on her technique
• More quantitative data: keep timing her every session
• Normative data for sprinters of her age
• Nothing: a run of bad times is just natural variation

How it gets collected

The methods you would name in an answer, and what each one gives you:

Collect it properly

Put the steps of collecting usable quantitative data into order.

• Choose a test that actually measures the component of fitness you care about
• Follow the standard protocol, so the test is done the same way every time
• Record the result in the correct units, with no rounding of your own
• Repeat later under the same conditions, so the two results can be compared
• Compare the results with normative data to judge how good they are

Plan the season

You are analysing a school netball squad across a term. Decide what to collect.

• You want evidence of whether the squad's fitness improves over the term. What do you collect?
• The test scores improve, but the team is still losing matches. What kind of data will explain that?
• You will repeat the fitness tests next term. What matters most for the comparison to mean anything?

Quantitative and qualitative

Data that is counted or measured is _____, and it is usually _____, meaning two people recording it should agree. Data that is described in words is _____, and it is usually _____. Numbers tell you WHAT has happened; descriptions help explain _____.

Plan the collection

A football coach wants to find out whether a new six-week training programme has improved her squad. Explain what data she should collect, and how.

• Name one quantitative method and say exactly what it would measure, in what units
• Name one qualitative method and say what it would tell her that the numbers cannot
• Explain why she needs both rather than one
• Say one thing she must keep the same between the first and second round of testing, and why
• Use the words objective and subjective correctly at least once each