Qualitative versus Quantitative Research Methods: Discovery or Justification?
In this paper, the author discusses the different perspectives on qualitative and quantitative research methods in terms of discovery and justification, which are discussed by Hunt (1991) in his famous marketing theory textbook. There is a growing consensus that the quantitative research method plays a crucial role in the justification of re search, and that qualitative methods are not good for justification but are excellent for discovery. However, previous research has not provided enough meaningful comparison of the two different methods, especially in marketing contexts. Therefore, this paper aims to address these issues by reviewing previous studies, discussing some concerns about the two methods, and proposing some valuable insights for conducting research with the two methods.