Discuss how quantitative and qualitative research methodologies differ. ? Is qualitative research a component of the EBP paradigm? Why or why not? ? Differentiate among the different methods of qualitative research.

 Although quantitative and qualitative research methods have overlapping objectives and applications, they are fundamentally different. Noteworthy, the main differences between the two research regard to the objectives, data sample, data collection strategies, data analysis methods and the outcomes of the study (Lakshman, Sinha, Biswas, Charles & Arora, 2010).
On its part quantitative research method has an objective of quantifying data, which allows generalization of the results from the study sample to the entire study population. In addition, quantitative research seeks to measure the incidence of opinions and/or views in a given sample.
On the contrary, qualitative research methodology is specifically suitable for developing an in-depth understanding of the motivations or reasons underlying the phenomenon of interest, including the setting of the problem while also generating hypothesis and ideas for later quantitative research. In addition, it seeks to uncover prevalence of trends in opinions and thoughts.
For qualitative studies, the sample is normally composed of a small size or number of cases, which are basically non-representative, with respondents being selected to fulfil a certain quota. In contrast, the sample chosen for quantitative research studies is usually composed of a large number of cases that represent the population of study.