Clear, Real-World Examples of Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research

Instead of beginning with definitions, let’s jump straight into everyday situations. Then we’ll name what type of research they represent.

Imagine these scenes:

A nursing student sits in a hospital family room, listening to parents talk about what it feels like to have a child in intensive care. The student records their words and later looks for patterns in their emotions and experiences.

Across town, another student sends an online survey to 500 parents asking them to rate their stress from 1 to 10 and tracks how scores change over a two-week hospital stay.

The first situation is a classic qualitative study. The second is quantitative. Both are studying “parent stress,” but they do it in completely different ways. These are exactly the kinds of examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples that teachers are hoping you’ll recognize and explain in a research paper.

Let’s unpack more real examples, then connect them to the logic behind each method.

Everyday Examples of Qualitative Research (Words, Stories, Meanings)

Qualitative research focuses on how people experience something, what it feels like, and what it means to them. Instead of numbers, you get words, stories, and observations.

Here are some of the best examples from different fields.

Example of qualitative research in education: Classroom culture

A graduate student wants to understand why some ninth graders participate actively in class discussions while others stay silent. Instead of handing out a multiple-choice survey, she:

• Observes three English classes over a month.
• Takes detailed field notes about who talks, when they talk, and how the teacher responds.
• Conducts one-on-one interviews with 15 students, asking open-ended questions like, “What makes you feel comfortable speaking up in class?”

Later, she codes the interview transcripts, grouping similar ideas (fear of being wrong, teacher’s attitude, peer judgment) into themes. This is a textbook qualitative approach: it aims to understand why and how, not just how many.

If you’re writing about school topics, this is one of the most relatable examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples to use: interviews and observations vs. test scores and survey ratings.

Example of qualitative research in healthcare: Living with long COVID

A public health researcher wants to explore how adults experience long COVID symptoms in their daily lives. Inspired by work from agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), she:

• Recruits 25 adults who report long COVID symptoms.
• Conducts in-depth interviews on video calls.
• Asks broad questions such as, “Tell me about a typical day,” and “How has long COVID changed your work or family life?”

She doesn’t count how many people have headaches vs. fatigue. Instead, she looks for patterns in their stories—loss of identity, anxiety about the future, difficulty getting medical support. This rich description is what makes the study qualitative.

Example of qualitative research in business: Why customers churn

A software company notices that many customers cancel their subscriptions after three months. The data team already knows how many people cancel. Now leadership wants to know why.

A researcher:

• Conducts 20 semi-structured interviews with former customers.
• Asks them to walk through their journey: onboarding, first use, support interactions, and the moment they decided to leave.
• Analyzes transcripts to find recurring themes—confusing setup, lack of training, better competitor features.

Here the best examples are the detailed quotes from real customers. Managers can read them and say, “This is exactly what people are struggling with.” Numbers alone can’t provide that depth.

Example of qualitative research in social media: Online identity

A communication student is curious about how college students present themselves on Instagram. Instead of counting likes and followers, she:

• Collects screenshots of 100 student profiles (with consent).
• Analyzes captions, photos, and bios.
• Conducts focus groups asking, “How do you decide what to post?” and “What feels ‘fake’ or ‘real’ online?”

This is qualitative content analysis—the focus is on meanings and representations, not numerical metrics.

Everyday Examples of Quantitative Research (Numbers, Measurements, Statistics)

Quantitative research is all about numbers you can measure, compare, and analyze statistically. You’re looking for patterns that can be expressed as percentages, averages, correlations, or differences between groups.

Here are some clear, real examples.

Example of quantitative research in education: Test score comparison

A school district wants to know whether a new reading program improves third-grade scores. They:

• Randomly assign some classrooms to use the new program and others to continue with the old one.
• Give all students the same standardized reading test at the end of the year.
• Compare average scores between the two groups using statistical tests.

The data are numerical test scores. The research question is something like, “Does the new program increase reading scores by at least 5 points?” That’s pure quantitative research.

Example of quantitative research in public health: Vaccination rates

Public health officials, using data similar to those reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), might study how many adults in different states received the latest COVID-19 booster.

They might:

• Collect vaccination counts from clinics and pharmacies.
• Calculate percentages of vaccinated adults by age group, state, and year.
• Use statistics to test whether vaccination rates differ by region or income level.

This is a clean quantitative example: large datasets, numerical variables, and statistical analysis.

Example of quantitative research in psychology: Screen time and sleep

A psychology researcher wants to know whether more screen time is linked to worse sleep in teenagers.

They might:

• Survey 800 teens, asking how many hours per day they spend on screens and how many hours they sleep at night.
• Use correlation and regression analysis to see whether higher screen time predicts shorter sleep.

The goal is not to explore personal stories but to see how two measurable variables move together across a large sample.

Example of quantitative research in marketing: Ad click-through rates

A marketing team tests two versions of an online ad. They:

• Randomly show version A to half the visitors and version B to the other half.
• Track how many people click each ad.
• Compare click-through rates using a statistical test.

This is a classic A/B test, a very common quantitative approach in business.

Side-by-Side: Paired Examples of Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research Examples

Now let’s put the two approaches right next to each other. These paired situations are powerful examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples you can drop straight into an essay.

Mental health on campus

• Qualitative version: A counseling center holds focus groups with students to talk about stress, burnout, and barriers to seeking help. Researchers analyze transcripts to identify themes like stigma, financial pressure, or lack of time.
• Quantitative version: The same center sends a survey to 2,000 students, asking them to rate their stress on a 1–5 scale and indicate whether they’ve used counseling services. They calculate percentages and compare stress levels between students who have and haven’t used counseling.

Same topic—campus mental health. Different type of data and different research questions.

Remote work satisfaction

• Qualitative version: A company wants to deeply understand how remote work affects employees’ sense of connection. HR conducts in-depth interviews with 30 employees and analyzes their stories about isolation, flexibility, and work–life balance.
• Quantitative version: The same company sends an anonymous survey with rating scales on job satisfaction, productivity, and sense of belonging. They analyze averages and look for differences between remote, hybrid, and in-office workers.

Again, these side-by-side cases make excellent examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples because they show how you can study the same issue in two very different ways.

How to Tell If a Study Is Qualitative or Quantitative

When you’re reading a research article or designing your own study, ask three simple questions. These will help you correctly label and explain any example of research in your paper.

First: What kind of data are collected?

If the data are:

• Words, stories, open-ended responses, observations, images, or documents → the study is qualitative.
• Numbers, counts, scores, scales, or measurements (height, weight, temperature, income, test scores) → the study is quantitative.

Second: What is the main goal?

• To explore meanings, experiences, or processes in depth? To understand the “how” and “why” of a phenomenon? That’s typically qualitative.
• To measure relationships, compare groups, or test a hypothesis? To answer “how many,” “how much,” or “how often”? That’s typically quantitative.

Third: How are results presented?

• Long quotes, narrative descriptions, themes, and categories → qualitative.
• Tables of numbers, graphs, percentages, p-values, confidence intervals → quantitative.

If you apply these questions to the earlier examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples, you’ll see that each one lines up cleanly with one side or the other.

Mixed Methods: When Qualitative and Quantitative Work Together

In 2024 and 2025, more and more studies are using mixed methods, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches in a single project. This trend is especially visible in education, health, and social policy research.

Here’s a clear mixed-methods example you can reference.

Mixed-methods example: Evaluating a new school counseling program

A school district introduces a new counseling program to reduce bullying and improve student well-being.

On the quantitative side, researchers:

• Collect survey data on bullying incidents, anxiety levels, and school satisfaction from 1,000 students before and after the program.
• Use statistics to see whether bullying reports decrease and satisfaction scores increase.

On the qualitative side, they:

• Conduct focus groups with students and interviews with counselors.
• Ask open-ended questions like, “What parts of the program helped you the most?” and “What still feels unsafe at school?”

By combining both, they can say not only whether the program works, but also how and for whom. Many modern studies published in education journals and on sites like Harvard Graduate School of Education use this mixed approach.

If your assignment asks for examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples and also wants you to mention current trends, mixed methods is a smart angle to include.

Using These Examples in Your Research Paper

When you’re writing an essay or research paper, teachers want more than just a definition. They want to see that you can apply the ideas. Here’s how to use the best examples effectively.

Connect your topic to both approaches.

Suppose your topic is “social media and body image in teenagers.” You might write:

• A qualitative angle: “Researchers might conduct interviews with teen girls to explore how Instagram filters affect their self-esteem. These interviews would produce detailed narratives about comparison, pressure, and confidence.”
• A quantitative angle: “Alternatively, a quantitative study could survey 1,000 teens and measure how many hours they spend on social media and how they score on a standardized body image scale, then test whether higher use predicts lower body satisfaction.”

Now you’ve created your own pair of examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples tailored to your topic.

Name the method clearly.

When you give an example of a study, use clear labels like:

• “This is an example of qualitative research because…”
• “This is an example of quantitative research since…”

Then point to the type of data (words vs. numbers) and the goal (understanding meaning vs. measuring relationships).

Cite real sources when possible.

If your teacher expects references, you can look at:

• Government health data and reports from the CDC or NIH.
• Educational research summaries from universities like Harvard or public systems like UC Berkeley.

You don’t have to read every article in depth. Skim the abstract and methods section to see whether they used interviews, surveys, experiments, or big datasets. Then you can say, “For example, a 2023 CDC report used quantitative survey data to measure vaccination rates across states.”

Quick FAQ About Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research Examples

Q: What is a simple example of qualitative research I can mention in an essay?
A: A classic example of qualitative research is interviewing patients about their experiences with a new medication, then analyzing their words for themes like fear, hope, or confusion. You’re not counting how many people feel each way; you’re exploring the meaning of their experiences.

Q: What is a simple example of quantitative research?
A: A straightforward quantitative example is surveying 1,000 adults about how many hours they exercise per week and then calculating the average. You could also test whether people who exercise more have lower blood pressure using numerical data from medical records.

Q: Can one study include both qualitative and quantitative methods?
A: Yes. Many modern studies use mixed methods. For instance, a researcher might use a large-scale survey to measure how common anxiety is on campus (quantitative) and then hold focus groups to explore how students describe their anxiety in their own words (qualitative).

Q: How do I explain the difference using examples of real studies?
A: Pick a topic, like remote work or online learning. Describe one study that uses numbers—surveys, test scores, or usage data—and label it quantitative. Then describe another that uses interviews, observations, or open-ended questions and label it qualitative. These side-by-side examples of different approaches make the contrast clear.

Q: Which type of research is “better”?
A: Neither is automatically better. Quantitative research is powerful when you need to measure, compare, or generalize to large populations. Qualitative research shines when you need depth, context, and understanding of human experiences. The strongest projects often use both, especially in complex areas like health, education, and social policy.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: qualitative research gives you stories and meanings; quantitative research gives you numbers and measurements. The best way to show you understand the difference is to use clear, concrete examples of qualitative vs. quantitative research examples—and now you have plenty to choose from.