Quantitative designs and statistical analysis

Abstract

This chapter summarises the main features of quantitative research and associated methods of statistical analysis. It illustrates underlying assumptions of quantitative research, types of measurement, and statistical procedures by examples drawn from the author's investigations of the use and impact of non-parental child care. The research examples are taken from three different studies: the Sydney Family Development Project (SFDP), the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) and the Child Care Choices (CCC) project. In the SFDP, LSAC and CCC studies, the effects of child care are examined in combination with other factors that are expected to influence families’ use of child care and be related to children’s developmental outcomes. Methods of statistical analysis are classified as parametric for metric data, and non-parametric for non-metric measures. The major strength of quantitative research designs is the potential for generalising the findings from the sample population to the larger population it represents.