Quantitative methods are a general description for the work Inclusion does that is based on directly or indirectly measured evidence. Any project that includes measures of outcomes, or the characteristics of participants, or of the areas in which they live or work, will use quantitative methods to some degree.
More detailed descriptions of some individual quantitative issues can be found by following these links:
Survey design and analysis
Time series
Local Labour Market Information Service
Secondary Analysis
Impact Analysis
Cost/Benefit analysis
Inclusion will, in many instances, use both quantitative and qualitative methods in research and consultancy projects. We find that the methods can reinforce each other, with qualitative work identifying issues for which quantitative analysis can provide answers, and testing the meanings understood by potential survey respondents when asked questions in a particular manner. Qualitative work also gives stakeholders a method within the evaluation or other project to respond to emerging findings.
However, in instances where projects are keen to demonstrate whether or not they have achieved the objectives agreed with funders, quantitative methods give funders an assurance that money has been spent on achieving outcomes that would not have been achieved without the project. This can include measured changes in attitudes and sometimes identify a ‘distance travelled’ towards an objective, given other personal and economic factors.
The methods that we choose are, we believe, appropriate to resolving the issues posed by the research questions identified by research commissioners.
