[Air-l] Re: Air-l digest - Number Fetishism

[Derek Parkinson]

So it's all clear now. But what's this?

> "There are two main types of user research: quantitative (statistics)
> and qualitative (insights). Quant has quaint advantages, but
> qualitative delivers the best results for the least money.
> Furthermore, quantitative studies are often too narrow to be useful
> and are sometimes directly misleading. "

"best results for the least money" - that wouldn't be a quantitative measure
would it? ;-)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Uwe Matzat" <u.matzat at tm.tue.nl>
To: <air-l at aoir.org>
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 10:37 AM
Subject: [Air-l] Re: Air-l digest - Number Fetishism


> Dear Alex Kuskis, dear colleagues,
>
> thank you very much for enlighting us about the difference between
> quantitative and qualitative research. I always had the impression
> that both could learn from each other and that the method should
> be chosen that fits best to the research problem and to what kind
> of insights one is looking for.
>
> Now I know better. I especially like the sentence
>
> "There are two main types of user research: quantitative (statistics)
> and qualitative (insights). Quant has quaint advantages, but
> qualitative delivers the best results for the least money.
> Furthermore, quantitative studies are often too narrow to be useful
> and are sometimes directly misleading. "
>
> I think this is a very fair and well-elaborated summary that should
> finish the whole academic discussion that went on during the last
> decades. Things can be so easy. ;-)
>
> Thank you once more, Alex.
>
> Kind regards,
> Uwe
>
> PS: I wonder whether this is the spirit of the next AIR conference in
> Sussex? After Toronto, I get more and more a strange feeling. Is
> this the culture clash between cultural studies against science? I
> wouldn't like that.
>
> On 4 Mar 04, at 12:01, air-l-request at aoir.org wrote:
> >
> > Message: 3
> > From: "Alex Kuskis" <akuskis at ican.net>
> > To: <air-l at aoir.org>
> > Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 19:30:24 -0500
> > Subject: [Air-l] Number Fetishism
> > Reply-To: air-l at aoir.org
> >
> > This is for our friend from Oz who is so keen on quantitative
> analysis
> > to the exclusion of all else.........Alex Kuskis Alertbox, March
> > 1, 2004: Risks of Quantitative Studies Summary: Number fetishism
> > leads usability studies astray by focusing on statistical analyses
> > that are often false, biased, misleading, or overly narrow. Better
> > to emphasize insights and qualitative research. There are two main
> > types of user research: quantitative (statistics) and qualitative
> > (insights). Quant has quaint advantages, but qualitative delivers
> > the best results for the least money. Furthermore, quantitative
> > studies are often too narrow to be useful and are sometimes
> > directly misleading.
> >
> > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040301.html
>
> =======================================
> Uwe Matzat
> Sociology Section
> Sub-Department of Technology and Policy
> Department of Technology Management
> Eindhoven University of Technology
> P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven
> The Netherlands
> phone: +31 40 247-8392
> email: u.matzat at tm.tue.nl
> http://www.tue-tm-soc.nl/~matzat/
> =======================================
>
> _______________________________________________
> Air-l mailing list
> Air-l at aoir.org
> http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l
>
>