Describe the main features of qualitative research and compare the advantages and disadvantages with experimental research.

Introduction This essay describes the main aspects of relativist qualitative research in social psychology. Generalised comparisons will be considered between the methodology of relativist qualitative and experimental research, reflecting their different epistemology's (what can be known about human behaviour), via issues of validity, reliability and generalisability. In accordance with a logical positivist epistemology, experimental researchers argue that social behaviour is an objective, independent reality, relying on theories which describe that reality (Megee, 2001). Theories depend on …

…often elude quantitative methods. Limitations are evident with problems of poor reliability, difficulties of replicability and subjectivity with inbuilt researcher bias. The comprehensive approach to data gathering proves expensive, time consuming and limits scope. Although founded upon different epistemological bases, we are most likely to improve our understanding of social behaviour by combining the best elements of the research methods of qualitative and quantitative research by appropriating different methods according to purpose and circumstance.(Hammersley, 1996).