Qualitative methods help you:
- Decide what to measure.
- Interpret the meaning of measurements.
- Respond to measurements effectively.
Quantitative methods help you:
- Identify problems to investigate.
- Observe phenomena precisely.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies.
These methods thread together:
- Identify problems to investigate. Where are things not measuring up? (quant)
- Decide what to measure. What elements in the situation warrant scrutiny? (qual)
- Observe phenomena precisely. What is really going on? (quant)
- Interpret the meaning of measurements. What motivates what is going on? (qual)
- Respond to measurements effectively. How can we act into the situation to change it? (qual)
- Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies. How does the situation change when we act into it? (quant)
- Repeat…
It would be lovely if I could get these methods to interleave more elegantly. This is how they seem to me to line up, though.