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Difference Between Qualitative and Qauntitative

In science it is critical that experiments and the observations recorded are repeatable. Therefore quantitative observations are much more valuable than qualitative. When a numerical value is given to a characteristic it allows for direct comparison between observations made by different people or at different times.

For example: All the basketball players named below would be considered very tall but who is the tallest? You could compare them by asking them to stand next to each other, if you can get them together. But even then you wouldn’t be able to compare them to a new player in a distant land or in the past. However, a quantitative measurement can allow us to compare characteristics made in different places or times.

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Note: make metric conversations for **

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Coe College and The College of Wooster
M. Dean, D. Fraga, W. Morgan, T. Tauer, L. Stroschine
Funded by a grant from the Midwest Instructional Technology Center