CBSE PROBLEM SOLVING ASSESSMENT (PSA)

Concepts of Qualitative Aptitudes:

One of the most paralyzing moments in conducting qualitative research is beginning analysis, when researchers must first look at their data in order to see what they should look for in their data. Although temporally and conceptually overlapping processes, data analysis should be distinguished from interpretation. Practical suggestions for beginning analysis include getting a sense of the whole, extracting the facts, identifying key topics or major storylines and dimensionalizing their informational content, and using frameworks to reduce data.

Here we have both a quantitative result, and a qualitative assessment of the same game. Which do we care more about—the result, or the game? The points, or the passion? Which we find more important or illuminating will depend on what we are interested in. If we are team managers or fanatical fans, we may care more about the result than about how it was achieved. If we are neutral spectators, then we may care more about the quality of the game than about the result—in which case the match report confirms our worst fears of a no scoring draw! In social research as in everyday life, our assessment of quantitative and qualitative data is likely to reflect the interests we bring to it and the use we want to make of it.We use quantitative data in a whole range of everyday activities, such as shopping, cooking, travelling, watching the time or assessing the Government’s economic performance. How long? How often? How much? How many? We often ask and answer questions such as these using quantitative data. Suppose I take 30 minutes to jog 5 miles to a shop and spend ￡5 on a litre of Chilean wine and 100 grams of Kenyan green beans. My behaviour may seem somewhat eccentric, but the terms in which it is expressed—minutes, miles,pounds, litres and grams—are entirely familiar. Each of these is a unit of measurement, in terms of which we can measure quantity. How do we measure quantities? We can count the coins or notes. We use a watch to tell the time. We weigh the beans on a weighing machine. We can use a milometer to check on distance and a measuring jug for volume. In each case, we have a measuring device which can express variations in quantity in terms of an established scale of standard units. But what is it that varies? We use minutes to measure time, miles to measure distance, pounds to measure expenditure, litres to measure volume and grams to measure weight. Time, distance, expenditure, volume and weight can be thought of as variables which can take on a range of different values. We don’t always agree on

how to measure our variables—we could have used kilometres, dollars, pints and ounces. But the important point is that for each of these variables we can confidently measure numerical differences in the values they can adopt. This is possible because we can establish a unit of measurement agreed upon as a common standard which is replicable, i.e. it can be applied again and again with the same results (Blalock 1960).While ‘quantities’ permeate our everyday life, they are most likely to be used in a physical or physiological context, where measurement in terms of standard units is well established. We readily accept conventional measures of time, space and weight. Even in a physical context, though, we make qualitative as well as quantitative  assessments. Is the bus dirty? Is the meal appetizing? Is the view breathtaking?These involve assessments for which we either cannot or do not use concepts which can be measured in quantitative terms. In a psychological or social context, we are much more likely to rely on qualitative assessment. Is this person sympathetic? Is this city exciting? Is this book interesting? These are areas where we tend to rely on qualitative assessment rather than on some quantitative measure.By comparison with quantities, qualities seem elusive and ethereal. We often use‘quality’ as a measure of relative worth, as when referring to a ‘quality performance’or ‘a person of quality’, or asking whether something is of good or poor quality. Suppose I have just watched a film and I am asked what I thought of it. What was the film like? My evaluation will refer to the qualities of the film. Was it entertaining, or profound? Did it make me laugh or cry? Was the plot plausible? Were the characters convincing? Was the acting good? Was the script well crafted? These questions are all concerned with what I made of the film. But my evaluation

of the film cannot be separated from how I understood and interpreted it. Quality is a measure of relative value, but based on an evaluation of the general character or intrinsic nature of what we are assessing. What was the story? What was the point of the film? What values did it express? Did the film achieve what it set out to do? In short, what did the film mean to me? Whereas quantitative data deals with numbers, qualitative data deals with meanings. Meanings are mediated mainly through language and action. Language is not a matter of subjective opinion. Concepts are constructed in terms of an intersubjective language which allows us to communicate intelligibly and interact effectively .