Meaning & use
quantitative
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Measured or described by numbers and amounts, not by qualities or opinions.
Grammar: Usually before a noun: quantitative data, a quantitative study.
The study collected quantitative data on how many hours students slept.
A quantitative analysis showed that sales rose by twelve percent.
Her job involves quantitative research rather than interviews.
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Concerned with how much or how many of something there is, as opposed to what kind it is.
Grammar: Often contrasted with qualitative: a quantitative difference, not a qualitative one.
The change between the two years was quantitative, not a change of kind.
There is a quantitative difference in the amount of rain each region receives.
Common combinations
- quantitative data
- Quantitative data can be shown on a graph.
- quantitative analysis
- A quantitative analysis of the survey took three weeks.
- quantitative research
- Quantitative research often relies on large samples.
- quantitative easing
- The bank used quantitative easing to add money to the economy.
- quantitative methods
- The course teaches quantitative methods for economists.
- quantitative skills
- Employers look for strong quantitative skills.
Synonyms and how they differ
- numerical
- Numerical simply means involving numbers, whereas quantitative refers to measuring amounts as a way of studying something.
- statistical
- Statistical refers to the use of statistics, which is narrower than quantitative measurement in general.
- measurable
- Measurable describes something that can be measured, while quantitative describes a method or kind of data.
- empirical
- Empirical means based on observation, which may or may not involve numbers.
Opposites
Word family
- quantity noun
- an amount or number of something
- quantify verb
- to measure or express as a number
- quantifiable adjective
- able to be measured in numbers
- quantitatively adverb
- in terms of numbers or amounts
Commonly confused: quantitative or qualitative?
quantitative vs qualitative
Qualitative describes the nature or quality of something, such as opinions or experiences, while quantitative describes measurable amounts. The two words differ by only a few letters, so check carefully.
Practice
A researcher counts exactly how many customers bought a product each week. What kind of data is this?
Choose one answer.
Counting items gives numerical, quantitative data. Qualitative, anecdotal and subjective data describe opinions or stories, not counts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “quantitative”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.