If you want to become better at researching and making decisions, then understanding qualitative and quantitative research and analysis and the differences between them is a key that is highly useful yet sometimes overlooked.
Understanding Qualitative and Quantitative Data and the differences between them will allow you to not only know what data to look for when doing research but also how to compartmentalize and analyze the data that you consume.
What are Qualitative and Quantitative data, and why is differentiating them in your research so important?
Qualitative Data
Qualitative data can be summarized into Information such as words, videos, pictures, audio etc. This is data that is not numeric or cannot be quantified.
In the context of crypto, Qualitative data would be data like the information in a project’s whitepaper, or information about the team, the marketing, the outlook, the utility, the competition, etc.
Quantitative Data
Quantitative data is numeric and Quantifiable data, aka data that can be expressed and viewed through numbers.
In the context of crypto, Quantitative data would be data like on-chain forensics and fundamentals such as the number of active wallets, coin or token supply, network fees, transaction speeds, staking or mining rewards…. Or technical information associated with price action.
If you look at it from a general standpoint, technically all data is either Quantitative or qualitative. In life, a major function of the human brain is constantly consuming and processing data whether it be media, numbers, experiences, etc…
Whether consciously or subconsciously – you’re always consuming data, processing it, and using it to make decisions. Generally people tend to lean toward one of these two forms of data in their decision making process, some look more at numbers and charts, while others look more at news opinions and information.
While both Quant and Qual data analysis are valid ways to approach decision making, both on their own fail to paint a complete picture. Recognizing this fact and understanding both forms of data will help you consciously learn to use them together to make better decisions specifically when investing, but also more generally in your life.