In The Know

Political data can typically be classified into one of two main types: qualitative and quantitative. Both kinds of data are crucial for helping you understand the political landscape you’re operating within and the audience you’re trying to connect with. 

However, each category of information serves different purposes and can yield unique insights. With that in mind, here is a deep dive into what qualitative and quantitative political data are, how they differ, and when you should use each type to support your goals. 

What Is Qualitative Political Data?

Qualitative political data provides depth and detail about your audience. It helps you understand the why behind political behaviors, opinions, and trends. Qualitative data does not deal with numbers and statistics. Instead, it focuses on narratives, descriptions, and observations.

Suppose that you were trying to understand why a certain demographic supports a particular candidate. Qualitative data might involve conducting in-depth interviews with individuals from that group. 

When gathering qualitative data, you would ask open-ended questions that allow participants to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words. Instead of forcing them to choose from a list of given answers, you allow them the chance to explain the reasoning behind their decisions and preferences. 

What Is Quantitative Political Data?

Quantitative political data is all about measurable insights. You want to boil down political trends to hard numbers. By determining the concrete value of a trend or pattern, you can detect correlations using statistical methods. Quantitative data is often gathered through surveys, polls, experiments, and other forms of structured collection.

To better understand how it works, consider a situation in which you want to know how many people in a particular region support an important policy. You might conduct a survey or ask respondents to rate their support on a scale of 1 to 10. You can then analyze the results to determine the overall level of support and find trends over time. 

Key Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Political Data

Here are the most notable nuances between qualitative and quantitative insights: 

Collection Methods

You’ll need to use open-ended questions and interviews to gather qualitative information. Observations and focus groups are a few other valuable tools to consider. Quantitative data gathering involves surveys, polls, experiments, and statistical analysis. You need hard numbers, not observations or inferences. 

Type of Data

The type of information each collection process yields varies as well. Qualitative analysis helps you better understand the opinions and experiences of your audience. This data is rich in detail but harder to generalize across a large population. Quantitative methods, by contrast, yield numerical data that you can easily track and analyze. 

Purpose

You will primarily use qualitative methods when you want to understand the why behind someone’s beliefs or opinions. If you just simply need to know the sheer number of people who support a cause or what their degree of support is, quantitative data is the better option. 

Analysis

Analyzing qualitative information can be challenging and subject to interpretation. Your process should focus on identifying themes and patterns. You can make some inferences based on what you learn, but be careful not to make too many assumptions about someone’s motivations or beliefs. 

Quantitative analysis relies on statistical methods, such as regression, correlation, or hypothesis testing. You can review quantitative information using multiple methods to better understand the big-picture implications. 

When You Need Qualitative Data

You should use qualitative political data whenever you need to explore complex issues in depth. Suppose that you want to understand the motivations behind voter behavior. Qualitative analyses can give you a glimpse into the personal and cultural factors that influence how people vote. 

Qualitative data can be extremely valuable for emerging or new political issues. For example, maybe your candidate wants to introduce a new ballot proposal and isn’t sure how your constituents will respond. In that case, you could conduct a sentiment analysis and gather other forms of qualitative insights to peer into the minds of voters.

One of the most valuable use cases for qualitative data involves applying it to policy development. Before you create new policies that could have a huge impact on a candidate’s standing with constituents, use qualitative information to gauge how voters might react to such a proposal. 

When You Need Quantitative Data

Quantitative data is ideal for measuring political trends across different groups or time periods, such as when gauging public opinion on a large scale. Quantitative analysis allows you to collect and analyze responses from a broad group. You can also use quantitative methods to test a hypothesis about a political phenomenon. 

Don’t think of the qualitative vs. quantitative discussion as an either-or decision. You can (and should) use both types of insights to better understand constituents, campaign reach, policies, and other aspects of the political landscape. 

Tap Into Better Data With Aristotle

The best campaigns use a balance of qualitative and quantitative insights to better understand target audiences and connect with constituents in a meaningful way. As a leader in political data, Aristotle can empower your campaign team by providing the most accurate, useful information so you can target – and reach – the right people with the right message.

Additionally, Aristotle also offers a host of customizable, nonpartisan tools designed to help you get more out of the information you need. Our reporting, compliance, PAC, and campaign tools can seamlessly integrate into your team, bringing much-needed versatility as you strive to connect with your ideal audience. 

Schedule a demo to learn more.