# How to write a quantitative or qualitative question

A quantitative question names a number. A qualitative question names an experience. Do not mix them in one sentence.

Quantitative: how large is the change, in which people, against which comparison. Qualitative: what do these people say the experience is. A question that asks both will not survive screening.

## Steps

1. **Pick one kind.** A count, or an account. Not both in the first sentence.

2. **Name the unit.** A patient, a paper, an interview, a school. The unit is what you will extract.

3. **Name the comparison.** Quantitative questions need one. Qualitative questions name the setting instead.

4. **Write an example answer.** If you cannot sketch the answer in one line, the question is still a topic.

## ScholarIQ at this step

ScholarIQ searches either question. It does not decide which kind you are running. Write that in the protocol.

## How long does this take for one person?

Count the records first. A quantitative question names a number. A qualitative question names an experience. Do not mix them in one sentence. The time follows the count, not the size of a team.

## What do I write down before I stop?

The rule, the date, and the count. Quantitative: how large is the change, in which people, against which comparison. Qualitative: what do these people say the experience is. A question that asks both will not survive screening.

## Do I need a second reviewer?

Not to start. ScholarIQ does not score a second reviewer. If the protocol asks for dual review, a second person sees the same record.

## What is the usual error?

A file with no reason. Quantitative: how large is the change, in which people, against which comparison. Qualitative: what do these people say the experience is. A question that asks both will not survive screening.

## How do I know this step is done?

The count matches the records. If a flow-diagram box would not match, the step is not done.

## What goes in the methods?

The rule, the date, and the count. A reader must be able to open the same record.

## Can I skip this step?

No, if you will call the work a systematic review. If you skip it, write what you did. Do not hide the gap.

## What if I cannot finish?

Stop. Write how far you got. Records you did not screen are not exclusions.

## What does a supervisor check?

The rule, a sample of decisions, and the passage.

## What is outside this step?

A guideline panel, a CRO, and a GRADE meeting. ScholarIQ searches either question. It does not decide which kind you are running. Write that in the protocol.