Comments - The quant–qual debate: where are we in advertising?

Arthur J. Kover, Les Carlson and John Ford

This Comments section discusses the quant-qual debate, a long-running discussion in the discipline of advertising, but also a division which is essentially problematic, as good research requires a combination of both qual and quant techniques.

Comments – The quant–qual debate: where are we in advertising?

John FordOld Dominion University, Virginia, USA

Within the advertising discipline, there is a non-too-subtle chasm that regularly rears its ugly head when conflicts arise in perspective between those trained as quantitative methodologists and those trained as qualitative methodologists. These lines have often been drawn in the past between those coming from the communications/journalism side as opposed to those coming from the marketing side. I have found these types of distinction problematic, since the two sides seem to have trouble bridging the gap.

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