There are a number of reasons for the above response. In the first place, qualitative study is more difficult to do well than a quantitative study because the data collected are typically subjective, and the main measurement tool is the investigator (Borg and Gall, 1989). Therefore for one to conduct a qualitative study thorough training, is required which is expensive and consumes a lot of time.

In the second place, qualitative study methods as a topic, is an ill-structured subject (Keele, 2010). This is because precise recipes only cannot be enough for use in conducting this kind of study. It requires a number of decisions to be made along the way, as one continues with the study.

Moreover, qualitative study is complex in nature. This is because the conclusions to be made involves multiple facets, and mainly from various perspectives. Due to this reason the researcher needs to be armed with a lot of tools to be able to analyze qualitative data and come up with meaningful conclusions. Keele (2010) confirms that a quantitative study focuses on a single measurable reality while qualitative study focuses on multiple realities that are continually changing with individual interpretation.

Another reason is the fact that the basic elements of analysis of qualitative data are words and narratives. To analyze words and narratives, the researcher has to apply coding for simplicity which is usually tricky. This is not the case with a quantitative study since the basic elements of analysis are numbers and statistics which are simple to obtain.

Since qualitative design is used in developing theory, it stands out to be more rigorous than quantitative design which is used to test a theory (Sandelwoski, 1995). This means that a qualitative study focuses on broad areas which require much involvement unlike quantitative study which is concise and focuses on narrow facts.