Which type of data is more reliable qualititive or quantitive?

Answer 1

I can't tell you which one is most reliable because data (or information) can be collected in so many different situations to answer different questions. If I am conducting a very scientific experiment, for example I want to know if a type of tomato grows better in an acid soil, then I need to collect and analyze quantitative data.

But in many fields, both types of data are needed. Sociology and psychology studies use qualitative data. For example, I want to know if people who have lived in hot climates for long periods of time, are more comfortable with heat and humidity. So I ask people if they are feeling uncomfortable (qualitative data), how long they have lived in a hot climate (quantitative data) , and also recorded the heat and humidity (quantitative data).

- See related link. From the third link, the author opines:
"What qualitative methods (e.g. case studies and interviews) lose on reliability they gain in terms of validity. They provide a more in depth and rich description."