The usability data that we collect from remote testing comes in two forms: quantitative and qualitative. We can express quantitative data with numbers, such as how long a user stayed on a page, how many visits a page gets, or by serving up a survey asking users to rate an aspect of a site on a numerical scale. On the other hand, qualitative data is generally expressed in words, such as answers to open ended survey questions. Tests can also collect visual qualitative data such users’ facial expressions, but even then, those are translated into nominal data like “looked frustrated” for analysis and communication purposes.
Theory