Final answer:
The statement is false; qualitative analysis involves examining non-numerical data to understand social behaviors, unlike quantitative methods, which involve numerical data analysis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that qualitative analysis requires the conversion of social research data into a numerical format is False. Qualitative analysis in the social sciences involves examining non-numerical data such as interviews, observations, and text to understand concepts, experiences, and social phenomena. This type of analysis seeks to interpret the richness of these data to gain insights into social behaviors and processes.
Quantitative methods, on the other hand, involve the collection and analysis of numerical data, which can be counted and subjected to statistical analysis. Quantitative data in the context of social sciences can be represented through methods like large-scale surveys and social statistics, which are used for discovering patterns in human behavior.
Qualitative data usually includes the categorization or description of qualities and characteristics. This can be in the form of text-based content from sources such as books, journal articles, and interviews. For example, understanding why individuals engage in certain behaviors is better explored through qualitative research. However, this type of data can be more time consuming to collect and challenge to organize in comparison to quantitative data, which is more straightforward to code and analyze statistically.