Northcentral's Expectations To complete the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree at Northcentral University (NCU), successful completion of a thesis acceptable to the university is required. A prerequisite for the thesis is the concept paper which provides the framework for the structure and content of the thesis proposal (Northcentral University, 2013). NCU publishes pre-formatted milestone document templates to comply with NCU requirements (Northcentral University, 2013). NCU expects its graduate students to be familiar with and use published templates to comply with NCU thesis requirements. An important aspect of research design is determining the research methodology the researcher proposes to use to complete the study. The researcher can choose quantitative or qualitative method design. Diversity in research methods is one of the key strengths of research (Venkatesh, Brown, & Bala, 2013). Researchers have previously used various research designs, including both quantitative and qualitative designs (Venkatesh, Brown, & Bala, 2013). In the NCU publication, 'Ph. D. Concept Paper Template' (CPT), the use of quantitative and qualitative design approaches is present throughout the CPT (Northcentral University, 2013). The following section will review qualitative and quantitative research. An exercise will be undertaken to compare and contrast the expectations of each of these methods as they appear in the CPT. This will be followed by a summary of best practice tips for quantitative research related to hypothesis formulation. The article will conclude with a summary of important points. Qualitative and quantitative research According to Kisely and Kendall (2011), qualitative research is based on data collected from interviews, focus groups, observations or documents and other written materials. THE