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There are two main forms of research: qualitative and quantitative.

• Qualitative research focuses on deeply understanding people, including their thoughts, feelings, actions, and experiences.
• Researchers ask exploratory, open-ended questions like, 鈥渨hy do you feel that way?鈥�, 鈥渨hat is going on for you?鈥� and 鈥渢ell me more about 鈥�?鈥�
• Qualitative researchers mainly gather people鈥檚 words, such as what someone says in an interview, shares during a focus group, writes on social media, or says in everyday conversations. They observe people in real-life settings.
• Sometimes qualitative researchers also collect images, such as photos, drawings, or videos, and they explore what these might reveal or represent.
• Qualitative research findings are rich and descriptive, like a window into people鈥檚 lives. They help us understand how people think, feel, and behave, and this can guide the design of products, services, and experiences that better meet people鈥檚 needs.
• On the other hand, quantitative research studies things by collecting and analysing numerical data to find patterns and draw conclusions.

In summary, qualitative research focuses on:

• Depth over breadth: It鈥檚 about deeply understanding a specific group of people or a particular experience, rather than looking for broad patterns that apply to the general population.
• Building understanding, not testing assumptions: It鈥檚 used to uncover how and why things happen, rather than to check if a specific idea is true.
• Words over numbers: Your research questions are best answered through people鈥檚 words, themes, and insights, rather than through numbers, statistics, graphs, or numerical trends.

Deciding whether to run a qualitative or a quantitative study

Before choosing your research approach, it鈥檚 important to first understand what you鈥檙e trying to learn:

• Outline your primary objective: What is the main goal of your study?
• Write your high-level research questions: What do you want to find out?
• Choose your research approach: Decide whether to use qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods, and whether to collect primary (new) data or use secondary (existing) data. Learn more in our  online learning module.
• Collect your data: Use methods that suit your approach, like interviews or surveys.
• Analyse your data and present your findings: Look for patterns, themes or trends.

This guide focuses on qualitative data collection and analysis.