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Academic English & Research vocabulary · Research Design

Qualitative

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

/ˈkwɒlɪtətɪv/adjectiveCore term

In academic english & research, qualitative means: Describing research that studies experiences, meanings and behavior through words, images or observation rather than numbers, often with smaller groups of people.

In Turkish: nitel, kalitatif

How it is used

Used with research, data, methods and studies: qualitative interviews, qualitative data, a qualitative approach. Common in education, sociology, nursing and psychology. Typical methods include interviews, focus groups, observation and document analysis.

Example sentences

  1. We used a qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews with twelve teachers.

  2. The qualitative data were analyzed thematically.

Common collocations

  • qualitative research
  • qualitative data
  • qualitative approach
  • qualitative study
  • quantitativeDescribing research that collects numerical data and uses statistics to measure, compare or test relationships, often with larger samples.
  • mixed methodsA research design that combines qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis in one study to answer a question more fully.
  • thematic analysisA qualitative method for finding, organizing and interpreting patterns of meaning, called themes, across interviews, texts or other data.
  • case studyAn in-depth study of one particular person, group, organization, event or place, used to understand it in its real context.
  • methodologyThe overall approach and reasoning behind how a study is done, including the choice of design, methods, data and analysis, and the reasons for those choices.

More terms: Research Design

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