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Marketing vocabulary · Market Research

Qualitative research

Meaning in marketing, with examples

nounCommon term

In marketing, qualitative research means: Research that explores people's opinions, feelings and reasons in depth, usually with small groups, through interviews, focus groups or observation.

In Turkish: nitel araştırma

How it is used

Answers “why” and “how” questions rather than “how many”. Agencies often shorten it to “qual”: “We did some qual first.” The results are quotes, themes and insights rather than percentages.

Example sentences

  1. The qualitative research showed that people find our app confusing, not slow.

  2. We'll start with qualitative research and then test the ideas in a large survey.

Common collocations

  • qualitative research methods
  • in-depth interviews
  • qualitative findings
  • conduct qualitative research
  • quantitative researchResearch that collects numerical data from a large number of people, for example through surveys, so that results can be measured and compared.
  • focus groupA small group of people, usually six to ten, who are guided by a moderator to discuss a product, idea or ad in depth.
  • consumer insightA deep understanding of why consumers think, feel or act the way they do, which a brand can use to create better products or messages.
  • primary researchResearch in which a company collects new information itself, for a specific question, through surveys, interviews, focus groups or tests.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Market Research

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