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Software Engineering vocabulary · Web, Mobile and Interface Development

Qualitative research

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, qualitative research means: Research that collects words, observations and stories from a small number of people to understand why they think and behave the way they do.

In Turkish: nitel araştırma, kalitatif araştırma

How it is used

Includes interviews, usability tests, diary studies and field visits. Research teams often shorten it to 'qual' ('we need some qual on this'). It answers why and how, not how many.

Example sentences

  1. The numbers show a drop at checkout, so we'll do qualitative research to understand why.

  2. Eight interviews are enough for qualitative research at this stage.

Common collocations

  • qualitative research methods
  • qualitative data
  • qualitative insights
  • qual and quant
  • quantitative researchResearch that collects numbers from many users, such as survey ratings, click rates or task times, to measure behaviour and spot patterns.
  • user interviewA one-to-one conversation with a user or potential user, usually 30 to 60 minutes long, to learn about their goals, habits, problems and opinions.
  • usability testingA research method in which real users try to complete tasks with a product or prototype while a researcher watches, to find out where they struggle.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Web, Mobile and Interface Development

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