What is Qualitative Research?

Qualitative research is mostly concerned with the feelings, moods, reactions, and basic nature of test subjects. They are not interested in the "average" viewpoint, but in specific individual people or groups. As C. George Boeree says, it is to "capture life as lived."

Qualitative research is often criticized by those who think quantitative research is much more reliable. They complain that there is much room for bias in such research, as data and results are often mixed together in the report and seen as the researcher's opinion rather than those of the test subject. Further, the results are open ended; each new person talked to has the possibility to change the results. There is no definitive answer that can be concluded as in quantitative research.