The term "qualitative research" has not have a concise description. It includes a variety of theoretical and methodological methods and may be seen as both a perspective and a technique of inquiry. This is not a flaw, but rather a result of the method's extensive development and history. To put it simply, qualitative research examines why people act or think in certain ways and how they learn to comprehend these intricate behaviors in their daily lives.

Even surveys with open-ended questions are never qualitative, and neither are attempts to quantify word frequency. Although they are not meant to be, qualitative findings cannot be extrapolated from the research group to the entire population.