What is Qualitative Research
1. Introduction: A Way to Understand a Complex World In scientific research, there are two fundamental approaches to understanding phenomena: one is through quantitative methods that uncover patterns using numbers and measurement, and the other is through qualitative methods that reveal meaning through language, narrative, and context. Qualitative Research belongs to the latter category. Instead of relying on statistics and numerical data, qualitative research seeks to deeply explore human subjective experiences, motivations, cultural contexts, and social interactions to understand the underlying causes and meanings of complex phenomena. Qualitative research is widely used in fields such as social sciences, education, psychology, medicine, communication, and marketing. It is particularly powerful for answering "why" and "how" questions. Unlike quantitative research, which emphasizes objectivity, measurability, and generalizability, qualitative research focuses on co...