Answer:
Qualitative research is in-depth research using a range of techniques, which aims to understand why people think, feel, react and behave in the way that they do. Samples tend to be small in the case of qualitative interviewing and even focus groups, because the aim is to generate concepts, strategies, or, for example, an appreciation of processes that govern groups or institutions. Qualitative research can pretty much be adapted to any research context that isn’t about knowing ‘how many’. The benefit of qualitative approaches are that you do not start with a ‘hypothesis’ that needs to be proved, which can be very rigid. Rather, it is an open-ended approach that can be adapted and changed while the research is ongoing, which enhances the quality of the data and insights generated.
