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Qualitative research is an inquiry approach useful for exploring and understanding a central phenomenon. To learn about the phenomenon, the inquirer asks participants broad general questions, collects the detailed views of participants in the form of words or images, and analyzes the information for description and themes. From this data, the researcher interprets the meaning of the information, drawing on personal reflections and past research. The final structure of the final report is flexible, and it displays the researcher's biases and thoughts. (Creswell, 2008).
What to learn more? Search within the online version of The SAGE Dictionary of Social Research Methods (requires login).