Due to the open-ended nature of the research questions at hand, qualitative research design is often not linear in the same way quantitative design is. Qualitative research at its core, ask open-ended questions whose answers are not easily put into numbers such as ‘how’ and ‘why’. This review introduces the readers to some basic concepts, definitions, terminology, and application of qualitative research.

It could be structured as a stand-alone study, purely relying on qualitative data or it could be part of mixed-methods research that combines qualitative and quantitative data. It answers the hows and whys instead of how many or how much. Qualitative research gathers participants' experiences, perceptions, and behavior. Instead of collecting numerical data points or intervene or introduce treatments just like in quantitative research, qualitative research helps generate hypotheses as well as further investigate and understand quantitative data. Qualitative research is a type of research that explores and provides deeper insights into real-world problems.

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