Words / C1

KWOL-it-uh-tiv/ˈkwɒlɪtətɪv/

Qualitative research deals with meaning, experience, and kind — interviews, observation, texts — rather than counts. Native writers pair it with quantitative (numbers, statistics). Quality in everyday English means “how good”; qualitative does not automatically mean “high quality.” A qualitative difference is a difference in type, not merely in amount.

Meaning

Connected with quality or nature, not with numbers.

Examples

• “They used qualitative interviews, not a survey.”
• “They added a qualitative stage to explain the survey scores.”
• “The two policies differ in a qualitative way, not only in cost.”

Good to know

qualitative vs quantitative. Not automatically “better quality.” qualitative difference = difference in kind.

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