While qualitative and quantitative approaches are different, they are not necessarily opposites, and they are certainly not mutually exclusive. However, while qualitative research is sometimes placed in opposition to quantitative research, where they are necessarily opposites and therefore ‘compete’ against each other and the philosophical paradigms associated with each, qualitative and quantitative work are not necessarily opposites nor are they incompatible. Quantifying qualitative data certainly is possible, but at its core, qualitative data is looking for themes and patterns that can be difficult to quantify and it is important to ensure that the context and narrative of qualitative work are not lost by trying to quantify something that is not meant to be quantified. Phenomena such as experiences, attitudes, and behaviors can be difficult to accurately capture quantitatively, whereas a qualitative approach allows participants themselves to explain how, why, or what they were thinking, feeling, and experiencing at a certain time or during an event of interest. One of the strengths of qualitative research is its ability to explain processes and patterns of human behavior that can be difficult to quantify. 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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