What is the primary difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

The primary difference lies in the nature of the data each type of research seeks to collect and analyze. Qualitative research is fundamentally exploratory and aims to understand human behavior, thoughts, and feelings through subjective experiences. It often involves methods such as interviews, focus groups, and observations, allowing researchers to gather rich, descriptive data that provides insight into participants' perspectives and meanings.

In contrast, quantitative research is focused on quantifying variables and statistical analysis. It uses structured tools like surveys and experiments that yield numerical data. This enables researchers to identify patterns, make predictions, and generalize findings across larger populations.

By distinguishing between these approaches, it becomes clear that qualitative research emphasizes depth of understanding over breadth, while quantitative research seeks to measure and analyze phenomena in a way that is statistically valid.