Origin: Latin suffix -ive
Qualitative has 4 different meanings across 1 category:
Something qualitative.
"The researcher focused on qualitative data to understand the participants' personal experiences rather than using numerical statistics."
involving distinctions based on qualities
"qualitative change"
"qualitative data"
"qualitative analysis determines the chemical constituents of a substance or mixture"
relating to or involving comparisons based on qualities
"The qualitative analysis focused on comparing the emotional depth of the characters rather than counting their dialogue lines."
Of descriptions or distinctions based on some quality rather than on some quantity.
"The researcher emphasized that her qualitative study focused on participants' personal experiences rather than statistical counts of their behaviors."
In plain English: Qualitative means describing something based on qualities, feelings, or characteristics instead of using numbers or measurements.
"The qualitative analysis focused on describing what people said rather than counting how many times they spoke."
Usage: Use qualitative to describe data that focuses on qualities, characteristics, and experiences rather than numerical measurements. This term is often contrasted with quantitative research when discussing methods of analysis.
The word qualitative comes from Late Latin quālitātīvus, which was formed by combining the word for "quality" with a suffix meaning "pertaining to." Its original sense described something related to or characterized by quality.