insufficient to express the concepts in the research question. Both are valid research methods, but are typically used to cover different subjects. quantitative approaches are used with refined questions that can be subject to statistical analysis, such that the outputs can be proved mathematically. This is called intersubjective certifiability. Qualitative methods are more subjective, but can have a much greater breadth to the information that they convey.

Exploratory research designs rely on qualitative research techniques because it allows for open-ended questions and answers. Furthermore, probing "provides the participant with the opportunity to respond in their (sic) own words, rather than forcing them to choose from fixed responses, as quantitative methods do" (FHI, 2012). Open-ended questions have the benefit of allowing the questions to be meaningful to the participant, or can yield results that were not anticipated by the researcher. Essentially, qualitative research allows for greater exploration of the subject by...
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