Key terms & definitions

An in-depth investigation of a particular person, group, event or setting using descriptive accounts to understand experiences and meanings.

Descriptive information about qualities, observations, experiences or opinions, recorded through words or images rather than numerical measurements.

Descriptive information expressed in words or categories rather than as measurements.

Descriptive, non-numerical information about a property, such as whether a material is transparent or brittle.

Information describing qualities, such as colour, appearance or the formation of a solid, rather than numerical measurements.

Non-numerical information, such as customers’ reasons for choosing a product or views about its quality.

Data describing qualities or types rather than numerical quantities, such as colours or makes of car.

Information expressed as descriptions rather than numerical measurements, often involving opinions or feelings.

Information expressed through words, images or other descriptive material rather than numbers.

Information expressed in non-numerical form, such as words or images, which describes experiences, meanings or qualities.

Descriptive information, such as people's opinions, experiences and explanations in an interview.

A description or observation rather than a numerical measurement, such as a colour change or the formation of a precipitate.

Descriptive information, such as observations of housing conditions or residents’ accounts of their experiences.

Research that gathers descriptive information about opinions, preferences and reasons, often through open questions.

A research approach that collects detailed accounts or descriptions to understand people’s meanings, experiences and behaviour.

An approach that produces descriptive data, such as accounts of feelings, opinions and experiences.

Descriptive information, such as a colour change or the appearance of a solid in a liquid.

A substance that produces an observable change indicating whether a particular type of chemical is present.

A test substance that produces an observable result which helps to identify an unknown substance or product.

Research that collects detailed, non-numerical data to explore people's meanings, experiences and behaviour.

Research that collects descriptive material, such as words or images, to explore experiences and meanings.

Research exploring meanings, opinions, attitudes and reasons, usually through descriptive responses.

A description using words rather than numerical measurements, such as stating that one variable generally decreases as another increases.

An investigation that collects people's descriptions, opinions or judgements about places or issues, sometimes recording these through rating scales.

A test that shows whether a substance is present from an observation such as a colour change, rather than measuring its exact concentration.

A test that identifies a substance from an observation such as a colour change, gas or precipitate, rather than measuring how much is present.

A test that indicates whether a substance is present in a sample rather than measuring its exact amount.

The extent to which a product or service meets customer needs and expected standards, including being reliable, safe and fit for purpose.

Organising and checking processes to prevent mistakes and ensure that output meets customer requirements.

Monitoring a production process to check that manufactured products meet required standards.