The goal of research using qualitative data is to deeply and richly understand the topic.

• A. To generalize findings to a population
• B. To deeply and richly understand the topic
• C. To test a specific hypothesis with numbers
• D. To establish causal relationships

Answer: (B)

Qualitative research aims to delve into meaning, context, and experience. Its goal is to produce a rich, nuanced understanding of how people experience and interpret a topic, capturing depth, complexity, and the ways in which phenomena unfold in real-life settings. This is accomplished through flexible data collection and interpretive analysis that foreground participants’ perspectives, contexts, and lived stories. Because of that focus on depth over numbers, the aim is not to generalize findings to a larger population, test numerical hypotheses, or establish causal links. Generalization and causality are more typical of quantitative approaches, which emphasize measurement, prediction, and controlled comparisons. So the best answer reflects the aim of deeply and richly understanding the topic.