Before writing a thesis or a research paper, you will be asked to define research methods. You have to name and describe these. This usually happens in the methodology part of the thesis. In this article I will show you exactly what methods are available and what the differences are. Reading tip: How do I classify my research scientifically? Qualitative research Qualitative research aims at unknown and often small samples. You gain access to reality through subjective interpretation. Specifically, this means that you are observing or questioning something or reading something in the form of a literature analysis. You usually do this for highly individual or unfamiliar questions. The disadvantages are that you often interpret subjectively and this is vulnerable. Everyone could interpret something different from the data. You must therefore give detailed reasons for your interpretation of the data. Here are three examples of qualitative research. Reading tips: Literature…