+13236381128
+15199002991
+61480040096
Book a Demo
TRY A SAMPLE SURVEY
en_US Englishfr_FR French
en_US Englishfr_FR French
+13236381128
+15199002991
+61480040096
en_US Englishfr_FR French
RESEARCH1

Exploratory and Conclusive Research: Contrasting Research Designs

Voxco's Guide to Exploratory Research

Conducting exploratory research seems tricky but an effective guide can help.

Download our guide to empower your research and unlock key insights and become more customer-centric.

Download Now

SHARE THE ARTICLE ON

Table of Contents

Introduction

A research design is a framework using which research is carried out. There are many different research designs, each serving a different purpose and achieving a different objective. Within this article, we will specifically explore two important categories of research design:

  • Exploratory Research
  • Conclusive Research

We will first delve into exploratory and conclusive research separately and then move on to comparing the two.

New call-to-action

Exploratory Research

RESEARCH 2

Exploratory research is used to investigate a problem that is not clearly defined or understood. It is therefore conducted to gain a deeper understanding of a research problem and its context, rather than to gain an understanding on its solution or result. It is used by researchers to understand the phenomenon being studied so as to form a more precise research problem before it can be effectively investigated. 

Types of Exploratory Research

Although there are many different methods of exploratory research, it is generally classified into the following two categories:

  1. Primary Research Methods: This refers to the methods of research where data is collected directly from the subjects being investigated. The subject could be an individual or a group of people. Some common methods of primary research used in exploratory research are surveys, observations, interviews, and focus groups. 
  2. Secondary Research Methods: This refers to the methods of research where data is collected from existing resources on the subject being studied. Some common methods of secondary research used in exploratory research are online sources, research papers, literature, and case studies. 
Start Conducting Exploratory Research with Voxco

Advantages of Exploratory Research

The following are a few advantages of exploratory research: 

  • Flexibility: The exploratory research design offers a lot of flexibility, allowing the researcher to adapt to change as the research progresses. 
  • Less Expensive: Exploratory research is generally low cost, especially when methods of secondary research are used to obtain data. 
  • Helps Identify the Relevance of a Research Problem: Exploratory research allows researchers to understand at an early stage, whether or not the research problem is worth investigating. It helps researchers avoid investing their time and resources into studying irrelevant or impractical research problems. 
B2B Market Research

Conclusive Research

The conclusive research design is used to obtain information that can be used to reach conclusions or make decisions. The data collected in this research design is generally quantitative in nature and therefore takes distinct numerical values. For this reason, conclusive research relies on the use of highly structured techniques, such as surveys with closed-ended questions, in order to prove or disprove a hypothesis. 

 Types of Conclusive Research

There are two main types of conclusive research:

  1. Descriptive Research: Descriptive research is used to answer questions such as “what”, “when”, “where”, and “how”, rather than “why”. It is a type of research that describes a population, situation, or phenomenon. 
  2. Causal Research: Causal research is used to investigate the cause-and-effect relationship between variables

Advantages of Conclusive Research 

The following are a few advantages of conclusive research: 

  • Provides a Context on Subjects: Conclusive research provides a reliable and representative picture of the population.
  • Establishes Causality: Conclusive research is a useful tool when trying to establish causality between two variables. 
Access Our Expertly written Survey Templates

A Comparison: Exploratory Research vs Conclusive Research

Now that we have an understanding of both these methods of research, let’s examine some of their differences:

  1. The key difference between the two research methods is that exploratory research is used to gain a better understanding of a research problem while conclusive research is used to arrive at results or decisions. 
  2. Exploratory research is more unstructured and therefore offers more flexibility when compared to the conclusive design that is more structured and rigid. 
  3. Conclusive research, when compared to exploratory research, relies more heavily on the use of quantitative data. It, therefore, uses a lot of statistical tests and advanced analytical techniques, allowing it to have a large sample size. Exploratory research, on the other hand, relies more so on qualitative data. Some common qualitative approaches used in exploratory research are interviews, focus groups, and case studies.
Start Creating Research Panels Now

FAQs on Exploratory Research and Conclusive Research

Exploratory research refers to the investigation of a research problem that is not clearly defined or understood.

Conclusive research, as the name suggests, is a type of research that is used to yield information that helps reach conclusions or make decisions.

Conclusive research can be categorized into the following two groups; descriptive research and causal research.

Explore Voxco Survey Software

Online page new product image3 02.png 1

+ Omnichannel Survey Software 

+ Online Survey Software 

+ CATI Survey Software 

+ IVR Survey Software 

+ Market Research Tool

+ Customer Experience Tool 

+ Product Experience Software 

+ Enterprise Survey Software 

Get a Free Demo

Read more

Consumer Panel

February 14, 2022 No Comments

Consumer Panel SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on linkedin Table of Contents What is a consumer panel? By definition,

Read More »
The Difference between Exploratory and Conclusive Research Consumer Panel

Quantile Regression

December 10, 2021 No Comments

Quantile Regression SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents What is Quantile Regression? Before we can delve into quantile regression, let us first understand what

Read More »
Concept Testing Questions

Concept Testing

July 9, 2021 No Comments

What is Concept Testing? SHARE THE ARTICLE ON See what question types are possible with a sample survey! Try a Sample Survey Table of Contents

Read More »
The Difference between Exploratory and Conclusive Research Consumer Panel

All About Financial Analytics Software

April 14, 2022 No Comments

Financial Analytics: Definition, Significance, Advantages, Disadvantages, Utilization by Business SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents Financial data analytics software or financial analytics tools assist

Read More »