What is Descriptive Research?

Descriptive research is a type of research that describes a population, situation, or

phenomenon that is being studied. It focuses on answering the how, what, when, and
where questions If a research problem, rather than the why.

This is mainly because it is important to have a proper understanding of what a research

problem is about before investigating why it exists in the first place. 

For example, an investor considering an investment in the ever-changing Amsterdam

housing market needs to understand what the current state of the market is, how it
changes (increasing or decreasing), and when it changes (time of the year) before asking
for the why. This is where descriptive research comes in.

 Characteristics- feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and

serving to identify it.

What are the Characteristics of Descriptive Research? 

The characteristics of descriptive research can be highlighted from its definition,

applications, data collection methods, and examples. Some characteristics of descriptive
research are:

 Quantitativeness

Descriptive research uses a quantitative research method by collecting quantifiable

information to be used for statistical analysis of the population sample. This is very
common when dealing with research in the physical sciences.

 Qualitativeness

It can also be carried out using the qualitative research method, to properly describe the
research problem. This is because descriptive research is more explanatory
than exploratory or experimental.

 Uncontrolled variables

In descriptive research, researchers cannot control the variables like they do in

experimental research. 

 Define subject characteristics:

It is used to determine the characteristics of the subjects, including their traits, behaviour,
opinion, etc. This information may be gathered with the use of surveys, which are shared
with the respondents who in this case, are the research subjects.
For example, a survey evaluating the number of hours millennials in a community spends
on the internet weekly, will help a service provider make informed business decisions
regarding the market potential of the community

 Validate existing conditions

When you are not sure about the validity of an existing condition, you can use descriptive
research to ascertain the underlying patterns of the research object. This is because
descriptive research methods make an in-depth analysis of each variable before making
conclusions.

 The basis for further research

The results of descriptive research can be further analyzed and used in other research
methods. It can also inform the next line of research, including the research method that
should be used.

This is because it provides basic information about the research problem, which may give
birth to other questions like why a particular thing is the way it is.