Descriptive Research

Descriptive research provides a detailed account of a social setting, a group of people, a community, a situation, or some other phenomenon. This kind of research strives to paint a complete and accurate picture of the world by focusing on the factual details that best describe a current or past event. Researchers engaged in descriptive studies set out to identify who participates in an event, where and when it occurs, and what happens, without exploring the causal relationships involved in that event. For example, a descriptive study may examine the types of services offered by a government agency, the living conditions of a homeless population in a large urban center, the experiences of teachers in elementary school classrooms, or the daily needs of individuals living with breast cancer. One common example of a descriptive study is a census, which sets out to document demographic (e.g., age, gender) and other details (e.g., housing costs) about individuals living in a particular community. Census data are often collected over many years, allowing researchers to examine changes in demographic and social patterns within a particular nation, city, neighborhood, or other identified social grouping.

In compiling descriptive facts about various phenomena, descriptive research is allied most closely with quantitative approaches (including the use of descriptive statistics), although descriptive approaches may also be used in qualitative research to provide valuable background information for analyses of individuals' attitudes, opinions, and personal experiences of particular phenomena. Descriptive research is the most commonly used approach in the human (behavioral) sciences because it allows researchers to [Page 251]examine conditions that occur naturally in the home, hospitals, classrooms, offices, libraries, sports fields, and other locales where human activities can be systematically explored, documented, and analyzed.