Qualitative Quest
"Qualitative research asks: 'How do you feel?'"
Detail Dog interviewing a group of butterflies. He is holding a microphone.
About this page
Detail Dog turns reporter on this page, holding a microphone up to a flutter of butterflies and asking how they feel. It is a gentle introduction to qualitative research, the kind of science that collects feelings, stories, and descriptions instead of numbers. Some questions cannot be answered with a ruler, and listening carefully is a research skill all its own. This page pairs with the measuring scene that follows it in Chapter 4, showing kids that asking and counting are two different ways of finding things out, and good researchers use both. Detail Dog, ever the careful observer, is all ears.
Talk about it while you color
- If you could interview any animal, which one would you pick and what would you ask?
- What do you think the butterflies are telling Detail Dog?
- How are you feeling right now, and what is making you feel that way?