Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative analysis

An analysis of the qualities of a company that cannot be measured concretely, such as management quality or employee morale.

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Qualitative Research

Economic and/or market research into areas not directly related to mathematical data. Qualitative research is based on the assumption that economic actors, being human beings, are susceptible to acting on factors that may not directly correlate with facts. Qualitative research may look into management practices or brand recognition when recommending investment decisions to clients or brokers. See also: Assurance, Panic selling, Quantitative research.

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Qualitative analysis. When a securities analyst evaluates intangible factors, such as the integrity and experience of a company's management, the positioning of its products and services, or the appeal of its marketing campaign, that seem likely to influence future performance, the approach is described as qualitative analysis.

While this type of evaluation is more subjective than quantitative analysis -- which looks at statistical data -- advocates of this approach believe that success or failure in the corporate world is often driven as much by qualitative factors as by financial data.