Data gathering methodsgenerally fall into two categories: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative approaches, such as interviews, open-ended surveys, and observations, help explain opinions, experiences, and behaviors. Quantitative approaches use numerical information collected through structured surveys, measurements, or experiments to identify patterns and compare results. For example, customer interviews can explain why people prefer a product, while rating-scale surveys can measure how many customers are satisfied. Researchers often combine both approaches to gain a broader understanding of a topic and support more balanced conclusions.