Final answer:
Exploratory research is aimed at gaining insights and understanding general ideas, employing qualitative methods and is inductive in nature, while conclusive research seeks to provide definite answers using quantitative methods and is based on deductive reasoning.
Step-by-step explanation:
Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research
Exploratory research is a form of research conducted to gain insights and a better understanding of the existing general ideas and thoughts. It doesn't aim to provide conclusive results, but rather to explore the research topic from various angles to identify new problems, understand phenomena, or improve hypotheses. It usually employs qualitative methods like interviews, focus groups, and case studies, where researchers may engage in direct observation or interaction with subjects. Often, exploratory research is associated with the inductive process of finding patterns or new ideas in amassed data.
Conclusive research, on the other hand, aims to provide answers and offers a final result to research questions. It is driven predominantly by quantitative methods, such as surveys and experiments, to test specific hypotheses. Conclusive research relies heavily on structured data collection and often employs deductive reasoning to arrive at its conclusions. The goal here is often to recommend specific solutions or to decide between alternative options, supported by empirical evidence gathered through systematic testing and experimentation.
While exploratory research is more flexible and adaptive to the researcher's findings, conclusive research requires a more rigid structure, often following a linear progression towards a defined outcome. In practice, the research process may not always be linear, and scientists may transition between exploratory and conclusive research as they draw inferences and make generalizations during their work, often leading to new scientific questions.