This Page was adapted from the Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper guide done by Dr. Robert V. Labaree from the Von KleinSmid Center Library for International and Public Affairs at USC.
Definition and Purpose
An exploratory design is conducted about a research problem when there are few or no earlier studies to refer to. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later investigation or undertaken when problems are in a preliminary stage of investigation.
The goals of exploratory research are intended to produce the following possible insights:
What do these studies tell you?
What these studies don't tell you?