方法对比

	解释性研究	描述性研究
领域	研究设计	研究设计
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	1960s–1980s (codified in behavioral and social science methodology)	Late 19th century; formalized in social/behavioral sciences ~1960s–1980s
提出者	Formalized by Earl Babbie and Fred Kerlinger among others	Francis Galton, Karl Pearson (early empirical tradition); formalized in social science by Fred Kerlinger
类型	Non-experimental quantitative research design	Non-experimental quantitative research design
开创性文献	Kerlinger, F. N. (1986). Foundations of Behavioral Research (3rd ed.). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN: 978-0030417559	Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Sage. ISBN: 978-1452226101
别名	analytical research, causal research, explanatory study, explanatory quantitative research	descriptive study, descriptive survey design, observational descriptive research, non-experimental descriptive research
相关	5	3
摘要	Explanatory research is a non-experimental quantitative research design that goes beyond describing a phenomenon to identifying why it occurs — examining the relationships or mechanisms that account for observed patterns. Rooted in positivist social science methodology, it uses theory-driven hypotheses and statistical analysis to test whether specific variables explain variation in an outcome, without necessarily manipulating those variables.	Descriptive research is a non-experimental quantitative design that systematically documents the characteristics, frequencies, or distributions of variables in a defined population at a given point in time. It answers 'what is' questions — who, what, when, where, and how much — without manipulating variables or drawing causal conclusions. It is one of the most widely used research designs across the social, behavioral, health, and education sciences.