An explanatory study is undertaken when not much is known about the situation at hand, or when no information is available on how similar problems or research issues have been solved in the past. In such cases, extensive preliminary work needs to be done to gain familiarity with the phenomena in the situation, and understand what is occurring, before we develop a model and set up a rigorous design for comprehensive investigation.

In essence, exploratory studies are undertaken to better comprehend the nature of the problem, since very few studies might have been conducted in that area. Extensive interviews with many people might have to be undertaken to get a handle on the situation and to understand more rigorous research can proceed.