Consider the question 'Why does stressful living result in heart attacks?' Such questions look at the relationship between two aspects of a situation, namely the 'how' and the 'why'. Which kind of research helps in this situation?

Studying how and why stressful living causes heart attacks calls for explanatory research.

Exploratory research only gains initial familiarity with a new problem.

A descriptive study reports what exists without explaining why.

Ethnographic research describes a culture's shared behaviour.

Explanatory research identifies causes and mechanisms behind a relationship.

It builds on prior descriptive and exploratory work.