Ada beberapa ciri-ciri atau karakteristik yang dimiliki oleh penelitian kualitatif. Menurut Litchman dikutip Putra dan Dwilestari (2016) ada sepuluh ciri-ciri penelitian kualitatif, (1) yaitu description, understanding, and interpretation, (2) dynamic, (3) no single way of doing something, (4) inductive thinking, (5) holistic, (6) variety of data in natural setting, (7) role of the researcher. (8) in-depth study, (9) words, themes, and writing, dan
(10) nonliniear. Di sisi lain, Bogdan & Biklen dikutip Putra dan Dwilestari (2016) menyebut karakteristik penelitian kualitatif adalah naturalistic, descriptive data, concern with process, inductive, dan meaning