Exploratiiviseen

Exploratiiviseen is the illative singular form of the Finnish adjective exploratiivinen, a loanword meaning exploratory or aimed at exploration. The term describes approaches, phases, or analyses that focus on investigation and discovery rather than testing predefined hypotheses. In Finnish academic and scientific language, exploratiivinen describes methods and studies intended to explore phenomena openly and generate new insights.

The illative form exploratiiviseen is used to express “into an exploratory [phase/study/approach].” For example, expressions such as “exploratiiviseen tutkimukseen” refer to moving into an exploratory study, and “exploratiiviseen lähestymistapaan” refers to adopting an exploratory approach. The concept is commonly applied in fields like research design, data analysis, and method development to distinguish early-stage, open-ended inquiry from confirmatory or explanatory work.

Orthography varies in Finnish between exploratiivinen/eksploratiivinen forms. Some texts use eksploratiivinen or eksploratiivinen as the base adjective, with corresponding illative forms eksploratiiviseen or eksploratiiviseen. The form used can depend on stylistic conventions or publisher preferences, but all convey the same general idea of an open-ended, exploratory orientation in research or practice.

See also: exploratory data analysis, exploratory research, research design, data collection methods.