laadullisia

Laadullisia is a Finnish adjective form used to describe things in terms of quality. It is the plural partitive form of laadullinen, meaning “quality-related” or “pertaining to quality.” In Finnish grammar, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, and when the direct object is plural in the partitive, the adjective takes the ending -isia, producing laadullisia.

The term is commonly used in academic, market, and evaluative contexts to refer to attributes that are descriptive rather than numerical. For example, laadullisia tutkimusmenetelmiä ("qualitative research methods"), laadullisia ominaisuuksia ("quality-related features"), and laadullisia arvioita ("qualitative assessments"). It is often contrasted with määrällisiä, which denotes quantity-based or numerical data and approaches.

Etymology-wise, laadullinen derives from laatu (quality) with the suffix -llinen, which forms adjectives indicating possession of a trait. The plural partitive ending -isia allows the word to modify plural, indefinite objects in a partitive construction. This form is encountered across written and spoken Finnish, particularly when discussing data types, research designs, or evaluations that focus on descriptions, characteristics, or subjective judgments rather than counts or measurements.

In usage, careful distinction between laadullisia and kvantitatiivisia or määrällisiä is common in research reporting. Correct word choice helps signal whether the discussion centers on quality attributes or numerical quantities.

See also: laadullinen data, määrällinen data, kvantitatiivinen, kvalitatiivinen.