While we love the allure of large numbers and the confidence instilled by small P values, we should remember that within the variables we count, there is variation and nuance that can be critically important to our understanding of how we provide surgical care and ways to improve it.¹ Unlike most quantitative methods that provide a 50 000-foot view, qualitative analysis starts from the ground and moves up. While we undoubtedly gain valuable knowledge from quantitative analyses, the goal of qualitative research is to understand not just how often, but why and how a phenomenon occurs by describing in rich detail procedures, processes, and relationships. Particularly in clinical domains like surgery, even the most advanced quantitative methods and the use of big data will leave us with residual questions about how to identify a specific path forward to address study findings. Thus, qualitative analysis can expose critical details and characterize events and concepts.