Have you tried the "Contains" filter on a report?
You can create a report that asks the user for a value. If you select, "Is equal to" QB tries to match selections made by the users exactly. Instead, try choosing the options "Contains".
You can also create a selection of dynamic filters that the user may click on to filter the information that displays in a report. This would allow your users to select values present in your data, and restrict an expand that data based on their selection.