Exploratory Research Flashcards
Different Data Collection Methods
Primary Data
Secondary Data
Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary Data
+ Recent
+ Specific for the Purpose
- usually more expensive
- take longer to collect
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data
\+ Tend to be Cheaper \+ Sample Sizes larger \+ Quick to Access - May be outdated - May not completely fit to the problem - Maybe errors in data -> difficult to check correctness
External Secondary Data: When to Use them? [research]
If research topic requires data e.g. about the market or competitors
What means quantitative Data? 2 Methods; How is it presented?
If all possible vales of experiment could be known before;
Methods: surveys, experiments
-> Data is presented in values
What means qualitative data? 2 Methods;
How is it presented?
If possible values could not be known before; Methods: focus groups, observational studies
-> May be presented in all other forms than quantitative data
Secondary data collection methods
Literature Search
Experience survey
Case analysis
Primary data collection methods
Surveys
Observations
Different types of surveys
Focus Groups
Personal Interviews
Projective techniques
Different types of obervations
Observation studies
Ethnography (participating observations)
Test markets
Definition Focus Groups
Simultanous involvement of multiple respondents
-> data collection through group interactions
Why using Focus Groups?
Information
Interaction
Efficency
Process of group discussion
- ) Unfamiliarity -> Opening Questions
- ) Orientation -> Leading Questions
- ) Alignment -> Reconciliation Questions
- ) Familiarity -> Key Questions
- ) Compliance -> Closing Questions
- ) Subside -> Retrospective Question
3 Pros and 2 Cons of online focus groups
\+ convenience for participants \+ transcripts immediatly available \+ lower costs - expressions are completely verbal -> no body language - conversation is more unnatural
Limitations of focus groups at process
- Group members affect each other (uneven participation, aggressive p.)
- Moderator affects group members (unwittingly sending cues
concerning favorability)
Limitations of focus groups at Generalizability of findings
- Most useful to produce new results
- Not generalizable to larger population
Definition Personal Interview
Personal and verbal survey using mainly open questions
Why using personal interviews?
Individuality
Deeper Understanding
Flexibility
Unstructured interview forms
Narrative -> talk about lived experiences
Exploratory -> looking for subjectively relevant opinions and attitudes towards the research problem
Expert interviews -> Form of exploratory
Structured interview forms
Focused -> Relates to experienced situation
In-Depth -> Looking for possibly unconscious schematic structures
Definition Projective interview techniques
Use an ambiguous stimulous that an individual is asked to describe
6 Projective interview techniques
Word association Sentence completion Story telling -> pictorial material Third person technique Laddering Critical incident technique
What is laddering? (Projective interview technique)
Explores individuals opinion and attitude Structure of questions: 1. About product attributes 2. About impact of product usage 3. about personal values -> Focus on „Why“
Comparing focus groups and in-depth interviews
-> 2 Characteristics for each and both
Focus Groups:
Group dynamics more creative
Relatively cheap
Both:
Qualitative
Flexible
Interviews:
Not influenced by others
Expensive
Definition observational studies
Watching what people do; looking at behavioral patterns and actions
Why (not) using observational studies?
Actual data -> but: could be biased
Unconscious behavior
No attitudinal values -> only recording observable behavior
Definition Ethnography
Long observation of consumer behavior during their ordinary daily life
-> aims to understand a group of interacting people
Why using Ethnography?
Realism
Holistic Approach -> Gives a context for explaining observations
Observe subcultures
Definition test markets
Experiment is done in a small section of the market place, with the goal of predicting sales results of some proposed marketing actions
How does test markets work?
Works in simulated test market? -> Works in standard test market? -> National Rollout
Possibilities of qualitative data evaluation
- free interpretation: Text-?-interpretation
- sequential analysis: analyzing texts afterwards- interpretation
- coding: codes-coded text-analysis-interpretation;
- Qualitative content analysis: Text-Search Grid [Gitter]-Extract of results-
analysis-interpretation
=> Explanation
Coding Steps
- ) Open Coding
- ) Axial Coding
- ) Selective Coding
Analytical Triad
Theoretical sample
Coding
Writing of Memos
Characteristics is theoretical sampling?
- Let the research guide the data collection
- basis are concepts, not persons
- Continuously evaluate data and decide how to continue
- Try to confirm or falsify the hypothesis
- Continues untill all categories are satuated
Purpose and Speciality of theoretical sampling
Purpose: Process for getting theory
Speciality: Sample sizes and structures cannot be predicted
