Market Research Ch. 5 - Exploratory Research Design: Qualitative Research Flashcards
What are the differences between Qualitative and Quantitative Research?
Qualitative Research
1. To gain a qualitative understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations
2. Small number of nonrepresentative cases
3. Unstructured, Nonstatistical
4. Develops an initial understanding
Quantitative Research
1. To quantify the data and generalize the results from the sample to the population of interest
2. Large number of representative cases
3. Structured, statistical
4. Recommend a final course of action
Rational for using Qualitative Research
- Structure and formality doesn’t always work.
- Respondent unwillingness error or inability error
- Questions that appeal to the subconscious
Qualitative Research Procedures
Direct
1. Focus Groups
2. Depth Interviews
Indirect (Disguised)
1. Projective Techniques
a. Association techniques
b. Completion Techniques
c. Construction Techniques
d. Expressive Techniques
Direct Approach
One type of qualitative research in which the purposes of the project are disclosed to the respondent or are obvious, given the nature of the interview
Indirect Approach
A type of qualitative research in which the purposes of the project are disguised from the respondents
Focus Group
An interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents in an unstructured and natural manner
Characteristics of a Focus Group
- 8 - 12 respondents
- Homogenous (similar characteristics) group composition
- Respondents are prescreened
- Relaxed, informal atmosphere
- 1- 3 hours time period
- Recorded
- Moderator is observational, interpersonal, and communicable
Procedure for planning and conducting focus groups
- Determine the objectives of the marketing research project and define the problem
- Specify the objectives of qualitative research
- State the objectives/questions to be answered by focus groups
- Write a screening questionnaire
- Develop a moderator’s outline
- Conduct the focus group interviews
- Review tapes and analyze the data
- Summarize the findings and plan follow-up research or action
How many focus groups should you do?
Enough to establish a pattern (or at least 2)
Advantages of focus groups (10 Ss)
- Synergism - Wider range of ideas and responses from respondents
- Snowballing - One comment by respondent triggers chain reaction from others
- Stimulation - Respondents become more excited as focus group progresses
- Security - Respondents feel similar to the others; ergo, more willing to share opinions and ideas
- Spontaneity - spontaneous and unconventional answers
- Serendipity - Completely different ideas are more likely to arise.
- Specialization - Use of expensive interviewer is justified
- Scientific Scrutiny - Can be observed in detail via researcher presence of recording
- Structure - Flexibility in topics covered and depth of detail
- a number of people interviewed at same time, so faster
Disadvantages of Focus Groups (5 Ms)
Misuse: Data collected may be considered conclusive rather than exploratory
Misjudge: Susceptible to client and researcher biases and misjudgements
Moderation: Difficult to moderate; Good moderator difficult to find
Messy: Very unstructured; difficult to analyze, interpret, etc.
Misrepresentation: Not representative of population or projectible; can’t be sole basis for decision making
Substantive Applications of Focus Groups
- Understanding consumers’ perceptions, preferences, and behavior concerning a product category
- Obtaining impressions of new product concepts.
- Generating new ideas about older products
- Developing creative concepts and copy material for ads
- Securing price impressions
- Obtaining preliminary consumer reaction to specific marketing programs
Methodological Applications of Focus Groups
- Defining a problem more precisely
- Generating alternative courses of action
- Developing an approach to a problem
- Obtaining info helpful in structuring consumer questionnaires
- Generating hypotheses that can be tested quantitatively
- Interpreting previously obtained quantitative results
Online Focus Groups
Same as Focus groups but online
Emotion expressed through text or emojis
Body language can’t be monitored
4-6 participants
Not limited by boundaries
Depth interviews
An unstructured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic
Characteristics of Depth Interviews
Time: 30 min. to over an hour
Probing questions; dig deeper (“why do you think that way?”)
Depth interview techniques
Laddering: A technique for conducting depth interviews in which a line of questioning proceeds from product characteristics to user characteristics
Hidden Issue Questioning: A type of depth interview that attempts to locate personal sore spots related to deeply felt personal concerns
Symbolic Analysis: A technique for conducting depth interviews in which the symbolic meanings of objects are analyzed by comparing them with their opposites
Depth interview advantages and disadvantages
Advantages: No social pressure; private; responses directly attributable to each participant
Disadvantages: More Expensive; heavily dependent on interviewer’s skills; subject to interviewer influence; slow and time-consuming process
Applications of depth interviews
Getting detailed response
Any situation that that favors isolating respondents for the sake of accuracy or respondent comfort
Grounded Theory
An inductive and more structured approach in which each subsequent depth interview is adjusted based on the cumulative findings from previous depth interviews with the purpose of developing general concepts or theories
Protocol Interview
An interview in which a respondent is placed in a decision-making situation and asked to verbalize the process and the activities that he or she would undertake to make the decision
Projective Technique
An unstructured and indirect form of questioning that encourages the respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding the issues of concern
Association Techniques
A type of projective technique in which the respondent is presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind
Word Association (Association Technique)
A projective technique in which respondents are presented with a list of words, one at a time. After each word, they are asked to give the first word that comes to mind.
Completion Technique
A projective technique that requires the respondent to complete an incomplete stimulus situation
Sentence Completion: A projective technique in which respondents are presented with a number of incomplete sentences and asked to complete them.
Story Completion: A projective technique in which the respondents are provides with part of a story and required to give the conclusion in their own words
Construction Techniques
A projective technique in which the respondent is required to construct a response in the form of a story, dialogue, or description
Picture Response Technique: A projective technique in which the respondent is shown a picture and asked to tell a story describing it.
Cartoon Tests: A projective technique in which cartoon characters are shown in a specific situation related to the problem. The respondents are asked to indicate the dialogue that one cartoon character might make in response to the comments of another character
Expressive Techniques
Projective techniques in which the respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and attitudes of other people to the situation
Role Playing: A projective technique in which respondents are asked to assume the behavior of someone else.
Third-Person Technique: A projective technique in which the respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to related the beliefs and attitudes of a third person to the situation
Guidelines for Projective Techniques
- Required info isn’t attainable via direct methods
- Used for exploratory research
- Complex; shouldn’t be used naively
Advantages and disadvantages of Projective Techniques
Advantages: Similar to Rational for Qualitative Research
Disadvantages: Requires skilled interpreters; may not represent overall population
