Qualitative Methods + Ch6

Question 1

Qualitative Research characteristics

Answer 1

Less structured questions where researchers collect data from observation
Longer, more flexible interaction with fewer respondents
Good for problem exploration

Question 2

Quantitative Research characteristics

Answer 2

Structured questions with predetermined answers
Shorter, more similar interaction with more respondents
Good for problem description and solving

Question 3

Qualitative methods

Answer 3

Indepth interviews
Focus groups
Projective techniques
Observation
Ethnography
Open-ended responses

Question 4

Indepth interviews (IDIs)

Answer 4

Very loosely structured, 1-1 conversation
Lots of detail and no group pressure
May be hard to recognize patterns between interviews
Small sample sizes, cannot generalize to population

Question 5

Focus group

Answer 5

Moderator leads in-depth discussion (approx 8-12 participants)
Emphasis on group dynamics, interaction, open discussion
Can probe deeply and see group dynamics, but can be non-representative or swayed by group dynamics

Question 6

Projective tests

Answer 6

Ambiguous, loosely structured activities to get at respondents’ interpretations, attitudes, feelings, etc
Can reveal “unknown” attitudes and feelings but can be biased and hard to quantify

eg:
Word association
Personification
Sentence completion
Story completion
Photo sorts

Question 7

Observation

Answer 7

Systematic process of recording patterns without directly communicating with the people involved. Behaviour should be repetitive, frequent, or predictable

*exception of mystery shoppers

Question 8

Phenomenon of interest

Answer 8

Observable or inferable from behaviour that is observable
eg: why do people choose AC over Westjet? is not observable behaviour

Question 9

Observation methodologies (DONH)

Answer 9

Direct or indirect
Open or disguised
Natural or contrived
Human or machine

Question 10

Direct vs indirect observation

Answer 10

Current behaviour vs past behaviour
eg: do consumers in certain areas recycle less than others? (observing remnants of behaviour, not as it is happening)

Question 11

Open vs disguised observation

Answer 11

Does the person being observed know they are being watched or not?

Question 12

Natural vs contrived environment observation

Answer 12

Is the area of observation public or a controlled simulated/lab?

eg: recruiting people to do their shopping in a simulated supermarket environment

Question 13

Human vs machine observation

Answer 13

Observation done by humans or machines

eg: one-way mirror observations vs store cameras, gps trackers

eg: mystery shoppers

Question 14

Ethnography

Answer 14

Study of human behaviour in its natural context
Gives researchers opportunity to delve into consumers’ lives
Researcher as a participant observer can witness what people say and do

Question 15

Ethnographic research

Answer 15

Descriptive study of a group and its behaviours, characteristics, and culture

Question 16

Machine observation examples

Answer 16

Eye tracking
fMRI
Galvanic skin response
Wearable tech

Question 17

Mixed methods research

Answer 17

Integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods, with the aim of gaining the advantages of both

Question 18

Three types of mixed methods research

Answer 18

Qualitative before quantitative
Quantitative before qualitative
Qualitative and quantitative concurrently

Question 19

Archives

Answer 19

Secondary sources that can be applied to a present problem

Question 20

Physical traces

Answer 20

Tangible evidence of some past event

Question 21

Advantages of observation

Answer 21

Insight into actual, not hypothetical behaviours
Doesn’t depend on willingness of respondent
Information can be gathered more quickly vs survey
No chance for recall error

Question 22

Disadvantages of observations

Answer 22

Small number of subjects
Subjective interpretations
Inability to pry beneath behaviour observed
Motivations, attitudes, and other internal conditions are unobserved
Findings are not projectable into the future

Question 23

Advantages of focus groups

Answer 23

Generate fresh ideas
Allow clients to observe participants
Directed at understanding a wide variety of issues
Easy access to special respondent groups such as lawyers or doctors (hard to find a representative sample of these groups)

Question 24

Disadvantages of focus groups

Answer 24

Can’t be generalized
Success dependent on moderator
Difficult to interpret some results of focus groups

Question 25

Laddering

Answer 25

A technique used in IDIs in an attempt to discover how product attributes are associated with desired consumer values

Question 26

Protocol analysis

Answer 26

Places people in a decision making situation and asks them to verbalize everything they consider is their decision

Question 27

Thematic analysis

Answer 27

Examining qualitative data to uncover themes or common patterns across the data

Question 28

Substantiating example

Answer 28

An example from qualitative data that provides evidence for a theme