RESEARCH DESIGNS AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

Research design:

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems.

Following picture presents and idea of various research designs.

Exploratory research:

These researches are meant to provide a basic understanding and insights about the topic studying. In an exploratory research, information needed is only defined loosely and the research processes are generally flexible according to the researcher and unstructured. Sample size are generally small and Qualitative methods are used for data collection. Findings are tentative and further studies might be required to validate the results.

Main uses of exploratory research: Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely

Identify alternative courses of action

Develop hypotheses

Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination

Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem

Establish priorities for further research

Exploratory research Methods:

Survey of experts

Pilot surveys

Secondary data analyzed in a qualitative way

Qualitative research

Conclusive research:

The main objective of conclusive research is to test specific hypotheses and examine

relationships. Information needed is clearly defined. Research process is formal and structured.

Sample is large and representative. Data analysis is quantitative. The results are conclusive and

are used as input into decision making. There are two types of conclusive researches. They are 1)

Descriptive research and 2) Causal research.

A comparison of three research designs are given below:

Use of Descriptive Research

To describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such as consumers, salespeople, organizations, or market areas.

To estimate the percentage of units in a specified population exhibiting a certain behavior.

To determine the perceptions of product characteristics.

To determine the degree to which marketing variables are associated.

To make specific predictions.

Descriptive Research Methods

Secondary data analyzed in a quantitative as opposed to a qualitative manner

Surveys

Panels

Observational and other data

Cross-sectional Designs

Cross sectional designs involve the collection of information from any given sample of population elements only once.

Generally there are two types of cross sectional designs.

• In single cross-sectional designs, there is only one sample of respondents and information is obtained from this sample only once.

• Eg: subject evaluation conducted at the end of every semester from a group of students by their teachers.

• In multiple cross-sectional designs, there are two or more samples of respondents, and information from each sample is obtained only once. Often, information from different samples is obtained at different times.

• Eg: If the teacher is teaching the same subject in various sections and he is evaluating his teaching from various sections from different group of students, he is conducting a multiple cross sectional design sample.

Longitudinal Designs

In a longitudinal design, a fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is measured repeatedly on the same variables.

A longitudinal design differs from a cross-sectional design in that the sample or samples remain the same over time

Eg: In order to understand the perception towards a Toyota car, 100 selected people were surveyed every 6 months of their product usage. Here the same respondents are surveyed a regular intervals and their difference in opinion towards a product usage is noted.

Uses of Casual Research

To understand which variables are the cause (independent variables) and which variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon

To determine the nature of the relationship between the causal variables and the effect to be predicted

METHOD: Experiments

Errors in Marketing Research

Errors in marketing researches refer to the variation between the true mean value in the population of the variable of interest and the observed mean value obtained in the marketing research project. Two types of errors can be observed.

Random sampling error is the variation between the true mean value for the population and the true mean value for the original sample.

Non-sampling errors can be attributed to sources other than sampling, and they may be random or nonrandom: including errors in problem definition, approach, scales, questionnaire design, interviewing methods, and data preparation and analysis. Non-sampling errors consist of non-response errors and response errors.

Random Sampling Error

Researcher draw different subjects from the same population, but the subjects have individual differences

A sample is only subset of the entire population; therefore, there may be a difference between the sample and population

Sampling error could vastly influence the data and lead people to draw incorrect conclusions.

How to minimize the random sampling error?

Lack of representativeness in a sample occurs due to the following reasons:

1. Sample size is inadequate

Solution: as sample size increase, it approaches the size of the entire population; therefore, also approaches all the characteristics of the population (decreasing sampling error)—using a large (enough) sample size

2. Biased sampling procedure

Example: selection error in mall-intercept data by using only convenience sampling

Solution: seek a sample that is free from bias and is representative of the entire population—apply unbiased probability sampling

Non-Sampling Errors

These are the errors occur in a marketing research due to the reasons other than the sample selection. This include errors in problem definition, approach, scales, questionnaire design, interviewing methods, and data preparation and analysis.

Non-response error arises when some of the respondents included in the sample do not respond.

Response error arises when respondents give inaccurate answers or their answers are mis-recorded or mis-analyzed.

Part II:

Marketing Research data

Following figure shows the various classifications of marketing research data.

Primary Data:

Primary data is a type of information that is obtained directly from first-hand sources by means of surveys, observation or experimentation. It is data that has not been previously published and is derived from a new or original research study and collected at the source such as in marketing.

Secondary Data:

Secondary data is all the information collected for purposes other than the completion of a research project and it’s used to gain initial insight into the research problem. It is classified in terms of its source – either internal or external.

Qualitative Data

Qualitative data is information which does not present itself in numerical form and is descriptive, appearing mostly in conversational or narrative form. A good example of qualitative data is an answer that describes how good a certain type of massage feels-such data cannot be quantified.

Following are the characteristics of qualitative data

Deals with descriptions. Data can be observed but not measured. Colours, textures, smells, tastes, appearance, beauty, etc.

Example 1:

Oil Painting

Qualitative data:

blue/green colour, gold frame smells old and musty texture shows brush strokes of oil paint peaceful scene of the country masterful brush strokes

Quantitative data:

Quantitative data is basically data measured on a numerical scale. It can be analyzed by using statistical methods and the results can be displayed using charts, histograms, tables and graphs.

Following are the characteristics of quantitative data:

Deals with numbers. Data which can be measured. Length, height, area, volume, weight, speed, time, temperature, humidity, sound levels,

cost, members, ages, etc.

Example 1:

Oil Painting

Quantitative data:

picture is 10" by 14" with frame 14" by 18" weighs 8.5 pounds Surface area of painting is 140 sq. in. cost $300

Qualitative Vs. Quantitative Research

Classification of Qualitative Research Procedures

Focus Groups

• Free-flow discussion among a homogeneous group of consumers (group needs to be large enough to generate rich discussion, but not so large that some participants are left out)

• Homogeneity is key to maximizing disclosure among focus group participants

– Gender—will both men and women feel comfortable discussing the topic in a mixed gender group?

– Age—how intimidating would it be for a young person to be included in a group of older adults?

• Led by a skilled moderator (to generate a maximum number of different ideas and opinions )

• Participant comments will stimulate and influence thinking and sharing of others

• Need more than one focus group to produce valid results—when not hearing anything new anymore

• Held at a central location facility (CLT)

• About 1 to 2 hours long

Focus groups are qualitative research, so:

• Not quantifiable

• No percentages or numerical data

• Results are not necessarily representative

• Important source of information

• Less structured, more exploratory

• In-depth understanding of perspectives or opinions

• Can capture subjective elements of respondents’ thoughts

Characteristics of Focus Groups

Focus Group Procedure

Focus Group Questions

May divided into three parts:

1. Engagement questions—introduce participants to and make them comfortable with the topic

2. Exploration questions—get to the meat of the discussion

3. Exit question—check to see if anything was missed in the discussion

Role of a Moderator in Focus Groups:

• Icebreaker—increase comfort and level of playing field

• Get all participants to talk and fully explain their answers by using some helpful probes like

– Can you talk about that more?

– Help me understand what you mean

– Can you give an example?

• Summarize and paraphrase long, complex or ambiguous comments

• Clarify comments for everyone in the group

• Remain neutral, refraining from nodding/raising eyebrows, agree/ disagreeing, or praising/denigrating any comment

Key Qualifications of Focus Group Moderators

1. Kindness with firmness: The moderator must combine a disciplined detachment with understanding empathy so as to generate the necessary interaction.

2. Permissiveness: The moderator must be permissive yet alert to signs that the group’s cordiality or purpose is disintegrating.

3. Involvement: The moderator must encourage and stimulate intense personal involvement.

4. Incomplete understanding: The moderator must encourage respondents to be more specific about generalized comments by exhibiting incomplete understanding.

5. Encouragement: The moderator must encourage unresponsive members to participate.

6. Flexibility: The moderator must be able to improvise and alter the planned outline amid the distractions of the group process.

7. Sensitivity: The moderator must be sensitive enough to guide the group discussion at an intellectual as well as emotional level.

Modern-Day Focus Group

• Savvy marketing researchers are listening by using various means/techniques

• Road trips, blogs, online forums, chat rooms and social networking sites (i.e., facebook)—not only engage the audience, also provide valuable research data and hopefully builds some positive word-of-mouth

• Faster and less expensive

Advantages of Online Focus Groups

Geographical constraints are removed and time constraints are lessened.

Unique opportunity to re-contact group participants at a later date.

Can recruit people not interested in traditional focus groups: doctors, lawyers, etc.

Moderators can carry on side conversations with individual respondents.

There is no travel, videotaping, or facilities to arrange so the cost is much lower.

Depth Interviews

Research technique conducted in person in the field (rather than in the researcher's office) by a

trained interviewer for the purpose of learning the motivation of consumers in the purchase

decision process. In the unstructured home environment, the interviewer interacts with

respondents and encourages them (usually in a one-on-one situation) to freely express their

opinions, ideas, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes. The objective is to go beyond the superficial

and to probe into consumer behavior. Depth interviews, along with focus group interviews, are

helpful in the evaluation of consumer reaction to a product or service.

Ladder interview

• Interviewing technique where a seemingly simple response to a question is pushed by the

interviewer in order to find subconscious motives.

• Begins with a simple question, and then another question is asked about that response.

Example:

It begins with a simple question, and then another question is asked about that response. For

example, an interviewer may ask: "How come you skipped class?" and the response may be: "I

went out with my friends". The next question would be something like "Why did you go out with

your friends?". Essentially, the format is as follows:

Interviewer: "Why x?"

Subject: "Because z"

Interviewer: "Why z?"

Subject: "Because b"

Interviewer: "Why b?"

The first responses are generally functional justifications, like "I went out with my friends

because I wanted some pizza", or "I wanted some pizza because I used to eat it as a child"; but

eventually the interviewer hopes to reach a virtue justification like "It's good to be childish".

Then it is fair to conclude that the interviewee skipped class because he valued childishness.

Focus Groups vs. Depth Interviews

Projective Techniques in Qualitative Analysis:

Projective techniques are unstructured, indirect form of questioning that encourages respondents

to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes or feelings regarding the issues of

concern.

In projective techniques, respondents are asked to interpret the behavior of others.

In interpreting the behavior of others, respondents indirectly project their own

motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings into the situation.

There are many types of projective techniques in practice. Some of them are given below:

1. Word Association

In word association, respondents are presented with a list of words, one at a time, and asked to

respond to each with the first word that comes to mind. The words of interest, called test words,

are interspersed throughout the list which also contains some neutral, or filler words to disguise

the purpose of the study. Responses are analyzed by calculating:

(1)  The frequency with which any word is given as a response;

(2)  The amount of time that elapses before a response is given; and

(3) The number of respondents who do not respond at all to a test word within a reasonable

period of time.

2. Sentence Completion Techniques

In sentence completion, respondents are given incomplete sentences and asked to complete

them. Generally, they are asked to use the first word or phrase that comes to mind.

A person who shops at Tesco Lotus is ______________________

A person who receives a gift certificate good for Central department store would be

__________________________________

 A person who have 3 credit cards is a person who would like to _________________________

When I think of shopping in a department store, I ________

A variation of sentence completion is paragraph completion, in which the respondent completes

a paragraph beginning with the stimulus phrase.

3. Story Completion

In story completion, respondents are given part of a story – enough to direct attention to a

particular topic but not to hint at the ending. They are required to give the conclusion in their

own words.

Example:

A man was shopping for a business suit in his favorite department store. After spending 45

minutes and trying several suits, he finally picked one he liked. As he was proceeding to the

check-out counter, he was approached by the sales person, who said, “Sir, at this time we have

high-quality suits on sale for the same price. Would you like to see them?”

What is the customer’s response? Why?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Construction Techniques

With a picture response, the respondents are asked to describe a series of pictures of ordinary as

well as unusual events. The respondent's interpretation of the pictures gives indications of that

individual's personality.

In cartoon tests, cartoon characters are shown in a specific situation related to the problem. The

respondents are asked to indicate what one cartoon character might say in response to the

comments of another character. Cartoon tests are simpler to administer and analyze than picture

response techniques.

5. Expressive Techniques

In expressive techniques, respondents are presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked

to relate the feelings and attitudes of other people to the situation.

Role playing Respondents are asked to play the role or assume the behavior of someone else.

Third-person technique The respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and the

respondent is asked to relate the beliefs and attitudes of a third person rather than directly

expressing personal beliefs and attitudes. This third person may be a friend, neighbor, colleague,

or a “typical” person.

Comparison of Focus Groups, Depth Interviews, and Projective Techniques