Market Research Methods

TYPES OF DATAP

rim

ary

dat

a • 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

Seco

nd

ary

dat

a • 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.

• is easily accessible, relatively inexpensive, quickly obtained

• their usefulness to the problem at hand may be limited.

PRIMARY DATAAdvantages• The investigator collects data specific to the problem under study.• There is no doubt about the quality of the data collected (for the

investigator).• If required, it may be possible to obtain additional data during the study

period.

Disadvantages (for reluctant/ uninterested investigators):1. The investigator has to contend with all the hassles of data collection-• deciding why, what, how, when to collect• getting the data collected (personally or through others)• getting funding and dealing with funding agencies• ethical considerations (consent, permissions, etc.)2. Ensuring the data collected is of a high standard-• all desired data is obtained accurately, and in the format it is required in• there is no fake/ cooked up data• unnecessary/ useless data has not been included3. Cost of obtaining the data is often the major expense in studies

SECONDARY DATAAdvantages• The data’s already there- no hassles of data collection• It is less expensive• The investigator is not personally responsible for the

quality of data (“I didn’t do it”)

Disadvantages (for reluctant/ uninterested investigators):• The investigator cannot decide what is collected (if

specific data about something is required, for instance).• One can only hope that the data is of good quality• Obtaining additional data (or even clarification) about

something is not possible (most often)

Qualitative Research Procedures

• Qualitative research is an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples which provides insights and understanding of the problem setting.

Focus Groups

In-depth Interviews

Other procedures

FOCUS GROUPSDescription• A focus group is an informal interview or discussion with a

small group of respondents, about a certain topic, which islead by a trained moderator. The purpose of the project isdisclosed to all members of the group and the moderatorthen listens to the groups’ discussion about that topic. It isused to learn about the attitudes of respondents on thesubject in question.

Characteristics:• A focus group should consist of 8-10 respondents who vary

in terms of demographic and socioeconomic background. Itshould last approximately 1-3 hours and the use ofaudiocassettes and videotapes are encouraged. Themoderator must be sensitive, flexible and encourage andinvolve everyone in the group.

FOCUS GROUPSAdvantages & Disadvantages• A greater insight is obtained from a group than from an

individual response as one person’s opinion can triggeranother’s. Also when participants can relate to the opinions ofothers they feel comfortable expressing their own ideas. Ideasare more likely to arise out of the blue in a group situationrather than an individual interview and observers can witnessthe session and record it for later analysis. Since a number ofindividuals are being interviewed at the same time, datacollection and analysis can proceed relatively quickly.However the results can often be mistaken as conclusiverather than exploratory and the quality of results depends onthe skills of the moderator. Focus group data tends to beunorganised and “messy” and can be susceptible to bias fromthe client or researcher. Lastly it must be noted that focusgroups are not representative of the general population andare not projectable.

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

Description:

• An in-depth interview is 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.

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

Utilised• In-depth interviews are used when confidential information

or the detailed probing of a respondent are required. They are also used when interviewing a person who is likely to be swayed or unlikely to provide information in a group type situation, for example, a competitor.

Advantages & Disadvantages• In-depth interviews can uncover a great depth of insights

and respondents are more likely to offer free information on a one-to-one basis. However, skilled interviewers can be expensive and hard to find and data can be susceptible to bias. Also the combination of the length of the interview with the cost means the number of interviews will be small.

OTHER QUALITIVE RESEARCH METHODS PROCEDURES

• Association Techniques: where the respondent ispresented with a stimulus and asked to respond withthe first thing that comes to mind.

• Completion Techniques: where the respondent isrequired to complete an incomplete stimulussituation, examples include completion of sentences orstories.

• Expressive Techniques: where the respondents arepresented with a verbal or visual situation and asked torelate the feelings and attitudes of other people to thesituation, for example role plays.

These techniques should be used for exploratoryresearch to gain initial insight and understanding andare usually used when the required information cannotbe accurately obtained by direct methods.

Quantitative Research Procedures

• Quantitative research methodology seeks to quantify the data and applies some form of statistical analysis.

Telephone Interviews

Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing

Personal In-Home Interviews

Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing

Mail Interviews

Mail Panels

Internet Surveys

TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS• This method involves a sample of respondents being

telephoned and asked a number of questions by aninterviewer, who records their responses on paperquestionnaires.

COMPUTER ASSISTED TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING• In this case the interviewer sits in front of a computer screen

wearing a headset. The computer dials the telephone numberon command and the interviewer reads the questions, whichare generated by the mainframe computer, from the screen.He or she enters the responses directly into the computer’smemory. This method means that interviewing time isreduced, data quality is enhanced and numerous steps in thedata collection process, coding of questionnaires and dataentry is eliminated. Also, due to the fact that responses areentered directly into the computer, results can be providedalmost instantly.

PERSONAL IN-HOME INTERVIEWS

• It is the interviewer’s responsibility to record therespondents’ answers while interviewing them face-to-face in their home. This technique can be costly.

COMPUTER-ASSISTED PERSONAL INTERVIEWING

• In this method each respondent sits in front of acomputer and completes the questions that appearon the screen using the mouse or keyboard. CAPIreduces interviewing time and is more interesting torespondents. Answers will also be more varied andless inhibited as respondents would not feelembarrassed in front of an interviewer.

MAIL INTERVIEWS• There is no verbal interaction between the researcher and the

respondent in this method, respondents simply complete thequestionnaire they receive by mail and return it in theenvelope provided. Before questionnaires are sentout, mailing lists of respondents must be obtained, this cantake copious amounts of time if there is a large population.Questionnaires must be designed to maximize the number ofresponses, therefore the layout and the questions asked areof vital importance. For example, people are less likely toanswer questions of a personal nature. Mail surveys are usedfor a variety of purposes such as the measurement ofadvertising effectiveness.

MAIL PANELS• Households are offered incentives in return for their

participation in periodic mail questionnaires, producttests, and telephone surveys.

INTERNET SURVEYS• This type of survey is presented to respondents on a

computer screen. Instructions explain the procedure foranswering ensuing questions and are often accompanied byone or more sample questions and answers. It is usually atthis point that respondents will proceed to answer thequestions provided. When respondents complete thesurvey, their answers are stored in a computer file forsubsequent analysis. This method of data collection allowsautomated data entry, thus analysis can commence earlier.Internet surveys can be designed to reject out-of-range ormissing data thus maximizing the accuracy of responses. Alsothe responses on an internet survey are much clearer to readthan responses in hand writing. The internet is not accessibleto everybody and hence a representative sample of thegeneral population cannot be drawn using this method.However, it is useful for surveying business to business or anygroups that are internet users or have internet access.

INFOQ VIET NAMAdd: 118 Nguyen Ngoc Nai, Thanh Xuan, Ha NoiTel: (04) 3566-8180Email: infoq@runsystem.net; quynhdtx@runsystem.netWebsite: http://infoq.vn/business/home