Marketing Chapter 5 Five Qualitative Research Tools Part Two Qualitative Research Tools Ataglance

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

Part Two

Chapter 5

Qualitative Research Tools

AT-A-GLANCE

I. Introduction: What Is Qualitative Research?

1. Uses of qualitative research

B. Qualitative “versus” quantitative research

II. Contrasting Qualitative with Quantitative Methods

III. Qualitative Research and Exploratory Research Designs

A. Idea generation

B. Probing

C. Concept testing

IV. Qualitative Research Orientations

A. Phenomenology

1. What is a phenomenological approach to research?

B. Ethnography

1. What is ethnography?

C. Grounded theory

1. What is grounded theory?

2. How is grounded theory used?

D. Case studies

1. What are case studies?

V. Common Techniques Used in Qualitative Research

A. Focus group interview

1. Advantages of focus group interviews

a. Speed and ease

2. Focus group illustration

3. Focus group respondents

a. Group composition

4. Environmental conditions

5. The focus group moderator

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

6. Focus groups as diagnostic tools

B. Depth interviews

1. Laddering

2. Depth interview procedure

C. Conversations

1. Semi-structured interviews

D. Free-association and sentence-completion methods

2. Collages

4. Projective research techniques

VI. Preparing a Focus Group Outline

A. Disadvantages of focus groups

VII. Modern Technology and Qualitative Research

A. Facilitating interviewing

1. Videoconferencing technologies

3. Online versus face-to-face focus group techniques

5. Field approaches for interpreting online text

a. Ethics

6. Software development

a. Interpretive software

b. Text mining

VIII. Exploratory Research in Science and in Practice

A. Misuses of exploratory qualitative research

1. Scientific decision processes

LEARNING OUTCOMES

2. Know the role of qualitative research in exploratory research designs.

4. Recognize common qualitative research tools and know the advantages and limitations of

their use.

6. Recognize ways social networking and the blogosphere provide opportunities for qualitative

research.

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

CHAPTER VIGNETTE: Off the Wall?

Vans shoes traditionally are synonymous with skateboarding and skateboard culture. A decade

before VF Corporation acquired the brand, Vans was practically a dead brand. However, the last

10 years has seen a revival in skateboard interest, and Vans has remained the number one

skateboard shoe provider. So, an essential research question is, “what is in the mind and heart of a

boarder?” These questions call for qualitative research methods, and one way to collect this data

is to hire young, energetic research employees to become “boarders” and immerse themselves

SURVEY THIS!

Surveys can be used to collect qualitative data. Students are asked to look at a question from the

survey, find at least three responses, and then try to interpret the results, explaining which

RESEARCH SNAPSHOTS

➢ The Other Side of the Coin

The Internet clearly has a nefarious side. Sometimes, negative information is not left by

actual customers of the products. Instead, individuals intentionally create negative

information, even if it is not true, in the hope that others may see it or that it will get

associated with the brand in search engine algorithms. Qualitative researchers may be able to

➢ “When Will I Ever Learn?”

A hermeneutic approach can be used to provide insight into car shopping experiences, which

uses a small number of consumers providing relatively lengthy stories about recent car

shopping experiences. The goal is to discover specific reasons for why certain car models are

eliminated from consideration. One consumer’s story enumerated the problems with the GM

➢ Research Knows Almost No Boundaries!

Large corporations are increasingly using qualitative research, including phenomenology,

ethnography, and grounded theory. Ford uses this type of research to come up with ideas for

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a

password-protected website for classroom use.

However, in Asian cultures, the slogan was changed to “Make Every Day Exciting!”

Grounded theory approaches are also being used to help companies better see into the future

by building predictive theories regarding value creation for consumers.

TIPS OF THE TRADE

➢ Qualitative research tools are most helpful when:

▪ The decision makers don’t know exactly what issues to take action on

▪ Some specific behavior needs to be studied in depth

➢ Focus group questions should start with more general questions and work to the more

specific.

➢ Don’t be afraid to use props such as advertisements, photos, or actual products to get

respondents talking.

OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

A. Describing Qualitative Research

2. Qualitative marketing research – addresses marketing objectives through

3. Less structured than most quantitative approaches

4. More researcher-dependent in that the researcher must extract meaning from

5. Uses of Qualitative Research

a. Generally, the less specific the research objective and/or when the emphasis

is on a deeper understanding of motivations or on developing novel concepts,

the more likely that qualitative research tools will be appropriate.

b. Commons situations that often call for qualitative research:

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

v. When a fresh approach to studying some problem is needed

c. Each of these situations also describes a situation that may require an

B. Qualitative “versus” Quantitative Research

2. Many good research projects combine both.

3. Quantitative marketing research – marketing research that addresses research

4. Quantitative research is more apt to stand on its own in the sense that it requires

less interpretation.

II. CONTRASTING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS

A. Exhibit 5.1 illustrates some differences between qualitative and quantitative research.

2. Qualitative researchers are more interested in observing, listening, and

interpreting.

3. Qualitative research usually involves a handful of consumers, which is

4. Qualitative is most often used in exploratory designs.

III. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND EXPLORATORY RESEARCH DESIGNS

1. Most exploratory research designs produce qualitative data.

D. Idea Generation

1. Exploratory research plays a big role in new product development, including

developing and screening new product ideas.

3. Can generate ideas for new products, advertising copy, promotional ideas, and

product improvement

4. Checklist for new ideas:

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a

password-protected website for classroom use.

b. Wilder is better

c. Do not judge

d. Question assumptions

E. Probing

2. Useful for any of the following reasons:

a. Clarification

b. Free-form thinking

F. Concept Testing

1. Concept testing is a frequently performed type of exploratory research

2. Allows an initial evaluation prior to committing additional research and

development, manufacturing, or other company resources

IV. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ORIENTATIONS

A. Orientations to qualitative research are very much influenced by the different fields

of study involved in research.

B. Major categories of qualitative research:

1. Phenomenology – originating in philosophy and psychology

3. Grounded theory – originating in sociology

4. Case studies – originating in psychology and in business research

C. Phenomenology

1. What Is a Phenomenological Approach to Research?

2. What Is Hermeneutics?

part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a

password-protected website for classroom use.

3. Word Clouds

a. A word cloud is a graphical depiction of the frequency with which words

D. Ethnography

1. What Is Ethnography?

a. Ethnography represents ways of studying cultures through methods that

involve becoming highly involved within that culture.

b. Participant-observation typifies this approach and means the researcher

B. Grounded Theory

1. What Is Grounded Theory?

a. Grounded theory represents an inductive investigation in which the

researcher poses questions about information provided by respondents or

taken from historical records.

d. Two key questions asked:

i. “What is happening here?”

ii. “How is it different?”

2. How Is Grounded Theory Used?

a. Analyzing several years of text can reveal underlying problems.

C. Case Studies

1. What Are Case Studies?

2. How Are Case Studies Used?

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a

password-protected website for classroom use.

c. Allows the researcher to study the order of events or to concentrate on

identifying relationships among functions, individuals, or entities

d. Often requires the cooperation of the party whose history is being studied

V. COMMON TECHNIQUES USED IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

A. Exhibit 5.4 lists characteristics of some common qualitative research techniques.

B. Focus Group Interview

1. A focus group interview is an unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small

group of people (usually 6-10 people).

3. A moderator begins by providing an opening statement to broadly steer

discussion in the intended direction.

5. Advantages of Focus Group Interviews

a. Relatively fast

b. Easy to execute

c. Allow respondents to piggyback off each other’s ideas – one respondent

stimulates thought among the others

6. Focus Group Illustration

7. Focus Group Respondents

a. Respondents should be screened based on some relevant characteristic.

b. Some consumers that fit the desired profile make poor focus group

participants because they are unwilling to express their views or because they

are overbearing.

part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a

password-protected website for classroom use.

2. Environmental Conditions

a. Facilities usually have videotape cameras in observation rooms behind two-

3. The Focus Group Moderator

a. A moderator is a person who leads a focus group interview and ensures that

everyone gets a chance to speak and contribute to the discussion.

4. Focus Groups As Diagnostic Tools

a. Focus groups can be helpful in later stages of a research project, particularly

when the findings from quantitative techniques raise more questions than

they answer.

b. Also an excellent diagnostic tool for spotting problems with ideas (i.e., idea

screening)

B. Depth Interviews

1. A depth interview is a one-on-one interview between a professional researcher

and a research respondent.

2. The interviewer’s role is critical, and he or she must be highly skilled and can

4. Laddering

a. Laddering is a particular approach to probing asking respondents to

5. Depth Interview Procedure

a. Interviews last more than an hour.

b. Each interview produces about the same amount of text as does a focus group

interview, which has to be analyzed and interpreted.

Chapter Five: Qualitative Research Tools

f. Similar costs compared to focus groups, but only if one or two interviews are

conducted.

C. Conversations

1. Conversations are an informal data gathering approach in which the researcher

engages a respondent in a discussion of the relevant subject matter.

3. Goal is to have the respondent produce a dialog about their lived experiences,

and meaning is extracted from that.

5. Computer-based consumer dialogs may enable the discovery of product problems

and ideas for overcoming them.

7. Prone to produce little relevant information since little effort is made to steer the

conversation

8. Data analysis is very much researcher dependent.

D. Semi-Structured Interviews

1. Usually come in written form and ask respondents for short essay-type responses

2. Advantages include:

a. An ability to address more specific issues

b. Responses are usually easier to interpret than other qualitative approaches

E. Free-Association and Sentence-Completion Methods

1. Free-association techniques record a respondent’s first (top-of-mind) cognitive

reactions to some stimulus (e.g., Rorschach or inkblot test).

3. The sentence completion method requires respondents to complete a few partial

4. Effective for finding out what is on a respondent’s mind, but the ability to probe

for meaning is not possible

6. Sometimes used in conjunction with other approaches (e.g., used as an icebreaker

in a focus group interview)

F. Observation

1. The participant-observer approach typifies how observation can be used to

explore various issues.

3. May also take place in visual form (e.g., observing consumers in their homes)

4. Advantageous for gaining insight into things that respondents cannot or will not

verbalize

G. Collages

1. Respondents’ collages that represent their experience with some good, service, or