Chapter 8 Summary

Identify the fundamental differences between qualitative and quantitative research designs and explain their appropriateness in creating useful managerial information.

In business problem or opportunity situations where secondary information alone cannot answer management's questions, attention must turn to collecting primary data and transforming them into usable information. Researchers can choose between two types of data collection methods: qualitative or quantitative. There are many differences between these two approaches with respect to their research objectives and goals, type of research, type of questions, time of execution, representativeness of (or generalizability to) large target populations, type of analysis, and researcher skill requirements.

Moreover, qualitative methods focus on generating exploratory, preliminary insights into decision problems and opportunities. Qualitative methods focus on collecting detailed amounts of data from relatively small samples by questioning or observing what people do and say. These methods require the use of researchers well trained in interpersonal communication, observation, and interpretation. The data are normally collected using open-ended or nonstructured questioning formats that allow for either depth probing of hidden attitudes, feelings, or behavior patterns or human/mechanical observation techniques for current behaviors or events. While the data can be collected in short periods of time, they are difficult to analyze and transform into generalized inferences about the larger defined target group.

In contrast, quantitative (or survey) research methods place heavy emphasis on using formalized, standard, structured questioning practices where the response options have been predetermined by the researcher. These questions tend to be administered to significantly large numbers of respondents. Quantitative methods are directly related to descriptive and conclusive (or causal) types of research projects where the objectives or goals are either to make more accurate predictions about relationships between market factors and behaviors or to verify (or validate) the existence of relationships. Quantitative researchers are well trained in construct development, scale measurements, questionnaire designs, sampling, and statistical data analyses.

Describe and explain two popular qualitative techniques used in gathering raw primary data.

While there are many qualitative methods available for collecting data, this chapter focuses on in-depth interviews and focus group interviews. An in-depth interview is a formalized process of asking a subject a set of semistructured, probing questions in a face-to-face setting. Focus group interviews involve bringing a small group of people together for an interactive and spontaneous discussion of one particular topic or concept. While the success of in-depth interviewing depends heavily on the interpersonal communication and probing skills of the interviewer, success in focus group interviewing relies more on the group dynamics of the members, the willingness of members to engage in an interactive dialogue, and the moderator's abilities to keep the discussion on track.

Both types of questioning approaches are guided by similar research objectives: (1) to provide data for defining and redefining marketing problem or opportunity situations; (2) to identify specific hidden information requirements; (3) to provide data for better understanding the results from other quantitative survey studies; (4) to reveal and understand consumers' hidden needs, wants, attitudes, feelings, behaviors, perceptions, and motives regarding services, products, or practices; (5) to generate new ideas about products, services, or delivery methods; (6) to discover new constructs and measurement methods; and (7) to better understand changing consumer preferences.

Explain the basic pros and cons of using qualitative methods of developing data structures.

The general advantages of qualitative research methods include the economy and timeliness of data collection; richness of the data; accuracy of recording marketplace behaviors; and preliminary insights into building models and scale measurements. The potential disadvantages include the lack of generalizability of the data to larger target groups; inability of the data to distinguish small differences; lack of data reliability; and difficulty of finding well-trained investigators, interviewers, and observers.

Explain what focus groups are, the importance of a moderator, and how the resulting data are transformed into information.

A focus group is a small group of people (6 to 12) brought together for an interactive, spontaneous discussion. The three phases of a focus group study are planning the study, conducting the actual focus group discussions, and analyzing and reporting the results. In planning a focus group, critical decisions have to be made regarding who should participate, how to select and recruit the appropriate participants, what size the group should be, what incentives to offer to encourage and reinforce participants' willingness and commitment to participate, and where the group sessions should be held. Exhibit 8.10 lists important traits of the focus group moderator, and Exhibit 8.11 illustrated a moderator's guide. There are different analysis techniques appropriate for creating data structures and interpreting the results, and the results can be written up in a professional report format.