Qualitative Research and Observation

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Qualitative Research and Observation

• Chapter 7

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Indirect Interviews and Qualitative Research

• The principle of projection a subject is given a
  non-personal, ambiguous situation and asked to
  describe it, expand on it, or build a structure
  around it.
• Examples word association, sentence completion,
  interpretation of images, etc.
• Projection techniques are designed to bypass
  peoples built-in censoring mechanisms useful in
  eliciting information about sensitive
  topics/products.
• Electronic technology has had an impact on
  qualitative research
• Advanced Neurotechnologies, Incs
  brainwave-to-computer interface that measures
  direct emotional response. (known as MindTrack)

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• Qualitative research offers a vivid, visceral
  recognition that affects, on a very deep level,
  how clients see, feel about and their customers
  from then on.

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Focus Groups Interviews

• Widely used in exploratory research
• Other applications
• Exposure to consumers for firsthand knowledge
• Idea generation for management consideration
• Concept development and screening
• Tests of communication materials
• Establishment of opinion leader panels
• They work best when used with quantitative
  methodologies

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Focus groups types

• Raymond Johnson (1988)
• Exploratory studies of consumer lifestyles and
  probing to just find out whats on the
  consumers minds these days.
• Concept testing studies of how a group interprets
  the idea of a new product.
• Habits and usage studies which are framed around
  a set of instructions to describe the personal
  experiences in using a particular product or
  service.

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Focus Groups Conducted by Telephone

• Advantages
• Geographic diversity
• Travel costs are eliminated
• Recruitment is easier
• Mixed groups are no problem
• Bad weather has no effect on the carrying out of
  a group session
• The information is clean, concise and to the
  point
• Overbearing respondents can be better handled
  without disrupting the group
• Concept testing is easy
• Researchers and clients do not have to go all
  over the country to put together a sufficient
  number of representative groups.

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Insights on Focus Groups

• A moderator has done a good job if, after the
  topic has been introduced, the discussion
  proceeds with little direction from moderator.
• In-house focus groups vs. the use of an outside
  moderator
• How to best use the two types of moderators
  identified everyday moderators and scientific
  moderators
• New techniques, such as neural networks, provide
  a means whereby quantification of text is
  possible but their analysis should be done only
  as a supplement to the qualitative report

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The Third Person Technique

• Indirect questioning of a respondent by asking
  for the view of a neighbor, associate, or some
  other person.
• Permit the respondents to project their views
  with no feeling of social pressure
• Example Nescafe instant coffee
• Two identical shopping lists with the except of
  the coffee brand Nescafe (instant coffee) and
  Maxwell House (drip grind)
• Each of the two groups were asked to describe
  each the type of woman who would purchase the
  items

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More tests

• Word association
• Sentence completion
• Thematic apperception
• Pictures that depict a situation relating to the
  product 1-2 persons in an ambiguous situation
• The respondent makes up a story about what is
  happening and what may happen in the future
• Used in developing advertising

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In Depth Interview

• Unstructured, informal, empathic
• Explores the underlying predispositions, needs,
  desires and emotions of the customer
• Used in three distinct research situations
• To obtain background information necessary to
  develop a quantitative survey instrument
• To investigate hard-to-reach groups or groups
  that are highly competitive
• To obtain information on a subject without being
  biased by the group dynamic

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Means-end Analysis

• Identifies the linkages people make between
  product attributes, the benefits derived from
  those attributes and the values that underline
  why the consequences are important (the ends).
• Premise consumers learn which products contain
  attributes that lead to their desired benefits
  and are consistent with their personal values.
• Process
• Top of mind imaging of the product-category
• Brand-related specificity usage context
• Alternative usage occasions

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Means-End AnalysisCredit Card Example

• What attributes are Important when considering a
  new credit card?
• Why is that important, what does it do for you?
• If you have that, what does it do for you?

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Means-End AnalysisCredit Card Example

• Features/Attributes
• Benefits
• Values (Instrumental, Personal)

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Other techniques

• Repertory grid
• Story completion
• Projection through sketching
• Ethnography
• the study of human behavior within a cultural
  context
• non-directed or semi-structured interviews it
  uses the natural language of the subjects
• can yield spontaneous attitudes, detailed
  responses and unanticipated findings

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Observation

• Traces the stories of people, circumstances,
  decisions and events leading to actual purchase
  decisions through one-on-one interviews
• Characteristics
• Uncovers motivations through demonstrated actions
• Conducted where a product is bought or used
• Used to stimulate questions and corroborate
  responses
• Can access multiple decision makers
• The researchers undertaking it are market
  detectives rather than census takers

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Observation

• Drawbacks
• Selective perception what people observe depends
  upon their backgrounds
• The behavior being observed may not be
  representative
• Applications
• Audit
• Coincidental recording devices
• Direct observation
• Categories
• Natural/Contrived
• Concealment
• Structured/Unstructured
• Directness
• Mode

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The Applications of Observation

• The Audit (two types)
• Distributor inventories information on
  inventories and prices
• Consumer purchases pantry audits of consumer
  homes
• Recording Devices
• Pupilometric camera, psychogalvanometer
  (perspiration rate), audimeter
• Direct Observation
• Traffic flows, length of waiting lines, location
  of salespeople and cash centers

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Unobtrusive Measures

• All the types of data collection in this section
  (nonreactive measures)
• Traces and Archives
• Traces studies of garbage
• Archives published data and internal records

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Direct vs. Indirect Research Techniques

• The controversy has centered on
• The applicability of the techniques
• Samples selection and sizes employed
• Accuracy of utilizing disguised models of
  obtaining the information

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1. Applicability

• Premises
• Evaluations made in most buying and use decisions
  have emotional and subconscious content
• The emotional and subconscious content is an
  important determinant of buying and use decisions
• Such content is not accurately verbalized through
  direct communicative techniques but it is
  adequately verbalized through indirect
  communicative techniques

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1. Applicability

• Four situational categories
• The information desired is known to the
  respondent and he/she will give if asked
• The information desired is known to the
  respondent but he/she doesnt want to divulge it
• The information desired is obtainable from the
  respondent but he/she is unable to verbalize it
• The information desired is obtainable from the
  respondent only through inference from
  observation.
• ? 3 and 4 lend themselves to the use of indirect
  techniques

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2. Sample Selection and Sizes

• In qualitative studies sample selection has
  tended to be done on nonprobabilistic bases
  (purposive).
• Reason high nonresponse rate
• Generally, samples have been small.
• Problem motivations are myriad and varied in
  their effect on behavior

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3. The Validity of the Findings

• Researchers have been reluctant to give
  acceptance to the findings of the studies that
  employ indirect methods.
• The clients of a decisional research projects
  find value in such findings and thereby dont
  require the most definitive test of the
  hypothesis.
• Indirect techniques serve to identify hypotheses
  that can be tested by direct methods