Observation, Focus Groups,

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Observation, Focus Groups, Other Qualitative
Methods
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Qualitative vs. Quantitative Methods

• Qualitative soft side of market research
• Quantitative hard, scientific side
• Both types have important, complementary, roles
• Qualitative helps identify issues, scope,
  generate working hypotheses, etc. prior to
  conducting a more analytical study

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Qualitative Research Methods

• Exploratory
• Conducted primarily to explicitly define the
  problem and formulate hypotheses
• Orientation
• To learn more about target consumer (e.g.
  culture, language)
• Clinical
• To gain insights into topics that are difficult
  in highly structured research

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Qualitative Methods Constraints

• Volume of data
• Complexity of analysis
• Time-consuming nature of required clerical efforts

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In-depth Interviews

• Nondirective interviews
• Respondent given maximum freedom reresponse
• NOTE There is SOME structure (agenda, outline,
  etc.)
• Semi-structured or focused interviews
• More constrained than in nondirective

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Focus Groups

• Group interview 5 to 12 people usually
• Idea is that participants will build on others,
  meaningful comments/reactions more likely
• Usually observed and/or recorded
• Ear pieces or notes
• 1-way mirrors
• Interviewer called moderator
• No. of focus groups a function of productivity

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Key Factors for Focus Group Success

• Agenda planning
• Research purposes?Questions/agenda
• Recruitment
• Homogeneity/heterogeneity
• Moderator
• Trained, identify with participants
• Analysis/interpretation

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Focus Groups

• Pros
• Good for idea generation
• Versatile
• Works well with some groups
• Clients can observe
• Can incorporate activities
• Can examine impacts of social interaction (e.g.,
  physicians)
• Can adjust technique in subsequent groups.
• Cons
• Small sample sizes
• Subjective interpretation
• Cost/respondent high

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Projective Other Qualitative Techniques
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Projective Techniques

• Respondent is asked to comment upon rather
  unstructured or ambiguous object, activity
• Used when respondents either UNABLE to answer, or
  UNWILLING to answer

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Categories of Projective Techniques

• Word (or slogan) association
• Sentence (or story) completion
• Picture interpretation (Thematic Apperception
  Tests (TAT))
• Third person techniques
• Role playing
• Case studies
• Other

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NESCAFE INSTANT COFFEE STUDY

• DIRECT Do you use instant coffee?
• Results No, because of flavor
• INDIRECT Constructed 2 shopping lists. Identical
  except for one item
• Nescafe instant coffee VS Maxwell House coffee
  (drip grind)

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RESULTS

• INSTANT Versus DRIP GRIND
• 48 Lazy 4
• 48 Poor planner 12
• 4 Thrifty 16
• 12 Spendthrift 0
• 16 Poor wife 0
• 4 Good wife 16

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Limitations of Qualitative Methods

• Potential susceptibility of the results to get
  misused or misinterpreted
• Results not necessarily representative of the
  whole population
• Subjective
• Moderator or interviewer's role is extremely
  critical-can lead to ambiguous or at times
  misleading results

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Observation
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Observation Techniques

• Direct vs. indirect
• Direct watch and see
• Indirect see traces/effects of behavior
• Disguised vs. undisguised
• Secret shoppers vs. labs or protocol research
• Structured vs. unstructured

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Observational Methods

• Casual Observation (looking around)
• Systematic Observation (looking at specifics)
• Contrived Observation
• Ex calling ones own office
• Ex variation regarding shelf space
• Shopping at ones own store

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• Content Analysis
• Physical Trace Measures
• Garbology
• Pantry audits
• Humanistic Inquiry
• Submerging oneself into a situation

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• Behavior Recording Devices
• Traffic counts
• Eye-movement recorders
• Psychogalvanometers
• Voice pitch analysis
• Scanning devices
• People meter
• Other

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Other Techniques

• Protocol analysis
• People talk through their decisions as they make
  them (e.g., talk out loud as they shop)
• People talk about their decision-making (e.g.,
  home buying)

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Observation Appropriate When?

• Short time period
• House buying behavior?
• Public behavior
• Faulty recall
• State of mindlessness (scripts)

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Limitations of Observational Methods

• Cannot be used to observe motives, attitudes or
  intentions
• May be more costly and time consuming
• Limited to providing information on current
  behavior