Qualitative research

Qualitative Research

Direct (Nondisguised)

Indirect (Disguised)

Focus Groups

Depth Interviews

Projective Techniques

Focus Groups
Consist of 8-12 people Lesser than 8 unlikely to generate the momentum & group dynamics necessary for group discussion Greater than 12 not conducive for a meaningful interaction Homogenous in terms of demographic & socioeconomic characteristics A womens group cannot contain married homemakers with young children, unmarried professional women & elderly women different lifestyles

Focus Groups
Participants shd hv adequate experience with the issue being discussed Participants who hv already participated in numerous focus groups shd not be included Ambience relaxed informal Light refreshments may be provided 1.5- 2.5 hours Time needed to establish rapport & the participants come out with feelings,ideas,insights

Focus Groups
Clients may observe the discussion through a one way mirror Discussion is audio/video taped for replay, transcription & analysis Video taping benefit capture facial expressions & body language Video taping- disadv cost very high Skill of the moderator very high-trained professional

Focus Groups
Moderator has to establish rapport & make the participants comfortable Has to be able to elicit insights Has to keep the discussion moving forward
Pg 136-138 Pg 140-142 Cellular Handset

Key Qualifications of the Moderator

Kindness & Firmness Permissive & alert to the groups distractions Must encourage & stimulate personal inolvement Must encourage participants to be more specific about generalised comments by feigning incomplete understanding

Key Qualifications of the Moderator

Encourage unresponsive members to participate Must be able to improvise & alter the planned outline Sensitivity

Advantages of Focus Groups

Stimulation- as rapport increases, the group gets stimulated to express freely Snowballing Spontaneity Security Specialised personnel needed for analysis

Depth Interviews
Unstructured method of obtaining qualitative data Similar to Focus groups, but happens one-toone Probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes & feelings

Depth Interviews
There is a rough outline but the interviewers probing & wording of questions will depend on the replies of the interviewee
Probing for Intelligence pg 149

Projective Techniques
Word Association Tests Sentence Completion Tests
Thematic Apperception Tests

Class Exercise
Nescafe Coffee Cadbury Chocolate Management Education Dove soap Ariel Ezee Close Up

Word association Tests

Respondents are presented with a list of words Test words interspersed with filler words For Department store, shopping, parking, location, price, money, quality, ambience, staff, billing ,value, The responses are asked of the respondent The responses noted down by the interviewer

Word Association Tests

The responses are analysed in terms of number of times a particular word is used The amount of time elapsed in giving a response(more than 3 seconds)(hesitation) The number of respondents who do not respond at all to a test word within a reasonable amount of time.(emotional block) Responses categorised in terms of favorable,unfavorable or neutral.

Sentence Completion Tests

I shop at Mango/Zara because .. I buy Tata Salt because .
I have an Aircel connection because. I bought a Blackberry because .

Sentence Completion Tests

May provide more information about customer than word association tests
More direct stimulus The purpose of the study cant be disguised

What will the Neighbors Say?

Are you afraid to fly? Reasons given for not flying were cost, inconvenience, delays caused due to bad weather Socially desirable responses Do you think your neighbor is afraid to fly? Heightened security measures

Thematic Apperception Tests

Picture/Cartoon A series of pictures ordinary & unusual Needs to build a story What he will do when put in such a situation Ego defenses are low, subconscious feelings An individual maybe characterised as impulsive, creative ,unimaginative

Advantages of Projective Techniques

May elicit responses that the subject may be unwilling to give When issues are personal, sensitive or subject to strong social norms