RT201B – Research Theory

Welcome to Research
Theory
Click to edit Master title style
 What are we doing this Semester?
• Week 1: Research as a discipline –Study Guide Unit 1

• Week 2: Research ethics and academic integrity – Study Guide

Unit 2

• Week 3: Finding and evaluating research information and

articles – Study Guide Unit 3

• Week 4: Set up and frame a study – Study Guide Unit 4

• Week 5: Assignment 1 submission – Multiple choice questions

2023/04/06 3
 • Week 6: The literature review – Study Guide Unit 5

• Week 7: Research methodology: Qualitative and

quantitative research approaches and assumptions – Study
Guide Unit 6

• Week 8: Qualitative research: Designs and data collection

– Study Guide Unit 7

• Week 9: Qualitative analysis: Data analysis and reporting –

Study Guide Unit 8

• Week 10: Assignment 2 Submission – Essay-type questions

– Units 1 – 12

2023/04/06 4
• Week 11: Quantitative research: Designs and data collection –
Study Guide Unit 9

• Week 12: Quantitative research: Data analysis and reporting -

Study Guide Unit 10

• Week 13: Management of the research process - Study Guide

Unit 11

• Week 14: Apply the principles of aesthetic report presentation

– Study Guide Units 12

• Week 15 - Revision week

2023/04/06 5
Recommended Textbook
• RT201B Research Theory Marketing Research
ISBN: 9781485129240
eISBN: 9781485129257
Wiid, J.A. & Diggines, C.N. (Eds) Juta 4th 2021

• Chapter 5, pp. 74 – 76
• Chapter 7, pp. 99 – 103, pp. 106 - 127

2023/04/06 6
Study Resources
• eLibrary: Textbooks
• Articles under ‘Additional Study Materials’ on
module website
• Study Guide
• Sources you are referred to in the Study Guide
• eDiscussion Forum

2023/04/06 7
RECAP

• Revision exercise

2023/04/06 8
 •

Qualitative research:
Designs and Data collection
STUDY
UNIT 7
2023/04/06 9
 • Summarise the characteristics of qualitative designs from a
given research text
• Articulate the qualitative research process
• Identify different types and examples of qualitative data
for specific purposes
• Justify the selection of qualitative sampling principles and
types
• Recommend and justify a qualitative research design for a
given research objective
Study Unit 6 • Apply qualitative data collection principles and techniques
Outcomes • Design and critique three qualitative research instruments

2023/04/06 10
 • There are two types of research methods,
• Qualitative and
• Quantitative research
• The choice of a qualitative or quantitative approach to
the study depends on
• how you have phrased your research questions
• what data you need in order to answer them.

2023/04/06 11
 • If you want to explore a phenomenon that is
• not well known in general
• not well known in your particular context or situation
• prefer to interview a small number of people who are very
knowledgeable about your topic (experts) in depth,

you would do qualitative research.

2023/04/06 12
 • Identify an issue to be resolved
• Framing research questions and objectives to find
solutions to that problem
The • Consult the literature to establish existing knowledge
about the issue
Research • Design a study (building on existing knowledge from the
literature)
process : • Executing the study
Qualitative • Analyse the data
and • Draw conclusions
• Make recommendations.
quantitative
research
2023/04/06 13
 • Both approaches are systematic follow guidelines for
good practice
• Qualitative research is more flexible and sensitive to
contextual issues and idiosyncrasies.
• Methodological decision-making needs to be sound in
both cases, and
• choices must be motivated according to academic
principles and supported with cited evidence or solid
reasoning to argue for a particular selection that may
or may not have been previously published.

2023/04/06 14
 Group exercise:
What are the characteristics of
qualitative research?

Group work
2023/04/06 15
 Qualitative research is designed to tell the researcher
how and why things happen the way they do.

2023/04/06 16
 Figure B.6.1 The essence of the complementarity between qualitative and quantitative research approaches

2023/04/06 17
 • Small numbers

• Feelings

• Insights

• Perceptions
Qualitative
• Knowledgeable specialists
research
2023/04/06 18
 • Qualitative Research: Data Collection methods

• Apply qualitative data collection principles and techniques

2023/04/06 19
 Video: Qualitative research methods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uapR0qiN6s

2023/04/06 20
2023/04/06 21
 • Interviews:- Structured and Unstructured and Semi-
Structured

• Focus Groups

• Observations

Qualitative • Documentary Sources

research • Ethnography
methods
2023/04/06 22
 Critique the qualitative research methods

2023/04/06 23
 • Qualitative sampling is purposive and non-random in
nature
• Important to gain informed consent from all the
participants (written)

Sampling of
participants
2023/04/06 24
 Qualitative sampling strategies are PURPOSIVE or non-random; there are
several different approaches:
Strategy Description
Convenience People available and willing to participate at the time

Criterion sampling Selection on the basis that certain criteria are met
Typical case Average or normal case of the study phenomenon
Homogenous Similar characteristics or attributes across the sample group
Maximum variation Wide range selected to exemplify complexity
Deviant / extreme case Atypical case, very little known, an outlier

Critical case A specific event, provides compelling insight into a phenomenon

Snowball Participants are asked to recommend others like themselves

Quota Ensures a spread according to specified criteria

Miles and Huberman, 1994

Koeber & McMichael 2008 Qualitative sampling methods
 • When using an interview or focus group discussion
guide, researchers need to
• flexibly allow the conversation to flow
• not be unnecessarily restricted by the guide at the expense
of data richness and depth.
• they need to engage in the process and ask follow- up
questions based on the responses
• not feel obliged to terminate the interview just because the
allocated time is up.
• schedule interviews or other appointments too close to one
another. It is important for the researcher to be comfortable
letting the respondent talk and be comfortable with silence
if the respondent is thinking or reflecting on something
(Roberts 2020).

Tips!!!
2023/04/06 26
Focus group
discussions
• Provide an opportunity for marketers to experience first-hand how
consumers think and feel about a product.
• They frequently provide information that may be difficult to obtain
through traditional interviewing methods.
• Involve anywhere from eight to ten people recruited to meet defined
characteristics – age, gender, use of certain products, frequency of
product use.
• Participants meet with a moderator to discuss a subject for one to
two hours. The discussion is geared towards responding to the
research questions posed for the study.
• The focus group discussions guide needs to be carefully constructed
to gather relevant data.

2023/04/06 27
Focus group
discussions
• Usually take place in a central location or in
commercial research facilities.
• The focus group room typically looks like a
boardroom. Usually, one wall of the room is a one-
way mirror; hence it can also be used as an
observation room for members of the sponsoring firm
who wish to observe the focus group.
• The observation room contains audio-visual
equipment to record the sessions for future analysis.

2023/04/06 28
 In-depth
interviews
• Conducted on a one-to-one basis, in pairs or trios. It is conducted by
a qualitative researcher and usually lasts from 45 minutes to 2 hours.
• The aim is to explore a topic in depth. Interviews can be conducted
face-to-face or online, at home, at work or at a central location.
• In-depth interviews are not an alternative to group discussions – they
generate different types of data. In-depth interviews can prove most
useful if the marketing research issue that is under study deals with:
• Personal, emotionally charged, or embarrassing matters
• Behaviours, where socially acceptable norms exist
• Where pressures to conform in group discussions would possibly influence
responses
• A complex behavioural or decision-making process that requires a detailed,
situation-specific, step-by-step description
• When group interviews are difficult to schedule for the target population
(doctors and other professionals, for example).

2023/04/06 30
Observational
methods
• Data collection techniques that observe behaviour,
either directly or indirectly, by mechanical methods or
human observers.
• The main advantage is that it enables us to record
actual rather than reported behavior

2023/04/06 31
 • A method or set of methods for studying and learning
about, a group of people in their own environment
over time.
• It usually involves more than one method of data
gathering; observation – watching people, listening to
what they say; and interviewing – asking questions.
• The overall aim of ethnographic research may be to
• achieve a holistic description of the group or community,
• to provide a detailed description of specific issues or
situations or experiences within the wider setting,
• to explore an unfamiliar issue or setting or group.

Ethnography
2023/04/06 32
 • They give you insights that you may not be able to get
through interviewing alone. They allow you to see the
‘bigger picture’ – the social and cultural context of the
behaviour or activity in which you are interested.
• They allow you to see things from the point of view of
the people involved.
• They allow you to hear people describe and explain
things in their own words and in their own way.
• They allow you to see things happen – behaviour,
Advantages activities, and so on – in their natural setting and at
of times when they normally occur.
ethnography
2023/04/06 33
 • Web ethnography is a relatively new research
approach that involves analysing interactive web-
based data like a series of posts and responses on a
social media platform or meeting recordings where
discussion is taking place.

Web
ethnography
2023/04/06 34
 • Used to explore, understand and interpret or ‘decode’
the meaning of signs and symbols, in particular, those
that are used in advertising, packaging and brand
imagery.
• Useful in gaining a cultural understanding, which is
necessary to develop effective communications, and,
in particular, cross-cultural communications.

What are some controversial marketing or

advertisement symbols?

Semiotics
2023/04/06 35
 • Qualitative data can be collected for consulting
research by
• reviewing documents
• communications by the identified respondents or groups.
• Reviewing documents can assist in obtaining a deeper
understanding of the respondent by supplementing
data collected via interviews or participant
observation.
• Check credibility
Qualitative
data:consulting
research
2023/04/06 36
 • For more general academic research
• documentary sources can be internal documents,
• such as policies
• strategies, etc. (although companies may be reluctant to share
those)
• documents available in the public space from archives eg online
databases
• listed companies.

Qualitative
data: academic
research
2023/04/06 37
 • Questions should invite thoughts and ideas:

• What are your impressions of BMW owners?

• How does buying new clothes make you feel?

• What do you think will be the effect of Mercedes Benz

changing the name of their brand?

• Describe your feelings when eating chocolate?

2023/04/06 38
 Survey question guidelines

• Simple language – not ‘Is being bipolar something you suffer

from?’
• Stay away from ambiguous questions –e.g. ‘Do you battle finding
clothes that fit because you are tall?’
• Open-ended questions – e.g. ‘Have you been to the USA and did
you like it there?’
• No leading questions – e.g. ‘Do you also think eating too much
chocolate will make you overweight?’
• No questions based on assumptions – e.g. ‘How many Cokes do
you drink in a week?’

2023/04/06 39
 • Qualitative data can be of a wide variety of non-
numerical types, for example,
• interview transcripts,
• focus group discussion transcripts,
• public and private documents,
• reflective diaries,
• records/observations of actions and behaviours,
photographs,
• artefacts,
• advertisements,
Sources of • political speeches,
qualitative • blogs, and
• social media posts.
data
2023/04/06 41
2023/04/06 42
 QUESTIONS

2023/04/06 43
 1. Read on qualitative research
data analysis methods: students
to present findings on this in the
HOMEWORK next lecture.
2. Search for articles that utilised
qualitative data (post them on
the discussion forum).
3. Critique the qualitative
research data collection methods.

2023/04/06 44
 Qualitative analysis: data analysis
and reporting
Next Topic

2023/04/06 45
 THANK YOU

2023/04/06 46