Business

Research Methods

William G. Zikmund

Chapter 7:
Exploratory Research and Qualitative
Analysis
 Qualitative versus Quantitative
Research
• Purpose
– Exploratory versus descriptive and conclusive
• Small versus large samples
• Broad range of questioning versus
structured questions
• Subjective interpretation versus statistical
analysis
 Exploratory Research

• Initial research conducted to clarify and

define the nature of a problem
• Does not provide conclusive evidence
• Subsequent research expected
What is Exploratory Research?

QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE
DATA DATA
Why Conduct Exploratory
Research?
Diagnose a situation

Screening of alternatives

Discover new ideas

 Diagnose a situation
Analyze the dimensions of the research
problem and set the stage for subsequent
research and priorities
Example: What are current important issues
of employee concern or what are the
possible explanations for decreasing
employee motivation?
 Screening of alternatives

Exploratory research is used to select the

best possible alternatives given the
existence of constraints such as budget
limitations
 Concept Testing
Exploratory research procedure that tests some sort of
stimulus as a proxy for an idea about a new, revised, or
repositioned product

– Test persons are usually presented with a stimulus or

description of an idea and are asked if they like it, would
use it etc.
– Concept testing can help an organization conserve
resources by not wasting them on schemes shown to be
unpopular through concept testing

Example: The Del Monte corporation used concept testing to

determine whether consumers would be interested in
purchasing unrefrigerated, shelf-stable yoghurt
 Discover new ideas

Exploratory research can help generate

new, previously un-thought of ideas which
may interest managers

Example: Employees suggest convenient

ways of increasing factory production or
propose new products and services
 Categories of Exploratory
Research
• Experience surveys
• Secondary data analysis
• Case studies
• Pilot studies
 Experience Surveys
• Ask knowledgeable individuals about a
particular research problem
– most are quite willing
“If you wish to know the road up the
mountain, you must ask the man who
goes back and forth on it.”
- Zenrinkusi
 Secondary Data Analysis

• Data collected for a purpose other than the

project at hand
• Economical
• Quick source for background information
 Case Study Method

• Intensely investigates one or a few

situations similar to the problem
• Investigate in depth
• Careful study
• May require cooperation
 Pilot Study

• A collective term
• Any small scale exploratory study that uses
sampling But does not apply rigorous standards
• The primary data generated from pilot studies are
collected from specific groups (e.g. employees,
consumers, students, voters) and not from experts
or from a case situation
 Pilot Studies
• Projective Techniques
• Focus Group
Interviews
• In-Depth Interviews
 Projective Techniques
The purpose of this is to discover an individual’s attitudes,
motivations and ways of responding

Projective techniques function on the assumption that an

individual will give accurate answer if they ‘project’ their
answers onto a third party, inanimate object or task
situation. Projecting onto someone or something else often
overcomes feelings of shyness or embarrassment which
come into play if an individual is asked a question directly
in relation to him or herself
 Projective Techniques

• Word association tests

• Sentence completion method
• Third-person technique
• Role playing
• T.A.T.
“A man is least himself when he talks
in his own person; when given a mask
he will tell the truth.”
--Oscar Wilde
 Word Association

• Subject is presented with a list of words

• Asked to respond with first word that comes
to mind
 Word Association Examples

• GREEN • Money
• Lawn
• Eggs and Ham
 Word Association Examples

• CHEESE • Kraft
• Cheddar
• Goat
Sentence Completion
This technique requires that research subjects completes
partial sentences with the first word or phrase that comes
to their mind

Investigate teenagers’ attitudes to tea

Someone who drinks hot tea is ____________________________

Tea is good to drink when ________________________________
Making hot tea is _______________________________________
My friend thinks tea is ___________________________________
 Third-person technique & Role
Playing
• Respondents are asked why a third person
(e.g. a neighbor) does what he does or
thinks what he thinks about a person, event,
or concept.
• Role playing is a dynamic replacement of
third person technique in a given situation
• Requires the subject to act out some one
else’s behavior in a particular setting
• What Will the Neighbors Say? 

• A study was performed for a commercial airline to understand

why some people do not fly.  When the respondents were asked,
"Are you afraid to fly?" very few people said yes.  The major
reasons given for not flying were cost, inconvenience, and delays
caused by bad weather.  However, it was suspected that the
answers were heavily influenced by the need to give socially
desirable responses.  Therefore, a follow-up study was done.  In
the second study, the respondents were asked, "Do you think
your neighbor is afraid to fly?" The answers indicated that most
of the neighbors who traveled by some other means of
transportation were afraid to fly.
• A customer is trying to return an item and
does not have a receipt. The customer insists
on a cash refund but store policy clearly states
that all returns must be accompanied by a
receipt. The store manager is only permitted
to allow store credit in these circumstances.
The customer is irate. What would you do if
you were the store manager in this situation?
Thematic Apperception Test
T.A.T.
 Thematic Apperception Test
T.A.T.
Uses a pictorial representation in which the
research topic is featured. Research subjects
are asked to tell what is happening in the
picture and what the people in it may do
next
Focus Group Interviews

• Unstructured
• Free flowing
• Group interview
• Start with broad topic
and focus in on
specific issues
Common Applications of Focus Groups

• Understanding Consumers
– perceptions, opinions, and behavior concerning
products and services
• Product Planning
– generating ideas about new products
• Advertising
– Develop creative concepts and copy material
 Advantages of group interviews
• Synergy
• Serendipity
• Snowballing
• Stimulation
• Security
• Spontaneity
• Specialization
• Scrutiny
• Structure
• Speed
Disadvantages
• Lack of generalizability (small sample size)
• High selection bias
• Might be misused
– focus group is not a replacement for quantitative research
• Subject to Interpretation - subjective
• Cost-per-respondent is high (compared to survey)
– Results dependent on skill of moderator in running the group
and analysis
• may be the response in the moment – which may change over
time
• strong personalities are a hazard
• Some groups hard to assemble (e.g. professionals)
• “professional respondents”
 Group Composition

• 6 to 10 people
• Relatively
homogeneous
• Similar lifestyles and
experiences
 Outline for a Focus Group
• Establish a rapport
• Begin with broad topic
• Focus in on specific topic
• Generate discussion and interaction
 The Moderator

• Develops rapport -
helps people relax
• Interacts
• Listens to what people
have to say
• Everyone gets a
chance to speak
 The Focus Group Moderator
• Maintains loose control and focuses
discussion
• Stimulates spontaneous responses
 In-Depth Interview
Intensive and probing questioning of a
research subject in an open and candid
atmosphere on a specific topic. Requires
highly skilled interviewer and subjective
interpretation of the data
Depth Interviews
 What is an In-depth Interview?
A conversation on a given topic between a respondent
and an interviewer
• Used to obtain detailed insights and personal thoughts
• Flexible and unstructured, but usually with an interview guide
• Purpose: to probe informants’ motivations, feelings, beliefs
• Lasts about an hour
• Interviewer creates relaxed, open environment
• Wording of questions and order are determined by flow of conversation
• Interview transcripts are analyzed for themes and connections between
themes
Advantages
– Tendency to have a freer exchange
– Can probe potentially complex motivations and behavior
– Easier to attach a particular response to a respondent

Disadvantages
– Qualified interviewers are expensive
– Length and expense of interview often leads to small
sample
– Subjectivity and “fuzziness”