4

Exploratory Research
Designs and
Data Collection
Approaches

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objectives_1

 Identify the major differences between qualitative

and quantitative research
 Understand in-depth interviewing and focus groups
at questioning techniques
 Define focus groups and explain how to conduct
them

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 Learning Objectives_2

 Explain other qualitative data collection methods

such as ethnography, case studies, and projective
techniques
 Discuss observation methods and explain how they
are used to collect primary data

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Jeep Wrangler as Horse

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 Quantitative Research

 Quantitative research is research that places

heavy emphasis on using formal standard
questions and predetermined response
options in questionnaires or surveys
administered to large numbers of responders

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 Qualitative Research

 Qualitative research is research that relies on

the collection of data in the form of text or
images using open-ended questions,
observation, or “found” data

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 Quantitative vs Qualitative
Quantitative methods Qualitative methods

Goal Validation of facts, estimates, Discovery of ideas, feelings,

relationships preliminary insights

Type of research Descriptive and causal Exploratory, subjective

designs

Type of question Mostly structured Open-ended

Time of Execution Typically significantly longer Relatively short time frame

time frame

Representativeness Large samples, with proper Small samples, only the

sampling can represent sampled individuals
population
Type of Analysis Statistical, descriptive, causal Debriefing, subjective, content
predictions analysis, interpretative
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 Goals of Quantitative Research

 Make accurate predictions about relationships

between market factors and behaviors
 Gain meaningful insights into relationships
 Validate relationships
 Test hypotheses

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 Goals of Qualitative Research

 Gain preliminary insight into research problems

 Probe more deeply into areas that quantitative
research is too superficial to access
 Provide initial ideas about specific problems,
theories, relationships, variables, and scale design

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 Advantages/Disadvantages
of Qualitative Designs
Advantages Disadvantages
 Economical and timely  Lack of
 Rich data generalizability
 Accuracy of recording  Difficulty estimating
behaviors magnitude
 Preliminary insights  Low reliability
into models and scale  Difficulty finding
measurements good investigators
 Reliance on
interpretation
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 Primary Qualitative Methods

 Focus groups  Ethnography

 Hybrids  Chat-based online
 In-depth interviews focus groups
 Netnography  Video-based online
focus groups

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 In-depth Interview

 An in-depth interview is a formal interview

process in which a well-trained interviewer
asks subject set of semi-structured questions
in face-to-face setting

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 Objectives of IDI

 Discover what subject thinks about a topic and why

 Understand feelings, beliefs, opinions of subject and
why they exist
 Encourage subject to communicate as much detail as
possible

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 Steps in Conducting IDIs

 1: Understand question/problem
 2: Create interview guide
 3: Decide on best environment for interview
 4: Recruit and screen respondents
 5: Introduce respondent to interview process
 6: Conduct interviews
 7: Analyze respondent responses
 8: Write report

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 Focus Groups

 A focus group is a formal process of bring a

small group of people together for an
interactive, spontaneous discussion
 8-12 participants plus moderator
 Session lasts 90 minutes – 2 hours
 Respondents paid $40-$200
 Overall cost $2000-4000+

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 Objectives of Focus Groups

 Identify data for defining and redefining market

problems
 Reveal consumers’ hidden attitudes
 Generate new ideas for products
 Discover new constructs and measurement methods
 Explain changing consumer preferences

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 The Focus Group Process

Phase 1: Planning the study

Phase 2: Conducting the discussions

Phase 3: Analyzing and reporting the results

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 Phase 1 Decisions

 Participants
 Who should be included?
 How many groups should be held?
 How will participants be recruited and screened ?
 Size
 Location

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 Phase 2 Components

 Select a moderator and prepare guide

 Begin the session
 Introduce the first topic and continue
 Close the session

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 Phase 3 Activities

 Conduct a debriefing analysis

 Transcribe discussions
 Content analyze responses
 Develop report

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 Advantages of Focus Groups

 Stimulate new ideas, thoughts, ad feelings about a

topic
 Foster understanding of consumer behavior
 Allow client participation
 Elicit wide range of responses
 Provide access to hard-to-reach participants

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 Observation

 Observation is the systematic witnessing and

recording of behavioral patterns of objects,
people, and events without directly
communicating with them

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 Characteristics of Observation

Directness Awareness

Observing
Structure
Mechanism

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VisionTrack: Mechanical Observation

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 Selecting the Observation Technique

 What types of behavior are relevant?

 Are the behaviors complex?
 How much detail must be recorded?
 What is the most appropriate setting to observe the
behavior?

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 Benefits and Limitations of Observation

Benefits Limitations
 Accuracy of recording  Difficult to generalize
actual behavior findings
 Reduces many types  Cannot explain
of data collection behaviors
 Provides detailed  Problems in setting up
behavioral data and recording
behaviors

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 Ethnography

 Ethnography is a form of qualitative data

collection that records behavior in natural
settings to understand how social and cultural
influences affect individual behaviors and
experiences

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 Forms of Ethnographic Research

Participant Nonparticipant
observation observation

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 Netnography

 Netnography is a research technique that

draws on ethnography but uses “found data”
on the internet that is produced by virtual
communities

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 BuzzMetrics

 Nielsen’s
BuzzMetrics
program can
track trends and
the data can be
used to develop
brand
association maps
like this one.
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 Case Studies

 The case study technique involves

investigating one or more situations which
are similar to the current problem or
opportunity

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 Projective Techniques

 Projective techniques use indirect questioning to

encourage participants to freely project beliefs and
feelings into a situation or stimulus provided by the
researcher.
 Technique:
 Word association tests
 Sentence completion tests
 Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET)

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 Completion Techniques

 A person who wears Tommy Hilfilger shirts is

_____.
 When I think of Tommy Hilfilger shirts, I
______________.

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 Marketing Research in Action:
Ethnography of News Usage
 What are two major differences between how you
would obtain your news and how your parents
would?
 Do you feel overloaded with news facts and updates?
 How has social networking impacted how you obtain
and use news content?

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