Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Exploratory and Observational Research Designs McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of Research Designs • Three major types of research designs: – Exploratory – Descriptive – Causal

• Each type of design has a different objective – Though all three designs can be used in a single study if appropriate: Called a “Mixed-methods Design” 4-2

Overview of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods • Quantitative research: Places heavy emphasis on using numeric data obtained from • formal questionnaires or surveys administered to large numbers of responders • Any other numeric source of data (i.e. secondary data)

• Qualitative research: Collection of data in the form of words or images using open-ended questions, observation, or “found” data 4-3

Value of Qualitative / Exploratory Research • Exploratory research designs are used when the research objectives are to: – – – –

Gather background information Clarify the research problems Create hypotheses or establish research priorities Probe more deeply into areas that quantitative research (i.e. descriptive or causal research) is unable access – i.e. subconscious processes, mental processes – Provide initial ideas about specific problems, theories, relationships, variables, and scale designs

• Results may or may not be sufficient for final decision making (usually they are not) 4-4

Major Differences between Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Research

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In-Depth Interviews • A data-collection method in which a welltrained interviewer asks a participant a set of semi-structured questions in a face-to-face setting – Discover subjects’ feelings, beliefs, opinions and why they exist – Encourage subjects to communicate as much detail as possible – Ensures privacy so as to foster optimal response tendencies – Helpful in generating new research ideas 4-7

Steps in Conducting an In-Depth Interview Understand initial questions/problems Create a set of research questions Decide on the best environment for conducting the interview

Select and screen the respondents Respondent greeted, given interviewing guidelines, and put at ease Conduct the in-depth interview Analyze respondent’s narrative responses

Write summary report of results 4-8

Focus Group Interviews • A qualitative data collection method • Responses to open-ended questions are collected from a small group of participants who interactively and spontaneously discuss topics of interest to the researcher – Bulletin board: An online research format in which participants agree to post regularly over a period of four to five days

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Objectives of Focus Groups • Helps establish or refine research needs, objectives and questions • Reveals consumers’ “hidden” attitudes towards brands, companies, products, ads, etc. • Generate new ideas for products, promotion, market opportunities and any aspect of marketing strategy • Discover new constructs and measurement methods • Explain changing consumer preferences • Observe consumers’ reactions to product prototypes 4-10

Focus Group Characteristics • • • • • •

8-12 participants plus moderator Session lasts 1 – 2 hours Respondents paid $50-$200 Typically held at FG facility Participants pre-screened Overall cost $2000-5000+ per group

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Three-Phase Process for Developing a Focus Group Interview

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Focus Group Interviews • Focus group moderator: A person who is well trained in the interpersonal communication skills and professional manners required for a focus group • Moderator’s guide: A detailed outline of the topics, questions, and sub-questions used by the moderator to lead the focus group session (also called a “Questioning Route”) 4-13

Focus Group Interviews • Debriefing analysis: An interactive procedure in which the researcher(s) and moderator discuss the subjects’ responses to the focus group questions. • Content analysis: The systematic procedure of grouping individual responses into larger themed categories or patterns and then uncovering relationships among those categories or patterns. 4-14

Advantages of Focus Groups • Stimulate new ideas, thoughts, and feelings about a topic – foster “group discussion synergies” • Elicit a wide range of responses and differences of opinion • Bring together hard-to-reach informants by other means • Good format for prototype or other audiovisual demonstrations 4-15

Weaknesses of Focus Groups • Findings lack generalizability to the target population • Reliability of the data is limited • Trustworthiness of the interpretation is based on the care, skill and insightfulness of researchers analyzing the FGI data • Groupthink: A phenomenon in which one or two members of a group state an opinion and other members of the group are unduly influenced 4-16

Focus Group Interviews – Some General Guidance • • • • • • • • •

Be nice, fun and accommodating – a sense of humor usually helps! Proceed in phases (see Focus Group text) Offer snacks or even a meal Communicate ground rules upfront Don’t be judgmental Moderator can interject his/her POV – but do so judiciously Prevent monopolization and groupthink Solicit a reasonable amount of dissent and disagreement Let the conversation evolve naturally, but be ready to re-direct errant conversation back to the intended place • Questions will almost always be answered out of sequence. May need to skip, modify or re-visit questions as the session proceeds. Flexibility is key!! 4-17

Ethnography • A form of qualitative data collection that records behavior in natural settings to understand how social and cultural influences affect individual behaviors and experiences – Participant observation: Researcher observes while participating in events – Nonparticipant observation - Researcher observes without participating in events

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Case Studies • An exploratory research technique that intensively investigates one or several people, groups or situations (though usually n=1!) • Tracks thoughts, feelings and behaviors of the same individual(s), group(s), or organization(s) • Uses multiple interviews over several weeks • Can tap into subconscious thinking and study withingroup interactions over time

• Why use case studies? 4-19

Projective Techniques • An indirect method of questioning that enables a subject to project beliefs and feelings onto: – a third party – a task situation – an inanimate object

• Can be used in conjunction with focus groups or in-depth interviews • Major Advantage: De-personalization • Major Disadvantage - Complexity of interpretation

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Projective Techniques • Word association test: A projective technique in which the subject is presented with a list of words or short phrases, one at a time, and asked to respond with the first thought [word] that comes to mind • Sentence completion test: A projective technique where subjects are given a set of incomplete sentences and asked to complete them in their own words • Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET): A visual research technique used in in-depth interviewing that encourages research participants to share emotional and subconscious reactions to a particular topic

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Word Association Which words come to mind when I say …? • • • • • • •

Ice Cream Adidas Desk Education Apple Party Cosmetics

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Sentence Completion

A person who wears Tommy Hilfiger shirts is _____. People who fly Delta Airlines are ______________.

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Cartoon Completion Let’s get some clothes from Macy’s!

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Thematic Apperception Test

Write a story about this image.

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ZMET Technique – Create a collage that expresses your feelings and opinions about…

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Observational Methods • Used by researchers to collect primary data about human behavior and marketing phenomena without a formal research design • Systematic observation of behavioral patterns of people as they interact with other people, products, events, and various other marketing stimuli • Requires • An observable phenomenon • A system of observing recording the actual observations or a facsimile thereof

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Characteristics of Observation

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Two Types of Observation Methods – Technology-mediated observation: Data collection using some type of mechanical device to capture human behavior, events, or marketing phenomena (i.e. a camera or video recording device) – Scanner-based panel: A group of participating households that have a unique bar-coded card as an identification characteristic for inclusion in the research study

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Eye-Tracking Technology

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FMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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EEGs - Electroencephalography

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Selecting the Observation Method • Answer the following questions: – What types of behavior are relevant to the research problem? – How much detail of the behavior needs to be recorded? – What is the most appropriate setting (natural or artificial) to observe the behavior? – Is a setting available to observe the behaviors or events? Is it practical? – To what extent are the behaviors or events repetitious and frequently exhibited? – What degree of directness and structure is needed to observe the behaviors or events? – How aware should the subjects be that their behaviors are being observed? 4-33

Benefits and Limitations of Observation Benefits • Accuracy of recording actual behavior • Well-controlled experimental environments in “lab” studies • Provides detailed behavioral data

Limitations • Difficult to generalize findings due to small sample sizes • Cannot explain behaviors ( i.e. the “why?”) and mental processes • Ethical issues

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Purposed Communities • Purposed communities: Online brand communities that can be used for research – For example, MyStarbucksIdea.com is a brand community whose primary focus is producing new ideas – Can also be used to track backlash emanating from anti-brand communities (ihatewalmart.com, rachelraysucks.com)

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Social Media Monitoring and the Listening Platform • Social media monitoring: Research based on conversations in social media • Listening platform/post: An integrated system that monitors and analyzes social media sources to provide insights that will support marketing decision making • Sentiment analysis/opinion mining: The application of technological tools to identify, extract, and quantify information contained in textual social media data 4-36

Netnography • A research technique that requires deep engagement with online communities • Researchers: – Gain entry into the community – Gather and analyze data from members of the community – (sometimes) Ask for feedback on the research report from members of the community – Avoid biasing behavior or creating ill-will through participation or observation

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