qualitative research

Chapter 5

qualitative and quantitative research should be viewed as complementary. Qualitative research methods may be direct or indirect. Indirect methods, respondents are able to discern the true purpose of the research, whereas indirect methods disguise the purpose of the research. The major direct methods are focus groups and debt interviews. Focus groups are conducted in a group setting, whereas depth interviews are done one-on-one. Focus group interviews are the most widely used quantitative research technique.

The indirect techniques are called projective techniques as they ain't to project the respondents motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings onto ambiguous situations. The projective techniques may be classified as association (word association), completion (sentence completion, paragraph completion, story completion), construction (picture response, cartoon tests), and expressive (role-playing, third person) techniques. Projective techniques are particularly useful when respondents are unwilling or unable to provide the required information by direct methods.

Qualitative research can reveal the salient differences between the domestic and foreign markets. Whether focus groups or depth interview should be conducted and how the findings should be interpreted depends heavily on the cultural differences. When conducting qualitative research, the researcher and the client must respect the respondents. This should include protecting the anonymity of respondents, honoring all statements in promises used to ensure participation, and conducting research and a way not to embarrass or harm the respondents. Focus groups, depth interviews, and project of techniques can also be conducted via the Internet. Microcomputers and mainframes can be used to select and screen respondents, and encoding and analyzing qualitative data.

qualitative research -- an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples that provides insights and understanding of the problems setting
quantitative research -- a research methodology that seeks to quantify the data and, typically, apply some form of statistical analysis
direct approach -- 1 type of qualitative research in which the purposes of the project are disclosed to the respondent are obvious, given the nature of the interview
indirect approach -- a type of qualitative research in which the purpose of the project is disguised from the respondents
focus group -- an interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents in on structured and natural manner
depth interview -- and on structured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic
laddering -- a technique for conducting depth interviews in which a line of questioning proceeds from product characteristics to user characteristics
hidden issue questioning -- a type of depth interview that attempts to locate personal sore spots related to deeply felt personal concerns
symbolic analysis -- a technique for conducting depth interviews in which the symbolic meaning of objects is analyzed by comparing them with their opposites
projective technique -- an on structured and indirect form of questioning that encourages the respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding the issues of concern
Association techniques -- a type of projective technique in which the respondent is presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind
Word Association -- a projective technique in which respondents are presented with a list of words, one at time. After each word, they are asked to give the first word that comes to mind
completion techniques -- a projective technique that requires respond to complete an incomplete stimulus situation
sentence completion -- a projective technique in which respondents are presented with a number of incomplete sentences and asked to complete them
story completion -- a productive technique in which the respondents are provided with part of the story and required to give the conclusion in their own words
construction technique -- a projected technique in which the respondent is required to construct a response in the form of a story, dialogue, or description
picture response technique -- a projected technique in which the respondent shown a picture and asked to tell a story describing it
cartoon tests -- cartoon characters are shown in a specific situation related to the problem. The respondents are asked to indicate the dialogue that one cartoon character might make in response to the comments of another character
expressive techniques -- projected techniques in which the respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and attitudes of the other people in the situation
role-playing -- respondents are asked to assume the behavior of someone else
third person technique -- a projected technique in which the respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the beliefs and attitudes of a third person to the situation