Week 4 Assignment 3 Chapter 7

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Qualitative Research

Chapter 7

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

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This chapter explains how qualitative methods differ from quantitative methods. It also provides examples of the types of research that may use qualitative methods and introduces the primary qualitative methodologies.

Learning Objectives

Understand . . .

How qualitative methodologies differ from quantitative methodologies.

The controversy surrounding qualitative research.

The types of decisions that use qualitative methodologies.

The different qualitative research methodologies.

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Qualitative Research and the Research Process

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Exhibit 7-3

Exhibit 7-3 emphasizes the portions of the research process which use qualitative research.

The qualitative researcher starts with an understanding of the manager’s problem but the management-research question hierarchy is rarely developed prior to the design of research methodology. Rather, the research is guided by a broader question more similar in structure to the management question.

Qualitative research is also critically different during the data collection sage as it often includes debriefing and pre-tasking activities.

At the data collection stage, the possible techniques include focus groups, individual depth interviews (IDIs), case studies, ethnography, grounded theory, action research, and observation.

Qualitative research is different than qualitative at the analysis stage as it includes the use of different software, and the search for more subjective meaning and understanding drives the process.

During analysis, the qualitative researcher uses content analysis of written or recorded materials drawn from personal expressions by participants, behavioral observations, and debriefing of observers, as well as the study of artifacts and trace evidence from physical environment.

Qualitative Research

Ethnography

Observation

Data

Collection

Techniques

IDIs

Action Research

Group

Interviews

Grounded Theory

Focus Groups

Case Studies

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This slide highlights many of the qualitative techniques that are useful for data collection.

Qualitative Research

Trace Evidence

Artifacts

Other

Techniques

Behavioral Observations

Textual Analysis

Debriefings

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This slide highlights many of the qualitative tools useful for data collection or data analysis.

Qualitative Research in Business

Job Analysis

Advertising Concept Development

Productivity Enhancement

New Product Development

Benefits Management

Retail Design

Process Understanding

Union Representation

Market Segmentation

Sales Analysis

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Exhibit 7-1 lists some uses of qualitative research in business. The full exhibit is provided below.

Data Sources

People

Organizations

Texts

Environments

Events and happenings

Artifacts/ media products

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Qualitative research draws data from people and organizations. Whether the source is people or organization, we can use their behavior, texts, events and so on as data. Chapter 9 focuses on observation methods.

The Roots of Qualitative Research

Psychology

Anthropology

Communication

Sociology

Semiotics

Economics

Qualitative

Research

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Qualitative research methodologies have roots in a variety of disciplines. These are named in the slide.

Some believe that qualitative data are too subjective and susceptible to human error and bias in data collection and interpretation. The fact that results cannot be generalized from a qualitative study to a larger population is considered a fundamental weakness.

Despite these limitations, managers are returning to these techniques as quantitative techniques fall short of providing the insights needed to make those ever-more-expensive decisions.

Managers must deal with the issue of trustworthiness of qualitative data using the following techniques:

Using literature searches to build probing questions,

Justifying the method chosen,

Using a field setting,

Choosing sample participants for relevance rather than representation of target population,

Using questions that will find the exception to the rule,

Carefully structuring the data analysis,

Comparing data across multiple sources and contexts,

And conducting peer-researcher debriefing on results for added clarity, insights, and reduced bias.

Distinction between Qualitative & Quantitative

Theory

Testing

Theory

Building

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2

Quantitative research is the precise count of some behavior, knowledge, opinion or attitude. While the survey is not the only quantitative method, it is the dominant one. Quantitative research is often used for theory testing. For example, it might answer the question “Will a $1-off instant coupon or a $1.50 mail-in rebate generate more sales for Kellogg’s Special K?” It requires that the researcher maintain a distance from the research so as not to bias the results.

Qualitative research is sometimes called interpretive research because it seeks to develop understanding through detailed description. It builds theory but rarely tests it. Several key distinctions exist between qualitative and quantitative research and these are elaborated on in Exhibit 7-2. The next several slides highlight these distinctions.

Focus of Research

Qualitative

Understanding

Interpretation

Quantitative

Description

Explanation

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2

As mentioned in the previous slide, quantitative research is used to describe and explain. It can also be used to predict. However, qualitative research is focused on understanding and interpretation.

Researcher Involvement

Qualitative

High

Participation-based

Quantitative

Limited

Controlled

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2

Researcher involvement in quantitative research should be minimal lest bias be introduced. However, in qualitative research, the researcher must have a high level of involvement to probe for understanding. In quantitative research, for instance, participants may never see or speak to a member of the research team. They may simply answer a self-administered survey. In qualitative research, participants may be interviewed by the researcher or spend several hours with the researcher.

Time Duration

Qualitative

Longitudinal

Multi-method

Quantitative

Cross-sectional or longitudinal

Single method

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2.

Quantitative studies are usually single mode. In other words, they will usually rely on one data collection technique whether it be a telephone survey, email survey, or experiment. However, qualitative studies may use several methods in one study to increase the researcher’s ability to interpret and justify the results.

Sample Design and Size

Qualitative

Non-probability

Purposive

Small sample

Quantitative

Probability

Large sample

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2.

Quantitative studies prefer samples greater than 200 and samples that are representative of the target population. Not all quantitative studies meet these criteria but these are desirable. Qualitative studies rely on small sample sizes – less than 25 people is common. The emphasis on selecting the sample is to include people with heterogeneous opinions, attitudes, and experiences.

Data Type and Preparation

Qualitative

Verbal or pictorial

Reduced to verbal codes

Quantitative

Verbal descriptions

Reduced to numeric codes

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2.

How qualitative and quantitative researchers would treat these ads as research would be very different.

Qualitative research can also use software to conduct content analysis but words and pictures are used as codes, rather than numbers. The researcher would take the copy and images in these ads and look for themes and patterns…for example, that they all contain people, that they all contain Web URLs, that one of three is promoting a particular proprietary research service while the others are more general.

Quantitative studies take verbal descriptions of consumer behavior, attitudes, and opinions and they use numbers to represent those descriptions in a database. The researcher would take the copy and images of these ads and code them with numbers. People in ads would get a 1 for male, 2 for female, 3 for indeterminate gender. Ad themes might be “1” for proprietary research service (Conceptor for Decision Analyst), “2” for institutional theme (like ‘curiosity’ for Synovate), a “3” might be assigned for general capabilities (like qualitative research services for Harris Interactive).

Turnaround

Qualitative

Shorter turnaround possible

Insight development ongoing

Quantitative

May be time-consuming

Insight development follows data entry

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2.

Quantitative studies are traditionally time-consuming, but new methods such as web surveys are allowing for fast turnaround. The key is to recognize whether those methods are appropriate for the study at hand. Qualitative research can be faster due to the small sample sizes, but coding and analyzing hours of interviews can also be time consuming. One advantage of qualitative research is that insight development goes on throughout the study so interviews can be stopped when the appropriate answers are identified. This is not the case with quantitative studies.

Data Analysis

Qualitative

Nonquantitative

Human judgment mixed with fact

Emphasis on themes

Quantitative

Computerized analysis

Facts distinguished

Emphasis on counts

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This slide reflects information from exhibit 7-2.

Quantitative data analysis is conducted using statistical software programs such as SAS, SPSS, or Jump. The analysis focuses on the facts identified in the study.

Qualitative research is not coded into numeric values. Human interpretation and judgment are critical in creating insight from the data.

Content analysis...especially with the development of software like XSight...is a primary computerized analytical approach. It is far more than a count of words; such software can help reveal themes and underlying emphasis within texts.

When researchers work with focus group and IDI transcripts, the content analysis software can assist the moderator in debriefing. The ability of video to be 'marked' with such software as Video Marker from FocusVision makes the analytical process better able to link interpretations to specific content from a qualitative method participant.

Qualitative Research and the Research Process

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Exhibit 7-3

Exhibit 7-3 Is reintroduced here as a means of review and connection, after going into detail on the process issues.

Exhibit 7-3 emphasizes the portions of the research process which use qualitative research.

Qualitative research is also critically different during the data collection sage as it often includes debriefing and pre-tasking activities.

At the data collection stage, the possible techniques include focus groups, individual depth interviews (IDIs), case studies, ethnography, grounded theory, action research, and observation.

Qualitative research is different than qualitative at the analysis stage as it includes the use of different software, and the search for more subjective meaning and understanding drives the process.

Pretasking Activities

Use product in home

Bring visual stimuli

Create collage

Keep diaries

Construct a story

Draw pictures

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Much of qualitative research involves the deliberate preparation of the participant, called pre-exercises or pretasking. This step is important due to the desire to extract detail and meaning from the participant. A variety of creative and mental exercises draw participants’ understanding of their own thought processes and ideas to the surface. Some of these are listed on the slide.

Pretasking is rarely used in observation studies and is considered a major source of error in quantitative studies.

In this slide people were asked to bring pictures from magazines that would reflect their ideal home interior design, spaces as well as furniture and interior design elements to architectural elements.

Pretasking Activities

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You could use this slide to discuss what the researcher might ask the participant in order to gain insight from these photos. If you don’t want to do this, please hide this slide.

Formulating the Qualitative Research Question

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Exhibit 7-4

Choosing the Qualitative Method

Types of participants

Researcher characteristics

Factors

Schedule

Budget

Topics

Project’s purpose

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The researcher chooses a qualitative methodology based on the project’s purpose, its schedule including the speed with which insights are needed; its budget, the issue(s) or topic(s) being studied; the types of participants needed; and the researcher’s skill, personality, and preferences.

NonProbability Sampling

Purposive

Sampling

Snowball

Sampling

Convenience

Sampling

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Sample sizes for qualitative research vary by technique but are generally small. A study might include just two or three focus groups or a few dozen individual depth interviews.

Qualitative research involves non-probability sampling, where little attempt is made to generate a representative sample. There are several common types.

Purposive sampling means that the researchers choose participants arbitrarily for their unique characteristics or their experiences, attitudes, or perceptions.

Snowball sampling means that participants refer researchers to others who have characteristics, experiences, or attitudes similar to or different from their own.

Convenience sampling means that researchers select any readily available individuals as participants.

Qualitative Sampling

General sampling rule:

Keep conducting interviews until no new insights are gained.

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The general sampling guideline for qualitative research is to keep sampling as long as your breadth and depth of knowledge of the issue under study is expanding, and stop when you gain no new knowledge or insights. In other words, a qualitative researcher will stop sampling when he or she has reached data redundancy.

The Interview Question Hierarchy

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Exhibit 7-6

Interviewing requires a trained interviewer (often called a moderator for group interviews).

The interviewer must be able to make participants feel comfortable and probe for details without upsetting the participants.

The actual interviewer is usually responsible for generating the interview or discussion guide, the list of topics to be discussed, or the questions to be asked, and in what order. In building this guide, many interviewers employ a hierarchical questioning structure. This structure is shown in Exhibit 7-6.

Broader questions start the interview, designed to put participants at ease and give them a sense that they have a lot to contribute, followed by increasingly more specific questions to draw out detail.

Interviewer Responsibilities

Recommends topics and questions

Controls interview

Plans location and facilities

Proposes criteria for drawing sample

Writes screener

Recruits participants

Develops pretasking activities

Prepares research tools

Supervises transcription

Helps analyze data

Draws insights

Writes report

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The interviewer is generally responsible for many tasks related to the interview. Several of these tasks are listed in the slide.

Elements of a Recruitment Screener

Heading

Screening requirements

Identity information

Introduction

Security questions

Demographic questions

Behavior questions

Lifestyle questions

Attitudinal and knowledge questions

Articulation and creative questions

Offer/ Termination

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One of the tasks listed in the last slide was that of writing the recruitment screener.

The recruitment screener is a semistructured or structured interview guide designed to assure the interviewer that the prospect will be a good participant for the planned qualitative research.

Exhibit 7-7 provides the various elements necessary for a comprehensive recruitment screener.

Each question is designed to reassure the researcher that the person who has the necessary information and experiences, as well as the social and language skills to relate the desired information, is invited to participate.

Interview Formats

Unstructured

Semi-structured

Structured

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In an unstructured interview, there are no specific questions or order of topics to be discussed. Each interview is customized to each participant.

In a semistructured interview, there are a few standard questions but the individual is allowed to deviate based on his or her answers and thought processes. The interviewer’s role is to probe.

In a structured interview, the interview guide is detailed and specifies question order, and the way questions are to be asked. These interviews permit more direct comparability of responses and maintain interviewer neutrality.

Most qualitative research relies on the unstructured or semistructured interview format. The next slide highlights the differences between unstructured or semistructured and structured interviews.

Requirements: Unstructured Interviews

Distinctions

Developed dialog

Interviewer skill

Probe for

answers

Interviewer

creativity

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Unstructured or semi-structured interviews rely on developing a dialog between interviewer and participant. Without this dialog and comfort between the two people, the interview will not result in valuable data. Because the researcher is seeking information that the participant may not be willing to share or may not even recognize consciously, the researcher must be creative. Further, interviewer skill is necessary to extract more and a greater variety of data. Finally, interviewer experience and skill generally result in greater clarity and more elaborate answers.

The Interview Mode

Group

Individual

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The interview is the primary data collection technique for gathering data in qualitative methodologies. Interviews may vary based on the number of people involved during the interview, the level of structure, the proximity of the interviewer to the participant, and the number of interviews conducted during the research. An interview can be conducted in groups or individually.

Exhibit 7-5 compares the individual and the group interview as a research methodology. Both are important in qualitative research. This exhibit is provided on the next slide.

IDI vs Group

	Individual Interview	Group Interview
	Explore life of individual in depth Create case histories through repeated interviews over time Test a survey	Orient the researcher to a field of inquiry and the language of the field Explore a range of attitudes, opinions, and behaviors Observe a process of consensus and disagreement
	Detailed individual experiences, choices, biographies Sensitive issues that might provoke anxiety	Issues of public interest or common concern Issues where little is known or of a hypothetical nature
	Time-pressed participants or those difficult to recruit (e.g., elite or high-status participants) Participants with sufficient language skills (e.g., those older than seven) Participants whose distinctions would inhibit participation	Participants whose backgrounds are similar or not so dissimilar as to generate conflict or discomfort Participants who can articulate their ideas Participants who offer a range of positions on issues

Research Objective

Topic Concerns

Participants

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Exhibit 7-5

Research Using IDIs

Cultural interviews

Sequential interviewing

Types

Life histories

Critical incident techniques

Oral histories

Ethnography

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Exhibit 7-8

An individual depth interview (IDI) is an interaction between an individual interviewer and a single participant. Individual depth interviews generally take between 20 minutes and 2 hours to complete, depending on the issues and topics of interest and the contact method used. Some techniques, such as life histories, may take as long as 5 hours.

Exhibit 7-8 highlights some types of research using IDIs.

Oral histories (narratives) ask participants to relate their personal experiences and feelings related to historical events or past behavior.

Cultural interviews ask participants to relate his or her experiences with a culture or subculture.

Life histories extract from a single participant memories and experiences from childhood to the present day regarding a product or service category, brand, or firm.

In a critical incident technique, the participant describes what led up to the incident, what he or she did or did not do, and the outcome of the action.

Convergent interviewing involves experts as participants in a sequential series of IDIs.

Sequential interviewing approaches the participant with questions formed around an anticipated series of activities.

Ethnography involves a field-setting and unstructured interview.

Grounded theory uses a structured interview but adjusts each interview based on findings from those that came before.

Projective Techniques

MET

Sensory sorts

Semantic Mapping

Data

Collection

Techniques

Sentence Completion

Cartoons

Thematic Apperception

Laddering

Association

Component Sorts

Imagination

Exercises

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Within interview structures, projective techniques may be used to identify hidden or suppressed meanings. Some projective techniques are named in the slide.

In word or picture association, participants are asked to match images, experiences, emotions, products, services, people, and places to whatever is being studied.

In sentence completion, participants are asked to complete a sentence.

In cartoons or empty balloons, participants are asked to write the dialog for a cartoonlike picture.

With the Thematic Apperception Test, participants are confronted with a picture and asked to describe how the person in the picture feels and thinks.

In component sorts, participants are presented with flash cards containing component features and asked to create a new combination.

In sensory sorts, participants are presented with scents, textures and sounds, and asked to arrange them by one or more criteria.

With semantic mapping, participants are presented with a four-quadrant map where different variables anchor the two different axes; they then spatially place brands with the four quadrants. This can also be called brand mapping.

With laddering (also called benefit chaining), participants are asked to link functional features to their physical and psychological benefits, both real and ideal.

MET or metaphor elicitation technique uses images to encourage participants to share their innermost feelings about a topic.

These techniques are time-consuming to apply and analyze.

This is a good time to introduce the student to the MET interview segments on their DVD, assign a MET interview project, or otherwise use the video to talk about the interview process involved in these techniques.

PicProfile: Projective Techniques

Anderson Analytics uses a cast of characters during interviewing.

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Refer to PicProfile page 169.

Group Interviews

Mini-Groups

Dyads

Triads

Small Groups

Focus Groups

Supergroups

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Group interviews involve a single interviewer with more than one research participant. They vary widely in size.

Mini-groups involve 2-6 people. Small groups usually include 6-10 people and are generally the most used. Supergroups include up to 20 people.

The focus group is a type of small group (6-10). It is discussed further on other slides.

Dyads are frequently used when the special nature of the relationship is needed to stimulate frank discussion on a sensitive topic.

Group interaction is desirable but time constraints still limit extracting detail from each participant. It is also difficult to recruit, arrange, and coordinate group discussions.

Determining the Number of Groups

Scope

Number of distinct segments

Desired number of ideas

Desired level of detail

Homogeneity

Level of distinction

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The skilled researcher helps the sponsor determine an appropriate number of group interviews to conduct. This slide lists the considerations affecting the number of group interviews. The following guidelines apply.

The broader the issue(s), the more groups needed.

The larger the number of distinct market segments of interest, the more groups needed.

The larger the number of desired new ideas, the more groups needed.

The greater the level of detail desired, the more groups needed.

The greater the influence of ethnic and geographic differences, the more groups needed.

The less homogeneity, the more groups needed.

The general rule is that one should keep conducting focus groups until no new insights are gained.

Group Interview Modes

Telephone

Online

Videoconference

Face-to-Face

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This image is FocusVision’s Video Marker…one of the snapshots in the chapter.

The focus group is a panel of people (usually 6-10 people), led by a trained moderator, who meet for 90 minutes to 2 hours. The facilitator uses group dynamics principles to focus or guide the group in an exchange of ideas, feelings, and experiences.

The term focus group was first coined by R.K. Merton in his 1956 book, The Focused Interview.

Focus groups can be conducted using various modes.

Telephone focus groups are effective when it is difficult to recruit the desired participants, when target group members are rare, when issues are sensitive, and when one needs national representation with a few groups. Telephone focus groups are usually shorter than traditional groups and less expensive. They should not be used when participants need to handle a product that cannot be sent ahead to them, when the session must be long, or when the participants are children.

Online focus groups are very effective with teens and young adults. Access and speed are strengths of this mode, but it is more difficult to gain insight from group dynamics.

Videoconferencing is likely to grow as a focus group mode because it saves time and money while creating less barrier between moderator and participants than the telephone.

All methods provide for transcriptions of the full interview. These are analyzed using content analysis.

Combining Qualitative Methodologies

Action Research

Case Study

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Qualitative methods can be combined to glean more and better information.

The case study, also called a case history, combines individual or group interviews with record analysis and observation.

Researchers extract information from company brochures, annual reports, sales receipts, and newspaper and magazine articles along with direct observation, and combine it with interview data from participants.

Interview participants are invited to tell the story of their experience, with those chosen representing different levels within the same organization or different perspectives of the same situation.

The objective is to obtain multiple perspectives of a single organization, situation, event, or process at a point in time or over a period of time.

The research problem is usually a “how and why” problem.

Case study methodology, or the case analysis or case write-up, can be used to understand business processes.

Action research is designed to address complex, practical problems about which little is known. It involves brainstorming, followed by sequential trial-and-error attempts until desired results are achieved.

Triangulation: Merging Qualitative and Quantitative

Conduct studies

simultaneously

Perform series:

Qualitative,

Quantitative,

Qualitative

Ongoing qualitative

with multiple waves

of quantitative

Quantitative

precedes

Qualitative

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Triangulation is the combining of several qualitative methods or combining qualitative with quantitative methods.

This slide identifies the four strategies for combining methods.

This is a good place to show the DVD case on the development of the Lexus SC 430. A significant part of the research used in the development of this sports car used qualitative research and the video describes Qual-Quant clinics.

Key Terms

Action research

Case study

CAPI

Content analysis

Creativity session

Ethnography

Focus groups

Group interview

IDI

Convergent interviewing

Critical incident technique

Cultural interviews

Grounded theory

Life histories

Oral history

Sequential interviewing

Interview

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Key Terms (cont.)

Interview guide

Moderator

Non-probability sampling

Pretasking

Probability sampling

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Recruitment screener

Triangulation

Projective techniques

Cartoons

Component sorts

Imagination exercises

Laddering

Metaphor Elicitation Technique

Semantic mapping

Brand mapping

Sensory sorts

Sentence completion

Thematic Apperception Test

Word or picture association

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