Unit 3 Discuss- II

Student I:

Hello,

I used secondary research in both professional and my personal life. When i am trying to make a decision on how to award a contract in my professional life i have to make sure i do what is best for the company. I have to make sure do my research on all the companies that submit in a bid for the contract i solicit for. I have to make sure they can be able to do the job and that the company is well establish and can be able to do business with our company. In my personal life when i am about to make a purchase i have to make sure that i am going to get the best deal for my money and i have to make sure that it will last a long time. Then research other business to see if they have the item that i am looking for to see who has better pricing.

Student II

I have been part of qualitative research process as an observer or support if discussion required inputs from supply chain or manufacturing segment. Observation is another tool of qualitative research which is very common and inexpensive method usually. In this role I was quietly observing discussion and providing notes which are then used to conclude meaningful information out of that session. The moderator who represented marketing functional team is collecting feedback from each participant and later is performing evaluation. Results of those evaluations are then shared with senior Marketing management who uses this as a base ground for further strategic planning. My opinion is that the qualitative research plays and will remain fundamental in understanding basic human rational behind each problem. Statistical data as a standalone input into development of the particular issues is not enough. There might be rational reasons behind why for example consumer prefer one product from another. The human element which is driving face to face interaction and data collection remains very important.  My personal feeling is that with all the automation, big data processing and digitalization the techniques and tools responsible for processing and evaluation will get better in the future but it will always require qualitative point of view to assign meaning to those trends and results. Quantitative research is manipulating with numbers and as such it is best for every type of research where data are being collected or generated such as survey, correlation study, experiments. Quantitative research is manipulating with empirical information such as case study, observation etc.. and is used to make sense or interpret correctly quantitative results.