Introduction to Qualitative Research

1. Marketing Research & Social Communication
Lesson 3
Introduction to
Qualitative Research
Ray Poynter
1Ray Poynter, Marketing Research & Social Communication, 2015

2. Agenda
1. Reviewing last week
2. What is qualitative market research?
3. What are focus groups?
4. What are depth interviews?
5. Online qualitative research?
6. The qualitative paradigm?
7. Where does ethics fit into the picture?
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3. Lesson 1 – Big Picture
1. Focusing on customers we help organisations
make better decisions
2. We
– Create explanations
– Make predictions
– Help create the future
3. We draw on the social sciences (& other
disciplines) and use quantitative and
qualitative approaches
4. There is more to us than just surveys and
focus groups
5. Data is an input, insight and action are outputs
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4. Lesson 2 – Big Picture
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1. Quantitative market research is about
describing things with numbers.
2. Surveys are the most common tool in
quantitative market research
3. We normally need to be able to generalise
from a sample to a population
4. Surveys need to use questions that people
are willing and able to answer

5. What is Qualitative Research?
The essence of qualitative research is
“Why?”
Why do people:
– Say what they say?
– Do what they do?
– Believe what they believe?
It is about meaning, rather than
quantification

6. Focus Groups
• The most common technique in qualitative
market research
• The moderator and
– 6 people
– 8 people
– 10 people
– 12 people
• Typically 90 to 120 minutes
• Typically 4 to 8 groups
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}Depends on the country & topic

7. Focus Group
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Video : https://youtu.be/POF3m6ZNoiY

8. Depth Interviews
• The second most common qual method
• Moderator and one person
– Sometimes two people, paired depths (dyads)
• Typically 8 to 16 interviews
• Typically 30 to 90 minutes
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9. Depth Interviews
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https://youtu.be/cLpTRaRlXIE

10. Can We Believe What People Say?
• Not necessarily
– Which is one reason we have qualitative research
• Good qual does not report what people say
– It interprets what they mean
– And, the reasons they believe what they believe
– And, why they say what they say
• Tools include
– Body language, analysis of language, projective
techniques, and indirect questioning

11. What is the key to Qual Sampling?
Participants who are representative of types
of people
– We are not looking for a mathematical match
to the population
– Usually we want people who are typical of their
‘type’ or group
– E.g. 2 groups of housewives, 2 groups of
married women who work, 2 groups of single
working women (In say Chiba and Osaka)
Good recruitment is very important to good
qual

12. Focus Groups or Depths?
Focus Groups
– Where interaction is good
– Where members SHOULD influence each other
– To tap into experiences
– Example: Explore the problems with drying
clothes on wet and humid days
Depth Interviews
– Individual stories
– Where the differences are important
– Or where things are sensitive
– Example: How do people get into debt

13. Discussion Guide
The plan for what the moderator will do during a
focus group or depth interview.
Model 1
1 Warm up
2 Main section
3 Review
Model 2
1 Ask “Who uses X?”
2 Ask “Why use X?”
3 Probe reasons for X
4 Ask “What else used?”
5 Ask “Why use others?”
6 Show new product
7 Ask “Who will buy?”
8 Count who buys
9 Ask “Why buy?”

14. What Business Needs
Does Qual Answer?
Quant:
– How many use X?
– Where do they use X?
– If I change the price what will happen to sales?
Qual:
– Why do people use X?
– Why do some people stay with X when the price
goes up and some people switch?
– What new ways could X be used in the future?

15. Can Qual be Conducted Online?
Yes, but, most qual research is still face-to-
face
Key areas are:
– Online focus groups
– Forums and discussions
– MROCs (market research online communities)
– Mobile diaries
– Smartphone ethnography

16. Looking at Your Survey Data
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17. Egg Time!
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But please do not eat it if you have an allergy to sugar!

18. Other Qual Methods
• Accompanied shops
• Usability labs
• Ethnography
• Smartphone diaries and ethnography
• Semiotics
• Online discussions
• MROCs – market research online communities
• Social media approaches
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19. Qualitative Analysis?
DATA
Words
Notes
Audio
Pictures
Video
Body language
Useful
Story
Transcripts
Drawings
Social Media

20. The Stages of Analysis
1. During fieldwork, develop and test ideas
2. Organise the data
3. Categorise the data, e.g. into themes/
codes/ ideas/ concepts
4. Explore patterns
5. Look at segments for differences (e.g. users
versus non-users, young versus old, etc)
6. Interpret the concepts, patterns and
difference
7. Report the story you have made

21. A Useful Explanation
• Qualitative research does not seek an
‘objective truth’
– Many qual researchers would reject the idea
that an objective truth even exists
• Qual seeks to explain what is happening,
why it is happening, and how it is happening
• Qual seeks to deliver a ‘Useful Explanation’
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22. Two Common Problems?
1. Reducing the data too much
– A powerful story needs the customers’ voices
to come through
– It should not just be the researcher’s voice
2. Not reducing the data enough
– Don’t just tell the client what people said
– It has to be interpreted

23. Dealing with Subjectivity
• Qualitative research is subjective
• We need to recognise subjectivity as part
of the process
• We do NOT discover the story
– We CREATE the story
• The quality of the research is made of
1. Understanding what respondents have
shared
2. Creation of a useful story
(useful to the client)

24. Tools for Analysis
• Paper, scissors, highlighter pens
• Office software, e.g. Word and
Excel
• Software to help, e.g. Nvivo
• Software for analysis, e.g.
Leximancer

25. The Validity of Qual
The validity is based on whether it is useful
– Not on whether it is ‘true’ in a science sense
2 key indicators
– Coherence: does the story make sense?
– Triangulation*
Triangulation
Taking other information into account:
• Previous studies
• Published information
• Client knowledge

26. Ethics in Qualitative Research
1. Participation is voluntary
2. Informed consent
3. Do no harm
4. Clients need to know the extent to which
they can rely on the information
5. Think about the impact on 3rd parties
Especially with ethnography, images,
recordings, and passive data collection
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27. Big Picture
1. Qualitative research is about
understanding not measuring
2. The most common qualitative tool is the
focus group, followed by depth interviews
3. But, there are many more qualitative
methods
4. Qual does not seek an objective truth, it
seeks a useful explanation
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28. Before Next Lesson
1. Review chapters 2, 3, 4 of the textbook.
2. Complete the online task BEFORE 5th
May
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29. Questions?
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30. Quiz Lesson 3
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Please complete the quiz sheet
Put your name on the sheet
Write your start time, finish time, and how
many minutes it took you to complete the sheet.