This document provides an overview of qualitative research methods used in marketing research. It discusses research designs, the usefulness of qualitative research, common qualitative approaches like interviews and case studies. It then goes into detail about conducting interviews, transcription, translation, back-translation, analysis, and reporting findings. Exercises are also provided to help participants practice and refine skills in interviewing, transcribing, and translating qualitative research materials.

1. Hiram Ting Huong Yiew
Interview, Transcription, Translation,
Analysis and Preparation
In-House Training (1) – Qualitative Research
CGS Unimas, Kota Samarahan
November 14, 2014
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Organized by Marketing Research Team
and Sarawak Research Society

2. Acknowledgement
The training instructor wishes to express his gratitude to
Prof Dr Ernest Cyril de Run and Prof Ramayah Thurasamy
for their guidance on the training and its contents.
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In-House Training (1) – Qualitative Research
November 14, 2014

3. Contents
 Research Designs
 Qualitative Research
 Its Usefulness
 Its Approaches
 Interview
 Transcription
 Translation
 Back-translation
 Analysis
 Inter-coder Agreement
 Enumerators/Coders
 Findings and Discussions
 Post hoc Interview
 Post hoc Analysis
 Preliminary Decisions
 Potential Errors/Bias
 Relevant Preparation
 Do‟s and Don‟t‟s
 Schedule and Budget
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4. Research Designs
What is Research Design:
 Procedures for collecting, analyzing, interpreting and reporting
data in research studies.
 They are useful because they help guide the methods decisions
that researchers make.
 Set the logic by which they make interpretations at the end of
their studies.
 Research designs are composed of quantitative, qualitative and
mixed methods designs.
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5. Qualitative Research
What is Qualitative Research:
 Qualitative research includes an ―array of techniques which
seek to describe, decode, translate, and come to terms with the
meaning, not the frequency of certain more or less naturally
occurring phenomena in the social world.
What is Qualitative Business Research:
 Research that addresses business objectives through techniques
that allow the researcher to provide elaborate interpretations of
phenomena without depending on numerical measurement. Its
focus is on discovering true inner meanings and new insights.
Hence, it is researcher-dependent.
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6. Its Usefulness
It is useful when:
 It is difficult to develop specific and actionable decision.
statements or research objectives.
 The research objective is to develop a detailed and in-depth
understanding of some phenomena.
 The research objective is to learn how a phenomenon occurs in
its natural setting or to learn how to express some concept in
colloquial terms.
 The behavior the researcher is studying is particularly context-
dependent.
 A fresh approach to studying the problem is needed.
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7. Its Approaches
Phenomenology:
 A philosophical approach to studying human experiences based
on the idea that human experience itself is inherently subjective
and determined by the context in which people live.
 Seeks to describe, reflect upon, and interpret experiences.
 Relies on conversational interview tools and respondents are
asked to tell a story about some experience.
Ethnography
 Represents ways of studying cultures through methods that
involve becoming highly active within that culture.
Case Studies
 The documented history of a particular person, group,
organization, or event.
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8. Its Approaches (cont.)
Participant-observation
 An ethnographic research approach where the researcher
becomes immersed within the culture that he or she is studying
and draws data from his or her observations. Example: Sales
tactics
Grounded Theory
 Represents an inductive investigation in which the researcher
poses questions about information provided by respondents or
taken from historical records.
 The researcher asks the questions to him or herself and
repeatedly questions the responses to derive deeper
explanations.
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9. Interview
 Most useful tools of collecting data in qualitative research
(DeVillis, 1991; Zikmund et al., 2010).
 Most common type of research instrument employed in mixed-
method marketing studies (Hanson & Grimmer, 2007).
 Able to offer great insight into consumer behaviour (Kahan,
1990; Roller, 1987).
 Recommendable qualitative means for studies related to
generation (Fountain & Lamb, 2011; Pennington-Gray et al.,
2010).
 The purpose is to allow probes and obtain unrestricted
responses so as to identify important subjects and common
themes for subsequent analysis (Burns & Bush, 2005).
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10. Interview (cont.)
 Rubin and Rubin (2005, p. 13) elaborate that, “the depth,
details, and richness sought in interviews, what Clifford Geertz
(1973) called „thick description‟, are rooted in the interviewers‟
first-hand experiences and form the material that researchers
gather and synthesize. To get to this level of detail, depth, and
focus, researchers work out main questions, probes, and follow-
ups.”
 The emphasis is to draw as much information as possible from
the respondents by listening patiently, and encouraging them to
speak (Dicicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006).
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11. Interview (cont.)
 Interviewing techniques can be learnt using trial interviews and
role plays (Bernard, 1995).
 For example, establishing of rapport, the use of active silence
and echoes are important (Gorden, 1992).
 Indicative questions, such as „let me give you an example‟ is not
to be used to prevent any partiality or predetermined responses.
 Respondents need to be assured at the outset that there is no
right or wrong answer, and that their responses would only be
used for research purposes (Podsakoff et al., 2012). This reduces
social desirability bias (Bowling, 2005).
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12. Interview (cont.)
 Interview protocol was designed to make certain that all
important questions would be covered during interviews, while
allowing possible probes and follow-ups (Arsenault, 2004;
Kurasaki, 2000).
 Funnel approach was adopted, starting with broader questions,
narrowing down the scope from general to specific, and
eventually ending with demographic details (Churchill &
Iacobucci, 2005; Hair, Bush & Ortinau, 2006; Kinnear &
Taylor, 1995; Saunders et al., 2003).
 Interviews should be conducted at the convenience of the
respondents (Evers & De Boer, 2007; Rubin & Rubin, 2005;
Seidman, 2006; Weiss, 1994).
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13. Interview (cont.)
 Eliciting skills – try to use open questions in interviews
 Open questions take the form „who‟, „what‟, „why‟, „where‟,
„when‟, „how‟, and usually lead to answers that are open-ended
and more descriptive.
 Listening skills
 “An interviewer needs to follow the content of what is being
said, listen to the meaning underneath the words, and then
gently bring this into the conversation. He or she offers or
reflects back what they have heard, so that the respondent can
confirm, deny, or elaborate. This way of working creates
empathy, deepens the conversation and ensures the meaning
has been understood.” (Chrzanowska, 2002, p. 112).
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14. Interview (cont.)
 Structured interviews
 The use of pre-formulated questions, strictly regulated with
regard to the order of the questions, and sometimes regulated
with regard to the time available
 Semi-structured interviews
 The use of some pre-formulated questions, but no strict
adherence to them. New questions might emerge during the
conversation
 Unstructured interviews
 Few if any pre-formulated questions. In effect the interviewee
has free rein to say what they want. Often no set time limit
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15. Interview (cont.)
Example
Interviewer : Could you tell me what are some of the major events
that have affected you greatly?
Respondent : What do mean major events?
Interviewer : Past societal events that you feel impactful?
Respondent : There are quite a few.
Interviewer : Could you tell me one at a time?
Respondent : I think the losing of Tun Mahathir is huge.
Interviewer : Do you mean his resignation?
Respondent : Yes, when he resigned in 2003.
Interviewer : Why would you think so?
Respondent : He is a great leader and we need his leadership.
Interviewer : How has this event affected you?
Respondent : I felt if he is still in the office, he will drive the
country forward, and we will be better off today.
Interviewer : How would you be better off if he is still in office?
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16. Interview (cont.)
Exercise
1. Discuss about members‟ past interview experience.
2. Listening to some of the interviews that the members have done.
3. Comment what could and should have been done.
4. Refine interviewing techniques.
5. Revising interview protocol.
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17. Transcription
 Good audio recording is crucial for the quality of the transcript,
and likewise the quality of the transcript itself is crucial for the
reliability of the analysis (Moerman, 2010; Potter & Hepburn,
2005).
 Interviews are transcribed verbatim (Burns & Bush, 2005). It is
known to be time-consuming.
 More transcribers are recruited to do transcription to ensure
potential errors were randomized (Moerman, 2010).
 In the process, an independent assistant can do a thorough
review of each completed transcript, matching it against the
recorded interview (Kurasaki, 2000).
 Transcribe immediately after interview is done.
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18. Transcription (cont.)
Exercise
1. Discuss about members‟ past transcribing experience.
2. Reading some of the transcriptions that the members have done.
3. Comment what could and should have been done.
4. Refine transcribing techniques.
5. Reach consensus on transcriptions.
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19. Translation
 Translation of questions into mother languages is encouraged in
order to draw reliable and valid information from respondents
who preferred using these languages (Malhorta & Birks, 2003).
 Hence, using the language that the respondents are most
comfortable with can draw more information from them.
 Past studies emphasize the importance of establishing
appropriate translation procedure (Brislin, 1970; Rustogi,
Hensel & Burgers, 1996; Werner & Campbell, 1970).
 Competent translators who are familiar with the content involved
in the source language materials are essential.
 Translate immediately after transcription is done.
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20. Back-Translation
 Back-translation is known to be one of the most widely used
translation techniques adopted in cross-cultural research
(Cateora, 1990; Usunier, 2000).
 When translating the transcripts from English back to the source
language, different translators must be called upon to back-
translate the transcripts (Werner & Campbell, 1970).
 Reliability or usability of English transcripts is determined by
looking at the agreement between the script with source language
and back-translated script.
 Back-translate immediately after translation is done.
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21. Analysis
 Content analysis has long been used in qualitative marketing
studies (Wright & Barbour, 1975; Resnik & Stern, 1977;
Kassarjian, 1977).
 It is particularly useful when data are collected through personal
or in-depth interview (Kassarjian, 1977), and for evaluating
various communication forms on human behaviours (Yale &
Gilly, 1988).
 It includes frequency counts (Wilkinson, 2000), but at the same
time allows for exploratory analysis of qualitative data (Ryan &
Bernard, 2000).
 Coding procedures (Kurasaki, 2000).
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22. Analysis (cont.)
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23. Analysis (cont.)
 Responses to open-ended and probing questions were found in
free-flowing texts. One solution to annotating the main points for
coding purpose was to identify “idea units” based on where an
idea started and ended (Carey, Morgan, & Oxtoby, 1996).
 Coding is the process by which themes are attached to segments
of data that depict what each segment is about (Charmaz, 2006).
 As qualitative research emphasizes on information richness, the
replication of information/emerging themes indicate data
saturation.
 A final codebook (theme list) is to be produced for analysis.
 Analysis can be done either manually or through computer-
assisted software, such as ATLAS.ti, Nvivo and Leximancer
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24. Inter-coder Agreement
 Researchers have suggested using multiple coders to establish
high inter-coder reliability in content analysis of open-ended
interview data (Bernard, 1995, Kurasaki, 2000).
 It is a measure of agreement between multiple coders about how
they code the themes and apply them to the data (Kurasaki,
2000).
 Such joint agreement is used not only to measure the reliability
of the coders in identifying themes in the transcripts, it also
serves as a proxy for the validity of themes emerged from the
data (Ryan, 1999).
 This prevents the coded themes to be anything but the subjective
imagination or predetermination of the researcher.
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25. Enumerators/Coders
 Inexperienced interviewers all started at about the same level
and thus could be trained together or separately (Dijkstra, 1983).
Experienced interviewers would cost more, and would be much
more diverse and opinionated at times.
 Moreover, young adults are more flexible in terms of time and
pliable in intellectual capabilities.
 Females in their young adulthood could easily stabilize possible
confounders of gender, age and language differences (Moerman,
2010).
 Consistency must be preserved across the enumerators while
generating productive discussion during interviewing process.
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26. Enumerators/Coders (cont.)
 Enumerators who interview are encouraged to transcribe the
recorded interviews due to their familiarity with the topics
discussed during interview sessions.
 Translators and back-translators should not be the same persons.
 Enumerators/transcribers are also encouraged to be
coders/judges due to their familiarity with the topics.
 Training and stringent procedures are mandatory to ensure the
transcribing and coding behaviours are consistent and
appropriate.
 Do you have/need enumerators/coders? Who should be your
enumerators/coders? Can they do it?
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27. Findings and Discussions
 Findings are the presentation of results after analysis.
 Despite the use of frequency count, the percentage of each count
is not required in findings.
 Quotes of interviews are presented as findings so as to provide
evidence to later discussion.
 Researchers need to discuss the findings with reference to past
literature. Stating what the findings are is not discussion.
 Discussion must be relevant, insightful and rigorous with sound
justification based on the literature.
 Sample qualitative paper:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220670903382921
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28. Post Hoc Interview
 Do transcriptions immediately.
 Do translation immediately.
 Contact the respondents for clarification or more information.
 Save and backup all recorded interviews and files.
 Always check the progress of enumerators/coders, if any.
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29. Post Hoc Analysis
 Report and write immediately.
 Publish as part of reporting or writing training.
 Present at conference as part of presenting training.
 Save and backup all analyses.
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30. Preliminary Decision
 Descriptive of rules and systematic procedures are
necessary for the validation of research (Kolbe & Burnett, 1991).
1. Sampling technique and research method.
2. Design of interview.
3. Pilot study/pre-test.
4. Enumerators, transcribers, coders and translators are
carefully selected and/or trained (Hemsley, 2000).
5. Respondents are contacted beforehand to make sure refusals
to participate in the survey and break-offs were dealt with
(Tyagi, 1989). Prepare a checklist.
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31. Preliminary Decision (cont.)
 Pre-test helps ascertain whether enumerators can perform
interview well and the selected methods will actually work the
way it is designed. It can also check whether the questions are
clear enough for respondents to give responses (Dicicco-Bloom
& Crabtree, 2006).
 Face validity through the judgment by experts and relevant
people from the actual population provides validation check
(Wolburg & Pokrywcznski, 2002).
 Anonymity and confidentiality are methods used to reduce
intentional respondent error (Childers & Skinner, 1985; Steele,
Schwendig & Kilpatrick, 1992).
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32. Potential Errors/Bias
 Error (statistical error) describes the difference between a value
obtained from a data collection process and the 'true' value for
the population. The greater the error, the less representative the
data are of the population.
 Sampling error occurs solely as a result of using a sample from a
population, rather than conducting a census (complete
enumeration) of the population. It refers to the difference
between an estimate for a population based on data from a
sample and the 'true' value for that population which would
result if a census were taken.
 Non-sampling error is caused by factors other than those related
to sample selection. It refers to the presence of any factor,
whether systemic or random, that results in the data values not
accurately reflecting the 'true' value for the population.
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33. Potential Errors/Bias (cont.)
 Coverage error: this occurs when a unit in the sample is
incorrectly excluded or included, or is duplicated in the sample
(e.g. a field interviewer fails to interview a selected household or
some people in a household).
 Non-response error: this refers to the failure to obtain a response
from some unit because of absence, non-contact, refusal, or
some other reason. Non-response can be complete non-
response (i.e. no data has been obtained at all from a selected
unit) or partial non-response (i.e. the answers to some questions
have not been provided by a selected unit).
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34. Potential Errors/Bias (cont.)
 Response error: this refers to a type of error caused
by respondents intentionally or accidentally providing inaccurate
responses. This occurs when concepts, questions or instructions
are not clearly understood by the respondent; when there are
high levels of respondent burden and memory recall required;
and because some questions can result in a tendency to answer
in a socially desirable way (giving a response which they feel is
more acceptable rather than being an accurate response).
 Interviewer error: this occurs when interviewers incorrectly
record information; are not neutral or objective; influence the
respondent to answer in a particular way; or assume responses
based on appearance or other characteristics.
 Processing error: this refers to errors that occur in the process of
data collection, data entry, coding, editing and output.
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35. Relevant Preparation
 A good recorder, batteries; and a backup.
 A checklist of respondents and their contact information.
 A hard-disk to backup every recorded interview and documents.
 A official letter from UNIMAS/FEB to indicate your status and
your research.
 Your student ID card.
 Contact the respondents before the interview.
 Tell them what the research is about before the interview. (Some
may request for interview questions).
 Accommodation, transportation and meals arrangement.
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36. Do’s and Don’t’s
Do‟s
 Keep practicing interview by doing trials.
 Be well prepared physically and mentally
before interview.
 Be consistent and persistent in the whole process.
 Do keep good rapport with respondents.
 Save and backup everything from time to time.
Don‟t‟s
 Don‟t rush into interview and data analysis.
 Do not treat interview as the completion of research.
 Do not say too much or influence respondents during interview.
 Do not guess or assume what respondents have said.
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37. Schedule and Budget
Schedule
 November: training and rehearsal
 December-February: interview, transcription, translation
 March: checking and completion for data analysis
Interview schedule and budget
 Locations: the whole Malaysia
 Availability of researchers/enumerators; familiarity, language
 Go in pairs/groups; interview checklist to be looked at and
possible accommodation to be decided first.
 Expenses: Flights, ground transportation, food allowance (?)
 Budget: Grant, financial aids and own expenses.
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39. THANK YOU
Hiram Ting MBA, PhD
Email: hiramparousia@gmail.com
Research Officer at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
MBA PT Lecturer at SEGi College Sarawak
in collaboration with University of Sunderland, UK
PT Lecturer at Open University Malaysia and
Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia
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