reserch designs exploratory
TRANSCRIPT
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Types of Research Designs
Exploratory Research (huh?)
Designed to generate basic knowledge, clarify relevant issuesuncover variables associated with a problem, uncover informationneeds, and/or define alternatives for addressing researchobjectives.
A very flexible, open-ended process.
Descriptive Research (who, what, where, how)
Designed to provide further insight into the research problem bydescribing the variables of interest.
Can be used for profiling, defining, segmentation, estimating,predicting, and examining associative relationships.
Causal Research (If-then)
Designed to provide information on potential cause-and-effectrelationships.
Most practical in marketing to talk about associations or impact ofone variable on another.
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Types and Characteristics of Exploratory Studies
Literature Search
Conceptual literature
Trade literature
Published statistics Library homepage (www.uah.edu/library)
Analysis of Selected Cases
Intensive study of related cases or past activities
May be internal or external
Can help provide clues as to how other units orcompanies have dealt with similar issues
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Types and Characteristics of Exploratory Studies
Experience Surveys (a.k.a., depth interviews) Knowledgeable people with varying points of view
Unstructured and informal interviews
Respondent free to choose issues to be discussed
Focus Groups 8 to 10 people at one time
Relatively homogeneous groups
Multiple, heterogeneous groups
Group dynamics
Moderator is key
Relies on general topical guide with plenty of time forinteraction
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The Growing Role of Focus Groups
Goal of focus group research: learn andunderstand what people have to say and why.
y Find out how participants feel about a product,
concept, idea, organization, etc.;yHow it fit into their lives;
y Their emotional involvement with it
May be conducted alone or as part of a broader
project May be use to define issues or to confirm findings
from survey research.
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Requirements for Focus Groups
Good group of information-rich participants
How many people?
How many groups?
Characteristics of participants
Discussion guide and outline
Ground rules
Agenda
Guiding questions
Qualified Moderator Controls flow
Stimulates discussion
Analysis and Report
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Good Moderator Characteristics
Must be able to break down barriers; get subjects to open up withinfirst 10 minutes
Must be a quick learner
Good listener
Absorb content
Gauge personalities
Adapt quickly
Must be in control, but not dominating (guide rather than lead)
Must appear to be neither an expert nor naive
Must be flexible to allow for free flow of discussion Dont concentrate too rigidly on the moderator guide
Keep the big picture in perspective
Know what is important
When to move on
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Facilitating Group Dynamics
Use a introductions to set the tone
Use only first names in introductions
Avoid job titles and positions, unless necessary
State your purpose and establish position as anobjective, unbiased party
Encourage everyone to participate; no right or wronganswers
Use an ice breaker to get everyone comfortable
State ground rules, procedural details
Ask for permission to tape if possible
Ensure confidentiality/anonymity Report to contain summary of group, not individuals
Use write-down method to allow for both introverts andextroverts to have input, and to lock people into theirown opinions (avoids too much group think)
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Handling Problems in the Focus Group
Confusing Concept or Discussion Topic
Break the concept into components that are easier to understand
Use the confusion as a discussion point (ask for theirinterpretation, then attempt to resolve)
Dead Subject (no discussion initiative)
Play one person off the other.
Use projective techniques
y What color do you most closely associate with . ? Why?
y What animal does ______ remind you of? Why?
y What type of people might use? Why?
Lively Subject (everyone talking, often at once)
Assert leadership role and take charge Promise more discussion time later
Suggest that everyone wants to hear all opinions, which is easierdone one at a time
Use write-down techniques to quiet the group down
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Handling Problems in the Focus Group (contd)
The Talkative Member
Leverage his/her energy to you benefit
Ask the rest of the group to respond to (agree/disagree with) what
the talkative member said
Call on someone else specifically when asking questions
Say, Dont let Ed do all the talking, Id like to hear from
someone else.
Silent Members
Call on them by name (John, how do you feel about)
Reinforce the value of their responses Do this several times in a row and they will open up voluntarily
Probe their short answers for more detailed ones
y Tell me more about
y That is interesting, why do you feel that way/
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The Moderator/Discussion Guide
Purpose is threefold:
Outline flow of discussion
y Defines issues
y
Sets ground rulesy Provides time constraints
Provides information for participants
Serves as a guide for the final report
May be very basic or extremely detailed depending on formality of the
research. Very exploratory research will require a simple guide
More extensive analyses need more structure
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Contents of The Discussion Guide
Introductory Statements (typically 10-15 minutes)
Moderator introduction
Respondent introductions
Objectives/Statement of Purpose
Ground rules
Key DiscussionQuestions (45-50 minutes)
Practice using multiple types of questions to elicit more detailed responses
Think about the purpose of your questions:
y Collect information?
y Maintain flow?
y Lead respondent? Wrap-up
Clarify,Verify, Summarize
Ask All things considered type questions to get them to summarize
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Thoughts on Discussion Questions
Begin with simple, easy to answer questions
Place more specific, sensitive questions toward the mid-point in the
discussion
Dont want to force them to work too hard early or scare them
Ensure that questions are short and deal with a single issue
Utilize vocabulary that is consistent with the respondents
Include questions that the respondents would reasonably have
knowledge of and ability to answer
Remember to keep the tone of the questions conversational, not
accusational, confrontational, or critical of individuals
Dont ask questions that would potentially single one person out for
inspection
Be cautious about giving examples (might lead too much)
Use parallel or similar questions to test commitment to positions
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Activities to Engage Participants
List generation
Ranking or evaluating items
May be abstract ideas or concrete objects
Sentence completion
Creating analogies
Picture or word sort
Create a collage of your feelings
Drawing a picture or ideal image
Role playing or enactment
Personal experiences
Hypotheticals
Divide group for debate
Monitor and follow-up on Nonverbals
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What is Included in Typical Reports
Depends on type of report desired
Most focus group reports are designed to answer the
following questions:
What was the purpose of the study?
What were the research objectives?
What methodology was used, and why?
What was the group composition?
What were the key findings?
As a result, what are the recommendations?
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Techniques for Summarizing Findings
Identifying comments that are frequently mentioned Evaluating rankings or "votes" occurring over the course of the project
Grouping similar responses by meaningful subgroups (for instance, mentionsby region, age group, or company size)
Resolving differences between groups
Discussing messages with opposing ideas indicated perhaps by body language
To ensure accurate evaluation of focus group reports, keep in mind several rules ofthumb:
Avoid quantifying results; remember this is qualitative analysis.
Look for patterns that show consistent themes
It is important to provide quotations to support your evaluations. Identify which thoughts were generated through a free-flowing discussion and
which were actually aided responses.
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O
n-line Focus Groups
Advantages
No geographic barriers
Lower costs Fast turnaround time
Do not have to see a moderator face-to-face
Can reach hard-to-reach managers
Two way interaction between moderator and the clientis possible
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On-line Focus Groups
Disadvantages Group dynamics are construed
Nonverbal inputs are minimal
Client involvement with participants is practically non-
existent Security - who is the person on-line?
Attention to the topic - is the participant paying attention?
Exposure to external stimuli - can not present productprototypes.
y Or can we?
Role and skill of moderator are more difficult
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Depth Interviews
One-on-one interviews that probe and elicit detailed answersto questions, often using nondirective techniques to uncoverhidden motivations.
Advantages
No group pressure
Respondent is focus of attention and feels important Respondent is highly aware and active
Long time period encourages revealing new information
Can probe to reveal feelings and motivations
Discussion is flexible and can explore tangential issues
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Depth Interviews
Disadvantages
Much more expensive than focus groups
Do not get the same degree of client involvement;
clients do not want to observe single interviews Are physically exhausting for the moderatorreduces
the number of people that can be interviewed in a given
time period.
Moderators do not have other group members to helpobtain reactions and to stimulate discussion.
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Types and Characteristics of Descriptive Studies
Cross-Sectional Study Easily the most common type of research project.
Typically involves conducting a survey of a sample of population
elements at one point in time.
Useful because it provides a quick snapshot of whats going on
with the variables of interest for our research problem. Longitudinal Study
An investigation that involves taking repeated measures over time.
Useful for conducting trend analysis, tracking changes in behavior
over time (e.g., brand switching, levels of awareness, turnover) and
monitoring long-term effects of marketing activities (e.g., marketshare, pricing effects)
True panel vs. omnibus panel
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Causal Research Designs
Evidence to Support Causation Concomitant variation
y If X is supposed to cause Y, then the two variables must move
together.
y If one variable changes, we should observe a resulting change in the
other. Time order of occurrence
y If X is supposed to cause Y, then changes in X must precede changes
in Y.
Elimination of other possible causes
y If X causes Y, no other factor could have reasonably caused the
change in Y at that moment.
y Must hold all other variables constant.
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Causal Research Designs
Experiments are the best way to satisfy elements of causation. May be FieldExperimentorLaboratory Experiment
Tradeoff between realism versus control
Examples of experimentation in marketing
Market test (test marketing)
Advertising response (recall, affect, attitude toward ad elements)
Promotional design (consumer response to promotional deals,
incentives, tie-ins
Store layout and design
Product positioning
Color tracking and package design