Research Methods Chp. 07

Front 1

Qualitative Business Research

Back 1

Research that addresses business objectives through techniques that allow the research to provide elaboate interpretations of phenomena without depending on numerical measurement; its focus is on discovering true inner meanings and new insighs

Front 2

Researcher-Dependent

Back 2

Research in which the researcher must extract meaning from unstructured responses such as text from a recorded interview or a collage representing the meaning of some experience

Front 3

Quantiative Business Research

Back 3

Business research that addresses research objectives through empirical assessments that involve numerical measurement and analysis

Front 4

Subjective

Back 4

Results are researcher-dependent, meaning different researchers may reach different conclusions based on the same interview

Front 5

Intersubjective Certifiability

Back 5

Different individuals following the same procedure will produce the same results or somce to the same conclusion

Front 6

Qualitative Data

Back 6

Data that are not chracerized by numbers, and instead are textual, visual, or oral; focus is on stories, visual protrayals, meaningful characterizations, interpretations and other expressive descriptions

Front 7

Quantiative Data

Back 7

Represent phenomena by assigning numbers in an ordered and meaningful way

Front 8

Phenomenology

Back 8

A philipsophical 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

Front 9

Hermeneutics

Back 9

An approach to understanding phemomenology that relies on analysis of texts through which a person tells a stoy about him or herself

Front 10

Hemeneutic unit

Back 10

Refers to a ext passage from a respondent's story that is linked with a key theme from within this story or provided by the researcher

Front 11

Ethnography

Back 11

Represents ways of studying cultures through methods that involve becoming highly active within that culture

Front 12

Paricipant-observation

Back 12

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

Front 13

Grounded theory

Back 13

Represens an iductive 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

Front 14

Case Studies

Back 14

The documented history of a particular person, group organiation, or event

Front 15

Themes

Back 15

Identified by the frequency with which the same term (or synonym) arises in the narrative description

Front 16

Focus Group Interview

Back 16

An unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of around six to ten people. Focus groups are led by a tained moderator who follows a flexible format encouraging dialogue among respondents

Front 17

Piggyback

Back 17

A procedue in which one respondent stimulates thought among the others; as this process continues, increasingly creative insights are possible

Front 18

Moderator

Back 18

A person who leads a focus group interview and ensures that everyone gets a chance to speak and contribute to the discussion

Front 19

Discussion Guide

Back 19

A focus group outline that includes written introductory comments informing the group about the focus group purpose and rules and then outlines topics or questions to be addressed in the group session

Front 20

Online Focus Group

Back 20

A qualitative research effort in which a group of individuals provides unstructured comments by entering their remarks into an electronic internet display board of some type

Front 21

Focus Blog

Back 21

A type of informal, "continuous" focus group estblished as an internet blog for the purpose of collecting qualitative data from participant comments

Front 22

Depth Interview

Back 22

A one-on-one interview between a professional researcher and a research respondent conudcted about some relevant business or social topic

Front 23

Laddering

Back 23

A particular approach to probing, asking respondents to compare differences between brands at different levels that produces distinctions at the attribute level, the benefit level, and the value or motivation level

Front 24

Conversations

Back 24

An informal qualitative data gathering approach in which the researcher engages a respondent in a disccussion of the relevant subject matter

Front 25

Free-association techniques

Back 25

Record respondents' first (top-of-mind) cognitive reactions to some stimulus

Front 26

Field Notes

Back 26

The researcher's descriptions of what actually happens in the field; these notes then become the text from which meaning is extracted

Front 27

Projective Technique

Back 27

An indirect means of questioning enabling respondents to projedt beliefs and feelings onto a third party, an inanimate object, or a task situation

Front 28

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Back 28

A test that presents subjects with an ambiguous picture(s) in which consumers and products are the center of attention; the investigator asks the subject to tell what is happening the picture(s) now and what might happen next

Front 29

Replication

Back 29

The same interpretation will be drawn if the study is repeated by different researchers with different respondents following the same methods

Front 30

Why is Exploratory Research conducted?

Back 30

Two broad purposes:
1)To clarify and define the nature of a problem
2)Ensure that a future more rigorous research project will be based on an adequate understanding of the problem

Front 31

Qualitative Nature of Exploratory Research

Back 31

Often based on stories, visual images, characterizations, and emotional reactions -- in contrast with quantitative research based on rigorous mathematical analysis

Front 32

Diagnosing a Situation

Back 32

Diagnosis seeks to uncover the underlying, root causes of a problem or to unravel its various dimensions

Front 33

Examples of Diagnosing a Situation

Back 33

1)An employee survey shows a drop in morale --exploratory research would be conducted to isolate the causes of the drop in morale

2)A supermarket seeking to increase its appeal explores the demographic dimensions of its current customer base

Front 34

What are the two common uses of Exploratory Research?

Back 34

1)Finding the most useful course of action when you can't budget them all

2)Concept Testing- a research project that tests something that acts a proxy for a new idea, product, program or service -- to see what people think about it or what features they are interested in

Front 35

Categories of Exploratory Research

Back 35

The purpose rather than the technique is what defines exploratory research, but four techniques tend to be used primarily for exploratory research:

1)Secondary Data Analysis
2)Pilot Studies
3)Experience Surveys
4)Case Studies

Front 36

Secondary Data Analysis

Back 36

Preliminary review of data collected for another purpose to clarify issues in the early stages of a research effort

*Less formal than it would be in descriptive or causal research

Front 37

Pilot Studies

Back 37

Any small-scale exploratory research project that uses sampling without rigorous standards. The Data collected are considered primary data.

Includes: Focus group interviews, projective techniques and depth interviews

Front 38

Focus Group Interview

Back 38

An unstructured, free-flowing interview on a specific topic with a small group of people typically led by a trained moderator. The flow of the discussion itself is unstructured by the members are brought together for a specific topic or purpose and the direction and scope of the discussion are carefully planned in advance

Front 39

Advantages of Focus Group Interviews

Back 39

1)Flexibility - the flexible, informal, small group format encourages participation and discussion
2)Ease - easy to plan, administer and execute
3)Cost- inexpensive and results are quickly analyzed
4)Serendipity - the participants can surface unexpected issues unlikely to emerge in a structured survey

Front 40

Disadvantages of Focus Group Interviews

Back 40

1)Representation - the group selected may not be representative of target populations
2)Generalizability - may produce situation-specific responses

Front 41

The Ten S's

Back 41

Synergy, Serendipity, Snowballing, Stimulation, Security, Spontaneity, Specialization, Scrutiny, Structure, Speed

Front 42

Focus Group Considerations

Back 42

1)Group Composition
2)Setting
3)Moderator
4)Planning the outline
5)Videoconferencing and streaming media
6)Interactive media and online focus groups
7)Focus Groups as diagnostic tools

Front 43

Focus Group Considerations - Group Composition

Back 43

*Ideal size is 6-10 participants, large enough to avoid intimidations by one or two dominant members, and small enough to have adequate participation by all
*Homogeneous groups seem to work best and allow researchers to concentrate persons with similar lifestyles, experiences, and the like
*If diverse views are desired, it is advised to create various separate - but homogeneous - focus groups

Front 44

Focus Group Considerations - Setting

Back 44

Should be comfortable, relaxed and natural

Front 45

Focus Group Considerations - Moderator

Back 45

The moderator's task is to introduce the topic, keep the group "focused" on it, make sure all members have a chance to participate, and facilitate the discussion but stay out of it as much as possible

Front 46

Focus Group Considerations - Planning the Outline

Back 46

Discussion guide - consists of written prefatory remarks and an outline of topics and questions to be addressed to the focus group --establishes certain objectives and specific topics of interest

Front 47

Focus Group Considerations - Videoconferencing and Streaming Media

Back 47

*Enables managers at a remote location to monitor the focus group and send messages to the moderator

*Streaming Media- multimedia content (audio or visual) that can be accessed on the Internet without being downloaded enables remote managers to view the focus group on a computer

Front 48

Focus Group Considerations - Interactive Media and Online Focus Groups

Back 48

*Online Focus Group - group whose members carry on their discussion through an Internet chat room

*Quick, efficient, and useful when the subject matter may be embarrassing

*Lacks synergy and spontaneity of face-to-face focus groups

*Online focus groups seek qualitative information -- shouldn't be confused with Internet surveys that seek quantitative data

Front 49

Focus Group Considerations - Focus Groups as Diagnostic Tools

Back 49

Puzzling survey results are frequently turned over to focus groups to diagnose problems surfaced by the quantitative research

Front 50

Projective Techniques

Back 50

Various indirect means of questioning that enables a respondent to "project" beliefs and feelings onto a third party, an inanimate object, or a task situation

Front 51

Advantages of Projective Techniques

Back 51

*Provides indirect ways of detecting an individual's attitudes, defensive reactions, and feelings or specific opinions that may be hidden from others or from the respondent himself/herself
*The research records not only what a person says but also nonverbal responses such as what people do not say, reaction time, etc.

Front 52

Disadvantages of Projective Techniques

Back 52

*Can be difficult to interpret --need to have considerable agreement among coders as to how responses are to be categorized

*The validity of projective devices for various purposes may be subject to question

Front 53

Common Projective Techniques

Back 53

Word Association
Sentence Completion
Third Person Technique
Role Playing
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Front 54

Word Association

Back 54

A projective technique in which the respondent is presented with a list of words, one at a time and asked to respond with the first word that comes to mind

*Useful in testing potential brand names, pretesting words in survey questionnaires, and for eliciting reactions to embarrassing situations

Front 55

Sentence Completion

Back 55

Projective Technique in which respondents complete a number or partial sentences with the first word or phrase that comes to mind

*Sentence Completion instruments elicit more extensive answers than simple word association and are easier to interpret

Front 56

Third Person Technique

Back 56

A technique in which the respondent is asked why a third person does what he or she does or what he or she thinks about an object or event or person or activity

*Assumes that the respondent transfers one's own attitudes onto a third party

Front 57

Role Playing

Back 57

A projective technique that asks the subject to act out someone else's behaviour in a particular situation

Front 58

Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)

Back 58

A test consisting of a series of pictures shown to respondents who are asked to give a description or tell the story behind the pictures

Front 59

Picture Frustration

Back 59

A version of the TAT that uses a cartoon in which the respondent supplies the dialogue in the "balloons" coming from the characters

Front 60

Depth Interview

Back 60

A relatively unstructured extensive interview used in the primary stages of business research

Front 61

Advantages of Depth Interviews

Back 61

Can provide very useful and extensive information with extended probing and surfacing of conscious and subconscious material

Front 62

Disadvantages of Depth Interviews

Back 62

Expensive, needs a highly skilled interview, subjective interpretation, may yield no more than less extensive methods such as focus groups