Qualitative Marketing Research: Fundamentals: Basics

Qualitive Research Basics

Why conduct qualitative research?
Which is more meaningful, qualitative or quantitative?
What should I expect in a backroom?
What is Unconditional Positive Regard, and why is it so important?
How do I design a qualitative project?

Why conduct qualitative research?
The purpose of qualitative research is generally to answer the question "WHY?" Qualitative research offers elaboration, depth, and detail regarding attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and feelings that quantitative research does not. Qualitative also allows researchers and observers to experience the intensity of feeling associated with the topics explored, and it can accommodate unexpected trains of thought or points of intensity. Qualitative adds the detail, dialogue, and poetry to the what and how many supplied by quantitative data.

Which is more meaningful, qualitative or quantitative?
Each is appropriate for different kinds of issues. If you are ever uncertain as to whether a problem is best addressed by qualitative or quantitative, contact us to discuss the issues you are trying to resolve or the areas you wish to explore.

Essentially, the two types of research work well together, and experienced marketing research analysts develop an understanding of which issues are best served by each methodology.

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		Qualitative research…
			explores in depth people's motivations, feelings, values, attitudes, and perceptions.
		is flexible.
		involves small samples.
		Quantitative research…
		provides statistical data to predict, project, and plan.
		is structured.
		involves large samples.

What should I expect in a backroom?
Research usually takes place at a facility that is not affiliated with the qualitative research moderator-consultant. Research participants talk with the moderator(s) in a front room that usually has a conference table and chairs but may instead have a living room setup. Clients observe from the backroom through a two-way mirror, so they can see the respondents, but the respondents cannot see them. Some backrooms are casual, with sofas and easy chairs. Others are more like small lecture halls with tiers of writing space and office chairs. The lights in the backroom remain off during the sessions unless the moderator and clients agree to switch the lighting for a brief moment to allow respondents to see and greet the backroom (read the Insights article "Two-Way Thoughts on the Two-Way Mirror.") The facility usually supplies plentiful food including sweet and salty snacks. Meals are ordered from menus or selected in advance by the client team leader.

Sitting in the backroom in the dark and eating too much is not the optimal approach for gaining new insights from the research being observed. There are a variety of ways to make the backroom environment more conducive to learning, generating ideas, and solving problems.

What is Unconditional Positive Regard, and why is it so important?
Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) is accepting with enthusiasm and interest all that people communicate. A productive qualitative setting depends on an environment of safety in which all parties—respondents, clients, and researchers—can take risks, present new ideas and solutions, and express beliefs and feelings. Openness and flexibility are the strengths of qualitative as a methodology, and UPR is the attitudinal embodiment of those strengths. Therefore, the most astute decisions and accurate hypotheses arise when UPR permeates the structure and atmosphere of the study.

How do I design a qualitative project?
The short answer is that you confer with your qualitative researcher on how best to meet your needs and resolve your issues. That said, here's a quick guide to the kinds of issues you will discuss in an initial call:

Defining Research Parameters

Early in the process of setting up your project, your researcher will have worked with you to develop an overall project purpose and a set of specific objectives. Staying focused on the purpose and objectives can carry your team through moments of fatigue and help them listen for the information important to their goals. A well-defined purpose and objectives can also help you in structuring debriefs and in reporting findings back at your company.

Design

Groups are appropriate when your issue would benefit from a multitude of opinions colliding and converging. (Exploratory, ideational, some evaluative)

Individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) are appropriate when you need uninfluenced observations and beliefs and/or a clear understanding of decision process and motivation. (Post-use evaluations, concept testing, communications checks)

Number of Groups

The rule of thumb is to always do at least two of each type of group. Groups can be differentiated by many different criteria including gender, location, usage practices, and age. The more variables you add, the more sessions you may do.

Number of IDIs

This decision is a bit tricky, and several variables should be considered that influence the ideal number for a given project. These variables include the impact of the research on corporate decisions, the number of prototypes or concepts being evaluated, the number of respondent types represented, and the differentiation among the concepts or prototypes.

Location

Geographical considerations come into play in several ways including
	The potential density/incidence of the respondent type for the project.
	The effect, if any, location has on use of the product.
	The amount of research you have already done in that location.
	The number and quality of research facilities in that location.
	Travel and recruiting costs.

Report Type

Qualitative researchers offer different styles of reports. Most offer at minimum a brief top-line report. Top-lines are appropriate when the information is factual or has little depth and when decisions based on the research must be made quickly. Most researchers also offer a full report that is more effective when you desire a comprehensive understanding of the issues and wish to have all the details and dissenting opinions. Primary Insights offers other types of deliverables in addition to top-lines and full reports.

For more general information, please read the Research Participant FAQs or contact us to discuss your specific questions.